Adrienne KISH
Lecturer
Lecturer
Affiliation entity
ChemBioM Chemistry and Biology of Microorganisms
Interdisplinary research theme
Extremophile microbiology, Molecular mechanisms of microbial survival under extreme conditions
Researches
Accreditation to supervise research
Speciality
Microbiology (archaea and bacteria), Molecular and cellular adaptations to extreme environments, Bioremediation, Biomineralization, Extremophiles, Astrobiology/Exobiology
Contact
Social networks
E-mail
adrienne.kish [at] mnhn.fr
Phone
01 40 79 31 53
Address(es)
43 rue Buffon
24 allée des crapauds
75005 Paris
Responsibilities inside unit
Scientific coordinator of the MCAM Bacteriology service
Appointed member of the MCAM Research Unit Council
Responsibilities outside unit
Coordinator Units ES2 (Microbiodiversity) of the Master 1 (ES program MNHN/Sorbonne University)
Online communications coordinator for MES Master (LinkedIn)
Elected member of the European Astrobiology Network Association executive council http://www.eana-net.eu/
Vice-President of the French Society of Exobiology https://www.exobiologie.fr/
Expert member of the European Space Agency Life Sciences Working Group (ESA LSWG)
Expert Member of the European Space Agency Gateway / Moon Facility Definition Team
Expert Member of the French Space Agency (CNES) Thematic Groupe ” Exobiology, Exoplanets, and Planetary protection” (E2P2)
Guest Editor, Frontiers in Microbiology Research Topic “Astrobiology At The Interface: Interactions Between Biospheres, Geospheres, Hydrospheres And Atmospheres Under Planetary Conditions”
Member of the grant review panel for the CNRS INSU, program INTERRVIE, action TelluS (2018-2023)
Member of the grant review panel « Action Transversale du Muséum (ATM) »
Teaching
Master 1 : Master « Evolution, patrimoine naturel et société » du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle – ED 227, Spécialité MVE (Mécanismes du Vivant et Environnement)
TC1b : Tronc Commun - tutorat
MVE2 : Introduction à la biodiversité des micro-organismes
MVE5 : Diversité et biologie fonctionnelle des micro-organismes
MVE6 : Molécules de défense et de communication des micro-organismes
Master 2 : Master « Evolution, patrimoine naturel et société » spécialité « Mécanismes du vivant et Environnement » du MNHN et « Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire » spécialité « Microbiologie » de l’UPMC
MVE20 : Biodiversité et écologie fonctionnelle des microorganismes
MVE21 : Caractérisation, rôle, et valorisation des molécules microbiennes
École Doctorale (ED227): « Interfaces microorganismes-minéraux dans l’histoire de la biogéosphère » et « Life at the Limits »
Presentation
News
PhD Defense - Congratulations to Dr Lucas Bourmancé, who successfully defended his thesis entitled “Characterizing the Influence of Space Radiation and Complex Brines on the Preservation of the Cell Envelope of Halobacterium salinarum as a Biosignature of Ancient Life”. Thanks again to all the jury members: Pr Hervé Cottin (UPEC), Pr Melike Balk (ESA), Dr Ruth-Sophie Taubner (Space Research Institute, Graz), Dr Mark Fox-Powell (Astrobiology OU), and Dr Samuel Marre (ICMCB).
Image
Research Activities
Beyond the boundaries of the ‘ideal’ conditions for microbial life exists a diverse group of microorganisms (mostly prokaryotic bacteria and archaea) that thrive in ‘extreme’ conditions that present serious physical and chemical challenges for the survival of living organisms (pH, temperature, hydrostatic pressure, high concentrations of salts/metals, etc). These ‘extremophiles’ possess adaptations that protect them from the cellular damages induced by the surrounding environment. We use an interdisciplinary approach to characterize the molecular mechanisms enabling the survival of such microorganisms, and identify adaptations enabling survival under a variety of stress conditions. Fundamentally, understanding these mechanisms at the cellular and molecular levels increases our understanding of global biodiversity and geo(bio)chemical cycles, provides resistant biomolecules for structural studies, and even contributes to medical research in areas like DNA damage and repair (cancer). It also helps us trace the origins of life on Earth and determine the possibility for life on other planets.
