Université de Lille – CNRS UMR 9017 – Inserm U1019 – Institut Pasteur de Lille – CHU de Lille
Plague is a highly lethal disease caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis, which emerged relatively recently in human history. Known for the millions of deaths it has caused, plague has profoundly shaped societies at political, economic, and cultural levels. Today, it remains a major international public health concern, heightened by the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains and the risk of deliberate misuse as a biological weapon.
Our research program is built around a central objective: understanding how plague emerged, why it persists, and how its spread can be prevented. We investigate how a benign enteric bacterium evolved into a highly virulent, flea-borne pathogen, and how ongoing microevolution continues to shape epidemic dynamics and disease severity. We integrate molecular, environmental, and societal factors to explain how plague is maintained and how it spreads across time and space. Ultimately, this integrated approach enables the development of innovative strategies to limit transmission and provides a conceptual framework to anticipate the emergence of future infectious threats, including so-called Disease X.
Financements
Projets transversaux
Reconstructing the environmental, biological, and societal drivers of plague outbreaks in Eurasia (1300–1900 CE).
Co-PIs: F. Sebbane (Inserm), N. C. Stenseth (University of Oslo), P. Slavin (University of Stirling), U. Büntgen (University of Cambridge)
This large interdisciplinary project investigates the resurgence of plague in Central Asia during the 14th century and its subsequent spread across Eurasia. By combining historical sources, environmental reconstructions, ancient DNA, and mathematical modeling, the project seeks to unravel why plague repeatedly emerged, spread, and disappeared over time, and to identify the drivers underlying these complex dynamics.
Environmental, biological, and societal determinants of plague re-emergence in France
PI: F. Sebbane
This project aims to identify the ecological and biological conditions that could favor or limit the re-establishment of plague on French territory. Using an interdisciplinary approach, it seeks to anticipate and prevent plague re-emergence, while developing a conceptual and operational framework applicable to other zoonotic diseases.
The adaptive nature of plague transmission by fleas
PI: F. Sebbane
ADAPT explores how flea biology and the microevolution of Yersinia pestis shape plague transmission, persistence, and extinction. By combining experimental biology, omics approaches, and epidemiological modeling, the project addresses why plague can re-emerge after long periods of silence or disappear entirely from certain regions.
Biological determinants of flea physiology and pathogen transmission
PI: A. Rolandelli
This project focuses on the largely neglected biology of fleas, key vectors of plague and other diseases. It aims to identify the physiological factors that influence their ability to transmit pathogens, providing essential knowledge to better understand flea-borne disease dynamics and to develop sustainable control strategies.
Biological determinants of flea physiology and pathogen transmission
PI: A. Rolandelli
RESISTOMIC complements MSCA FACTORS by strengthening regional research capacity on flea biology and vector competence. It supports the development of experimental and analytical approaches aimed at deciphering how flea physiology shapes pathogen transmission.
Bacterial signaling and adaptation of Yersinia pestis to its vector
PI: S. Bontemps-Gallo
This project investigates how Yersinia pestis senses and adapts to the flea gut environment through bacterial signaling pathways. By characterizing vector-associated stresses and bacterial responses, it aims to identify novel molecular targets for innovative anti-plague strategies.
Mapping regulatory network dynamics in Yersinia pestis
PI: S. Bontemps-Gallo
This exploratory project develops an innovative mass-spectrometry-based approach to capture bacterial signaling network dynamics during infection. Applied to Y. pestis, it provides a systems-level view of how environmental cues are integrated during host and vector colonization.
Membres
Camille HAGNERE
Engineer
Camille DUPONT
Technician
Mattéo FOURRE
Master 2 student
Mots-clés
Contact d'équipe
Publications
Emerging Microbes & Infections.
Proteins of the SubB family provide multiple mechanisms of serum resistance in Yersinia pestis.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.
Assessing the threat of Yersinia pestis harboring a multi-resistant IncC plasmid and the efficacy of an antibiotic targeting LpxC.
Journal of Bacteriology.
The CpxAR signaling system confers a fitness advantage for flea gut colonization by the plague bacillus.
Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
A Widefield Light Microscopy-Based Approach Provides Further Insights into the Colonization of the Flea Proventriculus by Yersinia pestis.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Emergence and spread of ancestral Yersinia pestis in Late-Neolithic and Bronze-Age Eurasia, ca. 5,000 to 1,500 y B.P.
The ISME Journal.
Interplay between Yersinia pestis and its flea vector in lipoate metabolism.
PLoS Pathogens.
