Germán Rivas' group at CIB-Margarita Salas

Welcome to the Systems Biochemistry of Bacterial Division laboratory at the CIB Margarita Salas

 

Cell division is one of the most fundamental processes of life; therefore, its reconstruction from its molecular building blocks in artificial cell systems is a complex but relevant challenge in synthetic biology. Our laboratory explores the biochemical mechanisms governing the functional interactions of the bacterial division machinery (the divisome) to reconstruct, from the bottom up, operating simplified versions of the divisome in controlled cell-like environments, in the absence of cells.

 

The mode of operation of these subcellular systems is governed not only by specific molecular interactions between their components but also by the impact of physicochemical phenomena (as macromolecular crowding, surface interactions and biomolecular condensation driven by  phase separation) inherent of the cell interior in which they function. Therefore, we specifically investigate the role of these elements of the intracellular complexity on the behavior and spatiotemporal organization of the reconstituted minimal divisomes.

 

Our research program, which is framed on the quest of building synthetic cells from scratch, integrates biochemistry, molecular biophysics, membrane reconstitution, and bottom-up synthetic biology approaches. The knowledge acquired and the tools developed will also be exploited to explore novel applications of synthetic divisomes in drug discovery and technology. They will also contribute to understanding how bacteria control their cell cycle events and organize the intracellular space and to dividing proto-cellular systems.