Our work explores how cells organise their genomes, how chromatin systems change across evolution, and how conserved molecular components acquire new functions.
The MIMIC Lab was established in 2024. This page includes recent research conducted from Cambridge alongside selected earlier publications that established the foundations of our current work.
Recent preprints
Chromatin is dispensable for bacterial life
Villain P, Hocher A, Serizay J, Whilding C, Montoya A, Shliaha PV, Koszul R and Warnecke T. bioRxiv (2026). Preprint.
Removing the nine most abundant nucleoid-associated proteins from Escherichia coli produces viable cells but profoundly alters genome organisation and gene expression. The work separates the basic requirements for bacterial life from the regulatory functions supplied by chromatin.
A bactericidal phospholipase from archaea
Taissir C, Strock R, Wang Y, et al., including Hocher A. bioRxiv (2026). Preprint.
Identification of Cinquedea, a secreted archaeal phospholipase with potent bactericidal activity, reveals another molecular mechanism through which archaea compete with bacteria.
Repurposing a chromosome-segregation ParB-CTPase fold into an ATPase toxin for contact-dependent growth inhibition
Kaljević J et al., including Hocher A. bioRxiv (2026). Preprint.
This study shows how a conserved component of bacterial chromosome segregation can be repurposed into an antibacterial toxin, illustrating how evolution generates new molecular functions from existing protein architectures.
Localised activity of reverse gyrase at gene regulatory elements
Villain P, Kuzin V, Darennes-Degaugue A, et al., including Hocher A. bioRxiv (2025). Preprint.
Genome-wide analysis of reverse gyrase activity reveals preferential action at regulatory elements, connecting DNA topology with transcriptional regulation in hyperthermophilic archaea.
Molecular innovation and microbial conflict
Type III secretion system chaperones: a helping hand for secretion
Roepke KC, Galsworthy AJ, Agbamu A, Sheldon IC, Hocher A and Godlee C. Microbiology 172, 001753 (2026). Review.
Type III secretion systems use specialised chaperones to stabilise their substrates, prevent premature activity and coordinate targeting and secretion. This review compares chaperone classes across bacterial pathogens, examines the conservation of their sequences and structures, and asks to what extent chaperones are universally required for effector secretion.
Versatile NTP recognition and domain fusions expand the functional repertoire of the ParB-CTPase fold beyond chromosome segregation
Kaljević J, Sukhoverkov KV, Johnson KE, Hocher A and Le TBK. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences122, e2527592122 (2025).
A survey across bacteria, archaea, viruses and eukaryotes reveals that the ParB-CTPase fold is a widespread and evolutionarily versatile molecular switch. Different family members bind CTP, ATP or GTP and have repeatedly acquired new functions through domain fusion.
Archaea produce peptidoglycan hydrolases that kill bacteria
Strock R, Soo VW, Misson P, Roumelioti G, Shliaha PV, Hocher A and Warnecke T. PLOS Biology 23, e3003235 (2025).
A genome-guided search uncovered archaeal enzymes that degrade bacterial cell walls. The work provides direct evidence that archaea possess dedicated molecular mechanisms for antagonistic interactions with bacteria.
Chromatin evolution across the tree of life
Nucleosomes at the dawn of eukaryotes
Hocher A and Warnecke T. Genome Biology and Evolution 16, evae029 (2024). Review.
A perspective on the emergence of the eukaryotic nucleosome, examining the evolutionary transitions that produced four specialised core histones, obligate heterodimers and histone tails.
Histones with an unconventional DNA-binding mode in vitro are major chromatin constituents in the bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus
Hocher A, Laursen SP, Radford P, Tyson J, Lambert C, Stevens KM, Montoya A, Shliaha PV, Picardeau M, Sockett RE, Luger K and Warnecke T. Nature Microbiology 8, 2006–2019 (2023).
This work demonstrated for the first time that bona fide histones are major chromatin components in bacteria.
Growth temperature and chromatinization in archaea
Hocher A, Borrel G, Fadhlaoui K, Brugère J-F, Gribaldo S and Warnecke T. Nature Microbiology 7, 1932–1942 (2022).
Comparative analysis across archaea identified growth temperature as a major predictor of chromatin composition, linking environmental adaptation to the evolution of genome-organising proteins.
Deep conservation of histone variants in Thermococcales archaea
Stevens KM, Hocher A and Warnecke T. Genome Biology and Evolution 14, evab274 (2022).
Closely related archaeal histone variants possess distinct and conserved molecular properties, supporting functional specialisation within archaeal chromatin.
Histone variants in archaea and the evolution of combinatorial chromatin complexity
Stevens KM, Swadling JB, Hocher A, Bang C, Gribaldo S, Schmitz RA and Warnecke T. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 117, 33384–33395 (2020).
Archaeal histone variants can combine to generate complexes with different DNA-binding properties. The results suggest that combinatorial chromatin complexity predates the emergence of eukaryotes.
The DNA-binding protein HTa from Thermoplasma acidophilum is an archaeal histone analog
Hocher A, Rojec M, Swadling JB, Esin A and Warnecke T. eLife 8, e52542 (2019).
The archaeon T. acidophilum has replaced histones with HTa, a protein derived from the bacterial HU family. This represents a striking example of one chromatin system evolutionarily replacing another.
Chromatinization of Escherichia coli with archaeal histones
Rojec M, Hocher A, Stevens KM, Merkenschlager M and Warnecke T. eLife 8, e49038 (2019).
Introducing archaeal histones into E. coli established a synthetic histone-based chromatin state, revealing both the immediate consequences of global DNA wrapping and the capacity of cells to adapt to a foreign chromosome-organising system.
Chromatin domains and nuclear organisation
Sir3 mediates long-range chromosome interactions in budding yeast
Ruault M, Scolari VF, Lazar-Stefanita L, Hocher A, Loïodice I, Noûs C, Koszul R and Taddei A. Genome Research31, 411–425 (2021).
The heterochromatin protein Sir3 directly promotes contacts between distant chromosome regions, connecting local chromatin assembly with the three-dimensional organisation of the yeast genome.
Subtelomeres as specialised chromatin domains
Hocher A and Taddei A. BioEssays 42, 1900205 (2020). Review.
A synthesis of the distinctive structural, regulatory and evolutionary properties of subtelomeric regions, extending their definition beyond telomere-proximal heterochromatin.
Expanding heterochromatin reveals discrete subtelomeric domains delimited by chromatin landscape transitions
Hocher A, Ruault M, Kaferle P, Descrimes M, Garnier M, Morillon A and Taddei A. Genome Research 28, 1867–1881 (2018).
Experimental expansion of silent chromatin revealed that yeast subtelomeres are discrete chromosome domains whose boundaries are defined by transitions in the surrounding chromatin landscape.
Complete publication record
For a complete and continuously updated bibliography, visit:
MIMIC Lab | Microbial Chromatin and DNA-Mimicking Proteins 