Eloi Littner
PhD in Biology (Génétique et Génomique)
Evolution of integrons, in the lab of @epcrocha.bsky.social, Microbial evolutionary genomics @pasteur.fr
@EPFL and @Polytechnique alumni
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerHere, we find that many Genomic islands have origins of transfer (oriT) mobilisable by conjugation, incl. known Pathogenicity & defense islands. iOriT use only an oriT for transfer by hitching on conjugative elements: they make abundant, diverse, ancient families of mobile genetic elements. See🧵
- Bacteria chromosomes contain Genomic Islands that provide virulence, antibiotic resistance, MGE-defence,... They transfer between cells, but the mechanism of most remains elusive. Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🚨L'ENS de Lyon recrute un.e maître de conférence qui rejoindra le CIRI pour développer ses recherches sur l'immunité bactérienne, les transferts horizontaux et les MGE. 📖 Une très belle opportunité d'enseigner à des étudiants brillants tout en menant des recherches excitantes !
- 📢 Recruitment of an Associate Professor (Maître de conférences) in Bacteriology at CIRI and ENS de Lyon. Research at @ciri-lyon.bsky.social @francoisrousset.bsky.social @labxc.bsky.social Anti-phage Immunity, Horizontal gene/ MGE transfer 📚 Teaching at ENS de Lyon within the Department of Biology.
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerBacteria chromosomes contain Genomic Islands that provide virulence, antibiotic resistance, MGE-defence,... They transfer between cells, but the mechanism of most remains elusive. Here we explore the conjugative capacity of these mysterious Genomic Islands. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerBacterial genomes encode a rich repertoire of antiphage systems, but we still know surprisingly little about when these systems are actually expressed. In this preprint, Lucas Paoli et al, ask what shapes antiphage systems expression in native contexts. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...
- Reposted by Eloi Littner@morgan-lamberioux.bsky.social @amazeld.bsky.social et al. reveal that nearly half of all bacterial genomes carry more than one Peptide deformylases gene; these are essential for bacterial viability and are targets for antibiotic development. 🔗 doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf311 #evobio #molbio
- Inspiring presentation by @miriammerad.bsky.social yesternight at the @pasteur.fr PhD Graduation ceremony. A call for action! Thank you Miriam!
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerOur new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity. academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
- Happy to be part of this! Besides conjugation, another way to acquire integron cassettes 🧬📼
- Our new paper is out in @narjournal.bsky.social We show that natural transformation enables bacteria to shuffle integron cassettes, boosting their phenotypic diversity. academic.oup.com/nar/article/... 1/5
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🎓🏆 Two Institut Pasteur PhD students honored at the 2025 Chancellerie des Universités de Paris Prizes! 👏 @nellsaunders.bsky.social – coronavirus research 👏 Antonin Verdier – optogenetic implant for hearing restoration Excellence in doctoral research 🌟 www.sorbonne.fr/la-chancelle...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerUse antisense oligomers to silence phage genes and discover new biology. @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de print: www.nature.com/articles/s41... highlight: www.nature.com/articles/s41... briefing: www.nature.com/articles/d41...
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🦠💊 L’Institut @pasteur.fr vient de publier un communiqué de presse sur nos récents travaux, qui décrivent une nouvelle piste pour augmenter l’efficacité des antibiotiques. #Pasteurdon #Recherche #Science #AMR Merci à toutes celles et ceux qui ont contribué. 📘 English version coming soon!
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerMany antiphage systems use NAD+, in many ways. @hugovaysset.bsky.social reviewed them all! Read to know more about all their molecular mechanisms, how phages counteract them, their distribution in bacteria and their conservation in eukaryotic immunity! www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
- On Thursday, October 9th, I successfully defended my PhD in Genetics and Genomics, on the diversity, function and evolution of integron cassettes, at @pasteur.fr. Thanks to my PhD supervisor, @epcrocha.bsky.social and to my jury, headed by Ingrid Lafontaine!
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerHappy to announce that our comparative metagenomic analysis of the gut microbiota of five honeybee species - spearheaded by @aiswarya.bsky.social - is finally published in a peer-reviewed journal! rdcu.be/eKMCs @fbm-unil.bsky.social @dmf-unil.bsky.social 🧵👇
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerNew preprint! Ever wondered why only a fraction of genomes encode CRISPR immunity? 🧬 🦠 Turns out CRISPR is rarely beneficial against virulent phages, being most beneficial against those for which resistance mutations are rare! An epic effort by Rosanna Wright www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerDelighted to see our paper studying the evolution of plasmids over the last 100 years, now out! Years of work by Adrian Cazares, also Nick Thomson @sangerinstitute.bsky.social - this version much improved over the preprint. Final version should be open access, apols. Thread 1/n
- Reposted by Eloi Littner[Podcast] Les chantiers de la recherche | "Génétique : l'ADN des bactéries comme source de savoirs" avec @eloilittner.bsky.social
- Et bien c'est fait ! Première à l'antenne d'une radio nationale, dans la matinale de France Culture ce matin. Merci à Guillaume Erner de m'avoir accueilli, et à Juliette Devaux pour la préparation de l'émission. www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerWilling to join us @pasteur.fr for a PhD for a project on how interactions between mobile genetic elements shape bacterial adaptation? Subject to be tailored to candidates with keen interest in evolution, genomics, computational biology, microbiology. Check www.pasteur.fr/en/education...
