The Bacterial Genetics and Physiology lab tackles the fundamental question in modern microbiology of bacterial cell death and survival. We mainly study the molecular mechanism of action of antibiotics and bacterial toxins and the corresponding survival or immunity mechanisms. We use modern microbiology tools allowing to follow the physiological changes at the single cell level. Our team develops biosensors, flow cytometry and microscopy techniques enabling to trace these events in time and space using fluorescent microscopy. We further study the precise molecular mechanisms in vitro in pure reconstituted reactions. We engineer and purify proteins and nucleic acids for enzymatic and for molecular interaction studies. To gain picture at an atomic level, we use structural biology techniques such as X-ray crystallography and Cryo-electron microscopy or tomography. Once the activity is demonstrated in a test tube, we go back to the organism level to confirm its physiological effect. Our laboratory is particularly interested in the evolution of antimicrobials, toxins and responses to these lethal agents. We characterize this evolution bioinformatically and we have all the necessary tools to follow it in vivo and in real time.