We are currently focusing on the roles of cell surface wall components called S-layers as adaptations against abiotic stresses in the environment (metals, salts, extremes in temperatures/pH, etc). S-layers are self-assembling proteinaceous structures present as well-ordered arrays on the surface of bacterial and archaeal cells as part of the cell envelope, forming their interaction interface with the external milieu. The direct contact of the S-layer with the surrounding environment provides a context for understanding mineral / microorganism interactions. S-layer proteins form an ordered structure that can serve as a site of nucleation for bio- or organo-mineralization. Preservation of S-layers during fossilization and diagenesis provides a potential biosignature for microbial life in the fossil record. The study of S-layers has implications for the origins and evolution of life on Earth, and the potential for life on other planets such as Mars.
Credits
Adrienne Kish, Kjell Ove Storvik
“The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first,
Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.”
-Walt Whitman “Song of the open road”
Additional Research Interests
- Origins and evolution of microbial life
- Astrobiology/Exobiology
Selection of Articles Prior to 2012
Glamoclija M, Fogel M, Steele A, Kish A. (2012) Microbial Nitrogen and Sulfur Cycles at the Gypsum Dunes of White Sands National Monument, New Mexico. Geomicrobiology Journal. 29:8, 733-51.
Kish A, Griffin P, Rogers K, Fogel M, Hemley R, Steele A. (2012) High-Pressure Tolerance in Halobacterium salinarum NRC-1 and Other Non-Piezophilic Prokaryotes. Extremophiles. 16(2):355-61.
Kish A, Kirkali G, Robinson C, Rosenblatt R, Jaruga P, Dizdaroglu M, and DiRuggiero J. (2009) Salt Shield: Intracellular Salts Provide Cellular Protection against Ionizing Radiation in the Halophilic Archaeon, Halobacterium salinarum str. NRC-1. Environ Microbiol. May;11(5):1066-78.
Whitehead K* & Kish A*, Pan M, Kaur A, Reiss DJ, King N, Hohmann L, DiRuggiero J, Baliga NS. (2006) An integrated systems approach for understanding cellular responses to gamma radiation. Mol.Syst.Biol. 2:47. (*these authors contributed equally to this work)
Kottemann M, Kish A, Iloanusi C, Bjork S, DiRuggiero J. (2005) Physiological Responses of the Halophilic Archaeon Halobacterium sp. str. NRC1 to Desiccation and Gamma Irradiation. Extremophiles Jun,9(3):219-27.
Kish A, Hummerick M, Roberts M, Garland J, Maxwell S, Mills A. (2002) Biostability and microbiological analysis of Shuttle crew refuse. SAE Technical Paper 01–2356.
Collective Activities
- Participation in the annual “Festival of Science”
- Member of the following professional organizations : Société Française d’Exobiologie, Société Française de Biochimie et Biologie Moléculaire, European Astrobiology Network Association, American Society for Microbiology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Mars Society of Canada, American Geophysical Union, European Association of Geochemistry
Projects
Current Projects
Credits
Adrienne Kish
HALO projects: These projects address the molecules used by and transfered between salt-loving (halophiliic/halotolerant) microorganisms in hypersaline environments, with a special focus on the S-layer protein bearing cell envelope of haloarchaea as an interface with the surrounding abiotic environment. Funding: CNRS, MNHN
-Molecular Acclimation of Haloarchaea to Survival in Halite Brine Inclusions. Principal collaborators: Charly Favreau (doctoral researcher), Séverine Zirah, Marie Marugan, Benjamin Marie, Arul Marie, Rémy Puppo (MCAM, MNHN); Alicia Tribondeau (doctoral reasearcher, PhyMA, MNHN); Arnaud Huguet (METIS, SU); Béatrice Alpha-Bazin (DRF/Li2D, CEA-Marcoule); François Guyot (IMPMC, MNHN/SU)
More about this project: How can microorganisms live inside a salt crystal? Doctoral candidate Charly Favreau and our fantastic team of collaborators present key new methods for isolating proteins directly & specifically from inside halite brine inclusions (microscopic drop of brine water inside NaCl salt crystals), and reveal for the first time the changes in protein expression allowing the halophilic archaeon Halobacterium salinarum to survive the early stage after evaporation within salt crystals: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1075274/full
Credits
Charly Favreau
- Effects of entrapment inside halite on the cell envelopes of living haloarchaea (structure, composition, function). Principal collaborators : Elisa Ravaro (assistant ingénieur), Xavier Marques (MCAM, MNHN); David Burr (doctorant), Andreas Elsaesser (Freie Universität Berlin).
