The study of Brucella is one of the areas of microbiology in which UNamur research teams have specialised for more than twenty years. This pathogenic bacteria infects livestock, causing Brucellosis, a disease that can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of unpasteurised dairy products, contact with infected animal tissue or inhalation. It is one of the most widespread zoonoses in the world.

A catalogue of weaknesses

Over the years of research, the team led by Professor Xavier De Bolle, Professor in the Department of Biology, member of the Microorganism Biology Research Unit (URBM) at the University of Namur and investigator at the WEL Research Institute, has been able to establish a kind of “catalogue” of Brucella's weaknesses. 

There are millions of species of bacteria.  It is therefore impossible to study them on a case-by-case basis.  However, they have similar behaviours and functions, which is why a specific bacterium is considered the model: Escherichia coli (or E. coli), an intestinal bacteria found in warm-blooded organisms.  Discovered in 1885, it has been the subject of numerous studies and has therefore become a reference in scientific literature. 

A bacterium such as E. coli or Brucella is like an onion with only two layers (inner and outer membrane) and a central element (the cytoplasm) in which the organism produces everything it needs. It also exports elements to the outside, particularly lipids.  However, these processes are still poorly understood, even for E. coli. Nevertheless, they represent an interesting avenue to explore to reach the heart of the pathogenic bacteria.

Mutants pave the way

During this research, which combined bacteriology and genetics, the researchers developed a technology that allows them to induce mutations in Brucella and also to identify where these mutations are located. They succeeded in creating a mutant that showed them the way to a veritable ‘lipid tunnel’, a passageway in the inner and outer membrane walls of the bacteria.  

Brucella

This provides valuable information about a new weakness in the pathogen and therefore provides information on how to combat it more effectively.

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Xavier De Bolle

Our research, funded by the FNRS and the WEL Research Institute, is fundamental. Of course, we are still in the very early stages of developing applied processes. But we are taking another step towards unlocking the secrets of Brucella's armour so that one day we can hope to control the disease with an effective vaccine

Xavier De Bolle Professor, Department of Biology, Microorganism Biology Research Unit (URBM)
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An international research team

  • Adélie Lannoy (currently post-doc in Toulouse) and Xavier De Bolle (URBM, UNamur – Belgium)
  • Marc Dieu and Patsy Renard (UNamur, URBC - Belgium)
  • Antonia García Fernández (Centro de Metabolómica y Bioanálisis (CEMBIO), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad San Pablo-CEU – Spain)
  • Raquel Condez-Alvarez (Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA)University of Navarra – Spain)

The researchers would like to thank the FNRS and the WEL Research Institute for their support in this research. They would also like to thank the ‘Mass Spectrometry – MaSUN’ platform and the ‘Level 3 Biosafety Laboratory – BL3’ technology platform at UNamur for their cutting-edge equipment and expertise.

Xavier De Bolle - Mini CV

Xavier De Bolle presented his doctorate at UNamur (FUNDP at the time) in 1995. After 4 years of post-doc, including one at the University of Oxford, he joined URBM (Biology, Sciences), where he leads a research group. He has supervised 25 doctoral theses (including 4 in progress) and some of his former students have generated their own research team (at the UNamur, the UCLouvain, the VUB).

Professor Xavier De Bolle is a member of the URBM in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Science of the University of Namur. He is a member of the Namur Research Institute for Life Sciences (Narilis). 

Since June 2024, he is also a researcher at the WEL Research Institute for the Welbio-Health programme in the field of ‘Microbiology and Infectious Diseases’.

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This work illustrates the cutting-edge expertise developed at UNamur in the field of molecular microbiology, an area in which UNamur has decided to invest by organising a master's degree in molecular microbiology since September 2019. This is a unique master's degree in Europe, taught entirely in English and rooted in research.

Find out more about the Master's degree in Molecular Microbiology

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