Project

Biogenesis of the lipids constituting the membrane is one fundamental aspect of bacterial growth and proliferation. The biochemistry of lipid synthesis and degradation in bacteria is well known, particularly in the model bacteria E. coli. In contrast, the genetic regulation of these processes and the coordination with growth rate is not well understood. In this context, we want to understand how lipid metabolism is regulated in different stress conditions (envelope stress, oxygen concentration), and also how lipid metabolism is controlled by ppGpp in function of the availability in nutriments. Furthermore, several homologs of phospholipid synthesis enzymes or fatty acid degradation enzymes have been reported, which might be specifically involved in stress response conditions. This latter point is the subject of the present project, involving the characterization of a gene locus potentially involved in fatty acid degradation.