21st International Conference
on Bacilli and Gram-Positive Bacteria

June 14–17, 2022
Prague, Czech Republic

Program of the Conference

Last updated: May 9, 2022
* Speakers eligible for the Young Scientists Award

DAY 1 Tuesday, June 14, 2022

12.00 – 14.45
Registration and Check-In
14.45 – 15.00
Opening Remarks
15.00 – 16.45
Session 1 DNA Replication & Transfer / Cell Division
Chair: Peter L. Graumann
15.00 – 15.30
David Rudner: How Gram-positive bacteria monitor their cell wall for defects and catalyze their repair
15.30 – 15.45
  • Sven Halbedel: MurA escape mutations uncouple peptidoglycan biosynthesis from PrkA signaling
15.45 – 16.00
  • Yingjie Sun: PrkC kinase modulates MreB filament and bacteria growth by monitoring cell wall precursor Lipid II
16.00 – 16.15
  • Jennifer K. Herman: Mg2+ modulates Bacillus subtilis cell division frequency
16.15 – 16.30
  • Wilfried JJ Meijer: Discovery of a novel two-component antitermination system associated with conjugation operons in G+ bacteria
16.30 – 16.45
  • Naďa Labajová: Specific protein-lipid interactions play important role in Clostridioides difficile Min-system functioning
17.00
Welcome drink

DAY 2 Wednesday, June 15, 2022

09.00 – 10.45
Session 2 Gene Expression
Chair: Yulia Yuzenkova
09.00 – 09.30
Jue D. Wang: Transcription Regulation of Purine Biosynthesis by (p)ppGpp
09.30 – 09.45
  • Anne de Jong: Promoter Prediction in Prokaryotes by aid of Machine Learning Technology
09.45 – 10.00
  • * Katharina Kohm: SPβ c2 – a heat inducible representative of the SPβ-like phages provides understanding and further exploration of the complex lysogeny management system
10.00 – 10.15
  • Rajinikanth Mohan: Exploring the molecular basis of thermophilicity in a Bacillus species
10.15 – 10.30
  • Leendert Hamoen: Gintool; enabling transcriptome analysis using regulon information
10.30 – 10.45
  • Smadar Shulami: Repression by DNA looping: Crystal structure and functional analysis of the global transcriptional regulator ScoC
10.45 – 11.30
Coffee Break
11.30 – 13.15
Session 3 RNA, Translation
Chair: Ciaran Condon
11.30 – 12.00
Daniel N. Wilson: David vs Goliath: Ribosome-targeting antibiotics and bacterial resistance mechanisms
12.00 – 12.15
  • Roland K. Hartmann: Dissecting the function of the two paralogous 6S RNAs in an undomesticated Bacillus subtilis wild-type strain
12.15 – 12.30
  • Jarmila Hnilicová: Novel RNA molecules interacting with the bacterial transcription machinery
12.30 – 12.45
  • Harald Putzer: B. subtilis RNase Y and E. coli RNase E : Different enzymes – similar strategies
12.45 – 13.00
  • Peter L Graumann: Segregation of transcription and translation in B. subtilis spatially organizes ribosome assembly and metabolism
13.00 – 13.15
  • * Federico Cerullo: Ribosome stalling and collision sensing in bacteria
13.15 – 14.30
Lunch
13.45 – 14.30
SubtiWiki Workshop I
14.30 – 16.00
Session 4 Cell Morphology
Chair: Jan Maarten van Dijl
14.30 – 15.00
Henrik Strahl: Homeostatic regulation membrane lipid composition: Is fluidity really the important parameter?
15.00 – 15.15
  • Morten Kjos: Identification and characterization of a novel staphylococcal cell morphology determinant
15.15 – 15.30
  • Sjouke Piersma: Adaptation of Bacillus subtilis to low humidity requires a Sigma B-dependent general stress response
15.30 – 15.45
  • * Alaa A Aljohani: Cell Wall Biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis
15.45 – 16.00
  • Anna Dragoš: Takeover of Bacillus subtilis cell biology by a phage
16.00 – 16.30
Coffee Break
16.30 – 18.00
Session 5 Cell Metabolism / Biotechnology
Chair: Ken-ichi Yoshida
16.30 – 17.00
Oscar P. Kuipers: Lanthipeptide biosynthesis: the assembly of the nisin biosynthetic and secretion complex in B. subtilis and in L. lactis
17.00 – 17.15
  • * Jordan Cannon: Subtilisin-mediated bioplastic degradation: from mechanism to application
17.15 – 17.30
  • * Larissa Busch: Exploring the iron starvation stimulon of Staphylococcus aureus using a combination of bioinformatics and experimental approaches
17.30 – 17.45
  • Andrea Graziadei: System-wide discovery of protein-protein interactions and interfaces in Bacillus subtilis
17.45 – 18.00
  • Kürşad Turgay: Protein arginine phosphorylation and dephosphorylation facilitates protein homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis
18.00 – 19.45
Poster Session I
18.00 – 19.45
Buffet dinner

