How tiny parasites shape bacteria and their impact on us – with Professor Penadés
When viruses and satellites meet: how tiny parasites shape bacteria and their impact on us.
Professor José Penadés FRS - Chair in Microbiology, Department of Infectious Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial.
Bacteria are constantly under attack by viruses known as bacteriophages, or phages. But phages themselves are not alone - many carry even smaller “satellites,” genetic hitchhikers that exploit them for their own benefit. These battles between phages, satellites, and bacteria are not just microscopic curiosities: they drive bacterial evolution, influencing how bacteria spread, survive, and even cause disease in humans and animals.
In this talk, Professor Penadés will explore this hidden world of microbial parasites, reveal how satellites and phages shape the destiny of bacteria, and discuss why understanding these interactions could open new doors to tackling antibiotic resistance and infectious diseases.
José Penadés is a microbiologist who studies the emergence and evolution of clinically relevant bacteria. His group is recognised for its understanding of how bacteriophages (viruses that infect bacteria) and other mobile genetic elements mobilise bacterial chromosomal genes, driving bacterial evolution. He discovered the most powerful mode of bacteriophage-mediated gene transfer described to date: lateral transduction. He demonstrated that through this mechanism the mobility of bacterial chromosomes exceeds that of DNA elements classically considered mobile.
He also discovered and characterised the mechanism of transfer of a widespread and clinically important family of genetic elements found in diverse bacterial pathogens: the Phage-Inducible Chromosomal Islands (PICIs). Importantly, his lab revealed that PICIs engage in a novel and more versatile mechanism of gene transfer, related to but different from lateral transduction, which he named lateral cotransduction. These findings deepen our understanding of genetic mobility and its implications for bacterial adaptation and virulence.
Penadés is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and a member of the European Academy of Microbiology and the European Molecular Biology Organisation.
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