Meriem El Karoui
Contact details
- Tel: +44 (0)131 650 5374
- Email: Meriem.Elkaroui@ed.ac.uk
Address
- Street
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Rm. 1.11, Roger Land Building
- City
- Post code
Background
September 2018-present Director of Equality Diversity and Inclusion for the School
January 2018-present Director of SynthSys, The University of Edinburgh Centre for Synthetic and Systems Biology
September 2014-present Chair for Equality and Diversity
2013-present Chancellor Fellow and Reader, University of Edinburgh
2009-2012 Visiting Scientist, Systems Biology Department, Harvard Medical School. Boston, USA
2010-present Director of Research, INRA. France
2005-2009 Group leader (bacterial genomes architecture). INRA. France
2001-2003 Junior research scientist. Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA).France
1999-2001 Post-doctoral fellow. Pr. Jeffrey Errington's laboratory, University of Oxford. UK
1998 PhD Microbiology. University Paris VII. France
Research summary
A population of cells growing in an identical environment can display substantial phenotypic heterogeneity between individuals. It has been shown that even genetically identical cells behave differently because many central biological processes involve molecules present in small numbers. The inherent randomness of chemical reactions in these concentration regimes generates spontaneous fluctuations that can enslave all dependent processes.
Some key proteins involved in DNA repair, replication control and cell division in bacteria are present at low levels and are therefore likely subject to significant fluctuations. While fluctuations in gene expression are transient by nature, cell to cell variability in central DNA metabolism might have a direct impact on the evolution of microbes. Indeed, fluctuations in DNA repair mechanisms can modify mutation rates, acting as a generating force of genetic diversity. Work in our laboratory aims to explore the contribution of molecular stochasticity to genetic variability in bacteria. We combine single molecule microscopy, microfluidics, genetics and modeling to address this question. We expect that connecting phenotypic variability caused by the stochastic nature of chemical reactions with genetic variability will shed new light on the dynamics of bacterial genomes evolution.
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Proteasome-dependent truncation of the negative heterochromatin regulator Epe1 mediates antifungal resistance
(14 pages)
In:
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, vol. 29, pp. 745–758
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41594-022-00801-y
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Growth dependent heterogeneity in the DNA damage response in escherichia coli
(14 pages)
In:
Molecular Systems Biology, vol. 18
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15252/msb.202110441
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Future trends in synthetic biology-a report
In:
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol. 7, pp. 175
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2019.00175
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Quantification of very low-abundant proteins in bacteria using the HaloTag and epi-fluorescence microscopy
In:
Scientific Reports, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44278-0
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Rediscovering Bacteria through Single-Molecule Imaging in Living Cells
(13 pages)
In:
Biophysical Journal, vol. 114
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2018.03.028
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Review article (E-pub ahead of print) -
The Processive Kinetics of Gene Conversion in Bacteria: Processivity of Gene Conversion
In:
Molecular Microbiology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.13661
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Mechanical slowing-down of cytoplasmic diffusion allows in vivo counting of proteins in individual cells
(11 pages)
In:
Nature Communications, vol. 7
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11641
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Quantitative genomic analysis of RecA protein binding during DNA double-strand break repair reveals RecBCD action in vivo
In:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), vol. 112
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1424269112
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Co-evolution of segregation guide DNA motifs and the FtsK translocase in bacteria: identification of the atypical Lactococcus lactis KOPS motif
(11 pages)
In:
Nucleic Acids Research, vol. 40, pp. 5535-5545
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gks171
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Robustness Assessment of Whole Bacterial Genome Segmentations
(11 pages)
In:
Journal of Computational Biology, vol. 18, pp. 1155-1165
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1089/cmb.2011.0115
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
DNA motifs that sculpt the bacterial chromosome
(12 pages)
In:
Nature Reviews Microbiology, vol. 9, pp. 15-26
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro2477
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Small variable segments constitute a major type of diversity of bacterial genomes at the species level
In:
Genome Biology, vol. 11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/gb-2010-11-4-r45
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
A Genomic Distance Based on MUM Indicates Discontinuity between Most Bacterial Species and Genera
In:
Journal of Bacteriology, vol. 191, pp. 91-99
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.01202-08
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Organised genome dynamics in the Escherichia coli species results in highly diverse adaptive paths
(25 pages)
In:
PLoS Genetics, vol. 5, pp. 1-25
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000344
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Inactivation of the Lactococcus lactis high-affinity phosphate transporter confers oxygen and thiol resistance and alters metal homeostasis
(8 pages)
In:
Microbiology, vol. 155, pp. 2274-81
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.027797-0
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
The MatP/matS Site-Specific System Organizes the Terminus Region of the E. coli Chromosome into a Macrodomain
(11 pages)
In:
Cell, vol. 135, pp. 475-485
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2008.08.031
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
FtsK-dependent dimer resolution on multiple chromosomes in the pathogen Vibrio cholerae
(11 pages)
In:
PLoS Genetics, vol. 4, pp. 1-11
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000201
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
MOSAIC: an online database dedicated to the comparative genomics of bacterial strains at the intra-species level
(9 pages)
In:
BMC Bioinformatics, vol. 9
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2105-9-498
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Identification of DNA motifs implicated in maintenance of bacterial core genomes by predictive modeling
(8 pages)
In:
PLoS Genetics, vol. 3, pp. 1614-21
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.0030153
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published) -
Systematic determination of the mosaic structure of bacterial genomes: species backbone versus strain-specific loops
(10 pages)
In:
BMC Bioinformatics, vol. 6
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2105-6-171
Research output: Contribution to Journal › Article (Published)