DAY 3 Thursday, June 16, 2022

09.00 – 10.45
Session 6 Cell–Cell Communication
Chair: Leendert Hamoen
09.00 – 09.30
Ines Mandic Mulec: Intra and interspecies interactions shape the war and peace in the Bacillus subtilis world
09.30 – 09.45
  • * Mais Maree: Evidence for SCCmec transfer by natural transformation in Staphylococcus aureus biofilms
09.45 – 10.00
  • Polonca Stefanic: Gram positives against Gram negatives: B. subtilis PS-216 inhibits Campylobacter biofilm formation
10.00 – 10.15
  • Thorsten Mascher: Cannibalism in Bacillus subtilis: Role of programmed cell death in shaping and functionalizing differentiated multicellular populations
10.15 – 10.30
  • * Tomislav Vološen: Controlled interkingdom communication: crosstalk between bacteria Bacillus subtilis and the eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae by utilizing bacterial quorum sensing peptides
10.30 – 10.45
  • * Alexandra Kilb: Single molecule dynamics of the DNA receptor ComEA and DNA uptake in competent Bacillus subtilis cells
10.45 – 11.30
Coffee Break
11.30 – 13.15
Session 7 Motility
Chair: Olga Sotourina
11.30 – 12.00
Daniel B. Kearns: SwrA increases binding affinity at a subset of DegU-regulated promoters
12.00 – 12.15
  • Cinzia Calvio: SwrA: much more than a swarming protein
12.15 – 12.30
  • * Lars Lilge: Strategies for improved surfactin production using Bacillus subtilis
12.30 – 12.45
  • Thomas B Kallehauge: Flagella disruption in Bacillus subtilis increases amylase production yield
12.45 – 13.00
  • Emma L Denham: SpoVG – a global regulator of stationary phase processes
13.00 – 13.15
  • Johann Peltier: c-di-AMP signaling is required for bile salt resistance and long-term colonization by Clostridioides difficile
13.15 – 14.30
Lunch
13.45 – 14.30
SubtiWiki Workshop II
14.30 – 16.15
Session 8 Biofilm
Chair: Ulrike Mader
14.30 – 15.00
Gürol M. Süel: Modulating cell type distribution in a biofilm
15.00 – 15.15
  • Felix Dempwolff: Restoring functionality of a compromised Bacillus subtilis biofilm activator protein
15.15 – 15.30
  • Danae Morales Angeles: SAOUHSC_00671 contributes to cell splitting and biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus and its expression is associated with other peptidoglycan hydrolases
15.30 – 15.45
  • * Jean-Sébastien Bourassa: Second-generation transfer mediates efficient propagation of ICEBs1 in biofilms
15.45 – 16.00
  • * Erika Muratov: Tackling biofilms: Revealing protective components of B. subtilis biofilms in ROS stress
16.00 – 16.15
  • * Yasmine Dergham: Spatial transcriptome profiling unveils multi-scale heterogeneity levels between subpopulations of Bacillus subtilis surface-associated communities
16.15 – 18.00
Poster Session II
16.15 – 18.00
Coffee Break
19.00
Dinner in the city center

DAY 4 Friday, June 17, 2022

09.00 – 10.45
Session 9 Bacterial Virulence
Chair: Monika Ehling Schulz
09.00 – 09.30
Therese M. Koehler: Bacillus anthracis Branched Chain Amino Acid Transporters: Expression, Function, and Relationship to Virulence
09.30 – 09.45
  • Maria Vittoria Mazzuoli: Determination of Staphylococcus aureus infection-mimicking conditions by CRISPRi-Seq
09.45 – 10.00
  • Leyla Slamti: An alternative way of life for Bacillus thuringiensis in the late stages of an infection
10.00 – 10.15
  • Sabrina Jenull: Elucidating the mechanisms conferring self-resistance to the emetic toxin cereulide by the opportunistic pathogen Bacillus cereus
10.15 – 10.30
  • Olga Soutourina: Regulatory RNAs in Clostridioides difficile: from genome-wide identification to targeted characterization and applications
10.30 – 10.45
  • * Lisa M Schulz: Towards characterizing the putative ABC transporter EslABC in the human pathogen Listeria monocytogenes
10.45 – 11.30
Coffee Break
11.30 – 13.15
Session 10 Sporulation
Chair: Imrich Barák
11.30 – 12.00
Adriano O. Henriques: The assembly and functional architecture of the spore surface layers
12.00 – 12.15
  • Peter Müller: A new role for SR1 from Bacillus subtilis – regulation of sporulation by inhibition of kinA
12.15 – 12.30
  • * Matthew J Flores: Investigation of spore-associated lipoproteins YlaJ, YhcN, YutC, and CoxA suggests existence of a complex that stabilizes the germination apparatus in Bacillus subtilis spores
12.30 – 12.45
  • Ciaran Condon: A novel ribonuclease KapD is integrated into the B. subtilis spore surface layers and plays a key role in structuring the outer coat and crust
12.45 – 13.00
  • * Diogo Martins: Insights into the role of CD25890, a conserved protein that modulates sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile
13.00 – 13.15
  • Frederique Pompeo: PrkA regulates Bacillus subtilis sporulation through a Lon protease activity
13.15 – 13.30
Closing Remarks
13.30 – 14.30
Lunch
Contents