- 🎓 Applications for Institut Pasteur's PhD programs open Sept 1-Oct 20, 2025 for October 2026 entry. Apply to up to 4 projects across 6 programs: PPU, PPU-IMAGINE @institutimagine.bsky.social, PPU-@ox.ac.uk, PPU-EID @upcite.bsky.social & more 🧬 Register now ✍️ www.pasteur.fr/en/education...
- J'aurai la chance de présenter mes travaux de thèse sur France Culture, dans l'émission "Les Chantiers de la Recherche" ce lundi 15 à 6h45, avec Guillaume Erner. Pour les lève-tard, l'émission sera disponible en podcast. Stay tuned ! www.radiofrance.fr/francecultur...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerCheck out @julielebris.bsky.social’s thread on our latest manuscript describing phenotypic heterogeneity in capsule production in Klebsiella & Acinetobacter @klebclub.bsky.social This work started when I was still in @pasteur.fr & got finished in @cbitoulouse.bsky.social #microsky #phagesky
- Delighted to share our recently published work! Ever wondered how Klebsiella (and others) deals with capsule production’s costs ? The paper: journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/... Thread👇
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerA new theme issue of #PhilTransB examines the evolutionary history of bacterial immune systems, their modes of action, and the patterns how different bacterial immune systems are distributed across different ecosystems. Read: buff.ly/Z4qdxY1
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerAt last ! A tool specifically for phage-plasmid hunters. Check tyPPing by @karinailchenko.bsky.social and @eugenpfeifer.bsky.social
- 🚨 New preprint! 🧬 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞-𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 (𝐏-𝐏𝐬) are fascinating elements: both 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 and 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐬 ➡️ tricky to detect. We present 𝐭𝐲𝐏𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐠 — the first 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥 🛠️designed specifically for P-Ps: ✅ Accurate ✅ Sensitive ✅ Easy to use 📖 www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerWe are very proud of our researchers Beatrice Baragli, Jerome Beetz, Jacqueline Degen, Mona Garvert, Jake Greenfield, and Jens Hör: They have been awarded prestigious ERC Starting Grants worth €1.5 million. Congratulations! @erc.europa.eu #ERCStG ➡️ www.uni-wuerzburg.de/en/news-and-...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerCongratulations to our #HIRI group leader and JMU junior professor @jenshoer.bsky.social on receiving a 1.5 million euro #ERCStG from @erc.europa.eu! In his RIBO-PHAGE project, he will study phages—viruses that infect bacteria—with RNA genomes. 🥳👏 @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerI'm really happy to have been granted an @erc.europa.eu Starting Grant! We'll study the molecular principles of RNA phages—from infection to replication to bacterial immunity. Interested in joining? Feel free to reach out! Formal job ads to follow. More info here: tinyurl.com/RIBO-PHAGE #ERCStG
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerPreprint: We discovered phage proteins that sequester diverse immune signaling molecules, including cUMP, cCMP, and N7-cADPR The first viral sponges to inhibit Pycsar and type IV Thoeris Congrats to talented leading author Romi Hadary! Read her thread to learn more about our findings
- 📢 Preprint out! Together with @reneechang.bsky.social @kranzuschlab.bsky.social and the amazing @soreklab.bsky.social, we explored viral sponges to map their diversity and function. Discovered huge diversity, including sponges that inhibit Pycsar & Type IV Thoeris! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerMind-blowing tour-de-force for synthetic biology and immunity 🤯 Congrats @garbjeremy.bsky.social and @soreklab.bsky.social 🤩
- Preprint: De-novo design of proteins that inhibit bacterial defenses Our approach allows silencing defense systems of choice. We show how this approach enables programming of “untransformable” bacteria, and how it can enhance phage therapy applications Congrats Jeremy Garb! tinyurl.com/Syttt 🧵
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerIm Kampf gegen multiresistente Keime können #Bakteriophagen eine weitere Waffe sein. Für sein Projekt "RIBO-PHAGE" erhält @jenshoer.bsky.social, Nachwuchsgruppenleiter @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social, nun einen #ERCStG des @erc.europa.eu!🎉 Herzlichen Glückwunsch! www.helmholtz-hzi.de/media-center...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerSuper excited to receive the ERC starting grant to explore what phage-bacteria interactions can teach us on host-pathogen conflicts 🤩 I'm immensely grateful to my wonderful team and to present and past mentors 🙏
- 📣 The ERC Starting Grant call results are out! Find out which early-career researchers will receive funding this year, what they will be investigating, where they will be based... plus lots of other #ERCStG facts & figures for 2025! ➡️ buff.ly/IsafuFh #FrontierResearch 🇪🇺#EUfunded #HorizonEurope
- Reposted by Eloi Littner👏 Huge congrats to @audeber.bsky.social, group leader and head of our Molecular Diversity of Microbes lab, on being named a 2025 Vallee Scholar! Her pioneering work on ancestral immunity opens new perspectives for biomedical innovation. 🔬🌍 @valleefoundation.bsky.social #Science #Immunity
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerVery happy to see this one out: doi.org/10.1093/molbev/msaf192 Here, we assessed the contribution of natural transformation to the acquisition of novel genes. See preprint thread. @molbioevol.bsky.social #microsky #evobio
