Mission

Main project: Physiology and biochemistry of the tetrachloroethene anaerobic respiration pathway (organohalide respiration). A subset of obligate anaerobic bacteria are able to use chlorinated compounds such as tetrachloroethene (PCE) as terminal electron acceptors. This process, coined 'organohalide respiration', involves the establishment of a dedicated respiratory chain, in which the PCE reductive dehalogenase (PceA) plays a central and catalytic role. On-going work focuses on the study of the proteins involved in PCE respiration and on molecular aspects of this metabolism. In addition to pure cultures, bacterial consortia are investigated for the coexistence of PCE dechlorinating populations and their succession in the stepwise dechlorination of PCE.

Current work

Current projects: - Role of the gene products from the pceABC gene cluster in Dehalobacter restrictus - Characterization of RdhK proteins involved in the transcriptional regulation of organohalide respiration in Dehalobacter restrictus (with Mathilde Willemin, PhD student at LBE). - Tetrachloroethene dechlorinating consortia - competition with other anaerobic respiration pathways (with Alexandra Murray, DTU, Denmark) - Microbiology of aerobic granular sludge for wastewater treatment (with Aline Alder and Arnaud Gelb, PhD students of LBE). - Tetrasphaera as possible key player in phosphate removal in wastewater treatment (initiated with Marta Cerruti, Master student at LBE). External collaborations: - Phosphate metabolism of Shewanella loihica in iron reduction studies for the conservation of artefact objects (with Wafa Kooli, Edith Joseph and Pilar Junier, University of Neuchâtel). On-going. - Desulfitobacterium as biological tool for the restoration of iron artefact objects (with Lucrezia Comensoli, Edith Joseph and Pilar Junier, University of Neuchâtel). Completed in 2017. - arsM gene diversity in rice paddy soil for arsenic methylation (with Matthew Reid, Leia Falquet and Rizlan Bernier-Latmani, Environmental Microbiology Laboratory, EPFL). Completed in 2017.

Biography

2011 - present: Research associate at the Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology (LBE, IIE-ENAC, EPFL) 2007 - 2010: Postdoctoral Fellow at the Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology (LBE, IIE-ENAC, EPFL) 2005 - 2006: Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of East Anglia (UEA, Norwich, UK) 2000 - 2004: PhD thesis at the Laboratory for Environmental Biotechnology (LBE) 1995 - 2000: B.sc & M.sc at the Swiss Federal Institute for Technology, Zurich (ETHZ)

STUDENT GUIDANCE

PhD students: - Lorenzo Cimmino, EPFL-LBE. PhD thesis. Co-direction. On-going. - Mathilde Willemin, EPFL-LBE. PhD thesis. Co-direction. On-going. - Alexandra Murray, Denmark Technical University (DTU). PhD thesis. On-going. - Géraldine Buttet, EPFL-LBE. PhD thesis. Co-direction. 2017. - Aamani Rupakula, EPFL-LBE. PhD thesis. Co-direction. 2015. - Laure Prat, EPFL-LBE. PhD thesis. Co-direction. 2009. Master students: - Marta Cerruti, Université de Turin, Italie. 10-month Master. Main supervision. 2017. - Corantin Grob, Université de Strasbourg, France. 5-month Master-2 thesis. Main supervision. 2015. - Arnaud Gelb, Université de Strasbourg, France. 5-month Master-2 thesis. Main supervision. 2014. - Laura Frutieaux, Université de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, France. 2-month Master-1 thesis. Main supervision. 2013. - Chloé Bennati-Granier, University of Paris-Sud, France. 6-month Master thesis. Co-direction. 2012 - Géraldine Buttet, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. 12-month Master thesis. Main supervision. 2011-2 - Aamani Rupakula, Velore University, India. 5-month Master thesis. Main supervision. 2010. - Ariane Kull, University of Applied Sciences, HES-SO, Sion, Switzerland. 5-month Master thesis. Main supervision. 2009. Bachelor students: - Isabel Jankowski, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 3-month internship. 2017. - Selima Zahar, EPFL, SV. 14-day semester project. 2017. - Antsa Rabenifara Estoppey, HES-SO, Sion, Switzerland. 2.5-month Bachelor project. Co-supervision with Magalie Bassan. 2015. - Kiyan Shabestary, EPFL-SV, Lausanne, Switzerland. Semester project. 2013. Internship students: - Ziad Julier, EPFL. 3-month civil service. 2015-2016. - Clément Descarpentries, Université de Strasbourg, France. 2-month internship. 2015. - Cindy Kunze, University of Jena, Germany. 2-month internship. 2013. - Alexandre Chabrelie, PolyTech Grenoble, France. 3-month internship. Co-supervision with David Weissbrodt. 2011. - Christelle Petit, PolyTech Clermont, France. 3-month internship. 2010. - Marion Blondeau, PolyTech Clermont, France. 3-month internship. 2008.

CONFERENCES & TALKS

2017 - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Basel, Switzerland (2 Talks and 3 Posters). - DehaloCon, Conference on dehalogenation, Leipzig, Germany (1 Poster and 1 Talk). 2016 - International Symposium on Biopolymers, Madrid, Spain (1 Poster). - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Bern, Switzerland (1 Talk and 2 Posters). - Annual Conference of the Association for General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM), Jena, Germany (1 Poster). 2015 - FEMS Microbiology Congress, Geneva, Switzerland (1 Poster). - Swiss Microbial Ecology meeting, Ascona, Switzerland (2 Posters and 1 Talk). - Bacterial electron transport processes and their regulation, Vimeiro, Portugal (2 Posters). 2014 - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Fribourg, Switzerland (3 Posters). - DehaloCon, Conference on dehalogenation, Jena, Germany (1 Poster and 3 Talks). - Invited talk given at the University of Strasbourg. 2013 - FEMS Microbiology Congress, Leipzig, Germany (2 Posters). - DFG Research Unit FOR 1530 PhD Conference, UFZ Leipzig, Germany (Invited talk). - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Interlaken, Switzerland (2 Posters). 2012 - 6th Swiss Molecular Microbiology Meeting, Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland (2 Posters). - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, St-Gallen, Switzerland (3 Posters). 2011 - International Scientific Seminar: Understanding and application of organohalide respiration: from genomes to structures, Kavli Centre, UK (Invited talk). - FEMS 2011, Geneva, Switzerland (Poster) - European Workshop on Bacterial Respiratory Chains, Höör, Sweden (Talk). 2010 - Gordon Research Conference on Molecular Basis Of Microbial One-Carbon Metabolism, Bates College, Lewiston ME, USA (Poster). - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Zurich, Switzerland (Poster). - Minisymposium on Functional Genomics of Organohalide Respiring Bacteria, University of Wageningen, The Netherlands (Invited talk). 2009 - EMBO-FEMS Workshop on Microbial Sulfur Metabolism, Tomar, Portugal (Poster). - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Lausanne, Switzerland (Poster). - Gordon Research Conference on Vitamin B12 and Corphins, Magdalen College, Oxford, UK (Poster). 2008 - Annual Assembly of the Swiss Society of Microbiology, Interlaken, Switzerland (Poster talk).