Cristina Colomer-Winter

Adaptation of Enterococcus faecalis to intestinal mucus revealed by a human colonic organoid model | mSystems Gut microbiota interactions with mucus during early intestinal colonization are critical for establishing stable communities and influencing host health. Using human colonic organoids combined with Tn-seq and live imaging, this study reveals how Enterococcus faecalis adapts to the mucosal surface by forming microcolonies and reprogramming its metabolism. This integrative approach provides a powerful platform to study other microbiota members in the native-like environment of the large intestine and evaluate potential therapeutic interventions.

Adaptation of Enterococcus faecalis to intestinal mucus revealed by a human colonic organoid model

#mSystems from Alexandre Persat
with @kimingeneva.bsky.social

journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/...

Stress 🧨, bacteria 🦠, Fe-S by @sronneau.bsky.social lab

Mike Cashel: magic spot magician | Journal of Bacteriology In July 2025, we lost Mike Cashel, a gifted scientist and critical contributor to the bacterial research community, after a long illness. Through his studies on (p)ppGpp and its modes of action, Mike ...

"Mike Cashel: magic spot magician"

journals.asm.org/doi/full/10....

SCELSE-NTU’s Dr Haris Antypas and Prof Kimberly Kline (UNIGE) show that silencing bacterial communication may worsen infectious endocarditis. Published in Nature Communications, the study finds that when Enterococcus faecalis loses quorum sensing, it forms larger biofilms linked to poorer outcomes.

Loss of Fsr quorum sensing promotes biofilm formation and worsens outcomes in enterococcal infective endocarditis - Nature Communications Infective endocarditis (IE) is an understudied biofilm-associated infection. Here, analyses of preclinical and clinical data reveal that the Fsr quorum sensing (QS) system of Enterococcus faecalis is ...

What if quorum sensing doesn’t promote biofilms - but restrains it? 🤔

New work from @harisantypas.bsky.social shows that the Fsr QS system in Enterococcus faecalis acts as a brake on biofilm formation and pathogenesis during infective endocarditis (IE).

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Membrane-associated effluxosomes coordinate multi-metal resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis - The EMBO Journal Bacterial pathogens must withstand metal-induced stress during infection, yet the mechanisms by which they sense and respond to toxic metal ions remain incompletely understood. Here, we uncover a prev...

How can bacterial pathogens weather metal ion stress during infection?
@pierredupuy.bsky.social, @oneyrolles.bsky.social et al implicate ‘effluxosomes’, membrane clusters of metal-binding chaperones & exporters coordinating M. tuberculosis resistance to toxic metals
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Strep/Enterococcal colleagues!

Streptococcal Biology GRC/GRS are open for applications. Acceptances are underway and the meeting is on track to fill up.

If you’re aiming for a short talk (lots of slots), registering early matters for full consideration.

Share widely!

www.grc.org/streptococca...

Some bacterial pathogens play dead to dodge antibiotics. A new test watches them closely—and helps choose drugs that finish the job. (Symbolic image: Adobe Stock)

How can we tell whether an antibiotic eradicates an infection? Researchers from the @biomedizin.unibas.ch, at the @unibas.ch, present an antimicrobial single-cell microscopy-based method that measures antibiotic lethality in individual bacteria.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s415...

@natmicrobiol.nature.com

The discovery of aeonophiles expands our definition of life | Aeon Essays The discovery of organisms that have been alive for many thousands of years requires a revolution in how we understand life

Some of the longest-lived organisms on Earth aren’t whales, trees or corals, but microbes buried deep in the earth. This eye-opening essay examines the slowest lives on Earth, asking what such lives mean for how we define life itself @karenlloyd.bsky.social

Biased sampling driven by bacterial population structure confounds machine learning prediction of antimicrobial resistance Machine learning methods have emerged as promising tools to predict antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and uncover resistance determinants from genomic data. This study shows that sampling biases driven b...

Our new paper from my PhD work is online. It shows how bacterial population structure can trick machine learning—sampling matters! Many thanks to @lbarquist.bsky.social for the support and guidance! dx.plos.org/10.1371/jour...

Excited to share our first look at Enterococcus faecium infection biology: diabetic wounds are complex, and E. faecium persists despite early immune responses. In diabetic mice, it shows impaired clearance + sustained neutrophil recruitment, worsening healing.

Bacterial networks #BacNet26 in September 2026 will be chaired by @lalouxlab.bsky.social and co-chaired by @s-lab.bsky.social with @coralietesseur.bsky.social

Sneak peak on invited speakers and preliminary program:
meetings.embo.org/event/26-bac...

🚀New preprint from our lab!
I am very excited to finally share what has been the main focus of my PhD for the past almost 3 years! It is about viral dark matter and a powerful tool we built to shed light on it. 🧬💡
Continue reading (🧵)

Enterococcus being one step ahead when it comes to stress… once again! Loved figuring this one out🤓

bsky.app/profile/kimi...