- The contribution of natural transformation for the acquisition of novel genes has been notoriously difficult to quantify because it relies on recombination (which is affected by other processes). Here's a first estimate : doi.org/10.1101/2025... (for the very busy: 1-6% of gene gains) #MicroSky
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerHere's our new broad review on the extended mobility of plasmids, about all mechanisms driving and limiting their transfer. From conjugation to conduction, phage-plasmids to hitchers, molecular to evolutionary dynamics, ecology to biotech. The state of affairs. 1/9 academic.oup.com/nar/article/...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerExcited 🥳 to share our latest work on gut phages! Big thanks to @epcrocha.bsky.social, Erick D, Camille d'H, @fplazaonate.bsky.social, Quentin LB, and all others involved for support and contributions! 🙌 Out in Cell Reports @cp-cellreports.bsky.social doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... Here's what we found 🤓
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🦠🧍♀️From bacterial to human immunity. We report in @science.org the discovery of a human homolog of SIR2 antiphage proteins that participates in the TLR pathway of animal innate immunity. Co-led wt @enzopoirier.bsky.social by D. Bonhomme and @hugovaysset.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerRead preprints. Cite preprints. Email people and tell them you loved their preprint. Email people you hated their preprint. Embrace preprints, preprints are good.
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerThe study involves our microbiologist @fredoleroux.bsky.social, whom we profiled in late 2023 as a new hire and Canada Excellence in Research Chair: nouvelles.umontreal.ca/en/article/2...
- 🧬 Bacteria fight both antibiotics and viruses with the same genetic tool: integrons! New study (Institut Pasteur, CNRS, Université Paris Cité & Montréal): ~10% of gene cassettes may defend against phages. 🛠️ One step closer to smarter therapies. 🔗 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🧬 Bacteria fight both antibiotics and viruses with the same genetic tool: integrons! New study (Institut Pasteur, CNRS, Université Paris Cité & Montréal): ~10% of gene cassettes may defend against phages. 🛠️ One step closer to smarter therapies. 🔗 www.pasteur.fr/en/research-...
- Reposted by Eloi Littner🧫🦠🔬🧬 @science.org Sedentary chromosomal integrons as biobanks of bacterial antiphage defense systems | Science www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @baptistedarracq.bsky.social @eloilittner.bsky.social @celineloot.bsky.social @epcrocha.bsky.social et al. #microbiology #phage #immunity #phagesky #MicroSky
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerAt least 10% of the V. cholerae integron cassettes have novel antiphage activities (see below). Considering that there are 25,000 distinct cassettes of unknown function, integrons constitute an extraordinary and almost inexhaustible reservoir of antiphage functions!
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerWARNING: We have a postdoc position to work on the follow-up of this work. If you're interested, the deadline is tomorrow !!! (but I'll wait a few more days for interested candidates). research.pasteur.fr/fr/job/postd...
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerSecond, integron cassettes have to be small and their anti-phage systems are among the smallest known (even for the already known types). Interesting source of biotech tools? Surely interesting to understand the fundamentals of molecular evolution under selection for streamlining.
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerGiven the huge number of different families of Integron cassettes in just the fully sequenced genomes: if all integrons are like ours (10% of anti-phage cassettes) then expect thousands of novel ones in the future.
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerFirst, chromosomal integrons have lots of novel anti-phage systems. Similar results found simultaneously in mobile integrons by @jaescudero.bsky.social www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... and other vibrio by @themaxwelllab.bsky.social doi.org/10.1038/s415....
- Reposted by Eloi LittnerOur paper on how integrons are biobanks of novel minimal defense systems is now out www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... Two main conclusions on this excellent work led by @eloilittner.bsky.social @baptistedarracq.bsky.social 1/n
- Habemus paper! Our story on integron-encoded anti-phage defenses is now out in @science.org! 16 new systems, small versions of known ones, and a lot more in this highly-collaborative study. Many thanks to everyone involved, especially my supervisor @epcrocha.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/bapt...
- Habemus paper! Our story on integron-encoded anti-phage defenses is now out in @science.org! 16 new systems, small versions of known ones, and a lot more in this highly-collaborative study. Many thanks to everyone involved, especially my supervisor @epcrocha.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/bapt...
- White smoke, we have a new pope and also 16 new anti-phages systems in sedentary integrons (SCIs) ! In collaboration with the Rocha lab, we show in our new paper that cassettes of these large platforms encode many known anti-phage defenses, and uncovered 16 new ones. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
- Kudos also to @baptistedarracq.bsky.social, the best co-first author ever, @celineloot.bsky.social, @amazeld.bsky.social, @fredoleroux.bsky.social, @audeber.bsky.social, @dbikard.bsky.social et al. for guiding us towards this story