- Preservation of haloarchaeal cell envelopes as biosignatures in salt crystals under different simulated solar radiation regimes. Principal collaborators: Lucas Bourmancé (doctoral researcher), Arul Marie, Rémy Puppo (MCAM, MNHN); Rubent Nitsche (doctoral researcher)), Andreas Elsaesser (Freie Universität Berlin); Sébastien Brûlé, Bertrand Raynal (Institut Pasteur); Philippe Schaeffer (Université de Strasbourg)
- Lipid adaptation of Halobacterium salinarum in extreme salinity: implications for longterm survival. Principal collaborators: Emelyne Joreau (doctoral researcher), Arnaud Huguet (METIS, Sorbonne Université); Sarah Coffinet (Université de Rennes); Vincent Grossi (Institut Méditerranéen d’Océanologie)
Funding: CNRS
Credits
Andreas Elsaesser
-ExocubeHALO (Preservation of Cell Surface Biosignatures of HALOphilic Microorganisms Exposed to Space Radiation on Exocube). Collaborative Franco-German exobiology project between the lab groups of Adrienne Kish and Andreas Elsaessar (PI Exocube https://www.elsaesserlab.space/projects/project-two-hd6hl) (Freie Universität Berlin). Principal collaborators: Lucas Bourmancé (doctoral researcher), Elisa Ravaro (assistant microbiology reasearcher), Bérénice Piquet, Séverine Zirah, Arul Marie, Rémy Puppo (MCAM, MNHN); Samuel Marre, Anaïs Cario, Maïder Abadie (ICMCB; https://www.icmcb-bordeaux.cnrs.fr/en/teams/group7/scientific/); David Burr (doctoral researcher), Ruben Nitsche (doctoral researcher), Andreas Elsaesser (Freie Universität Berlin)
Funding: ANR (ANR-PRCI ANR-21-CE49-0017-01), CNES Exobiology program
- ALPINE (Evaluation and Application of microbial membrane Lipids as (paleo)environmental Proxies In lacustriNe sEttings). Collaboration with project PI Arnaud Huguet (Sorbonne Université)
Funding: ANR (ANR-22-CE01-0002)
Past Projects
Bio-(organo-)mineralisation and fossilization of microbial S-layers under hydrothermal conditions. Principal collaborators: François Guyot, Sylvain Bernard, Jennyfer Miot, Laurent Remusat (IMPMC, MNHN)
Fe phosphate mineral-encrusted Sulfolobus acidocaldarius cell (hyperthermoacidophilic archaeon) observed by transmission electron microscopy. (Right) CryoTEM image of the amorphous Fe phosphate minerals (with accompanying EDX spectra) rendering the p3 hexagonal symmetry of the S. acidocaldarius S-layer visible (inset image). (Left) Cross-section of a Fe phosphate encrusted S. acidocaldarius cell showing the preserved S-layer structure (electron bright spots shown in inset image). Images from Kish, A., Miot, J., Lombard, C., Guigner, J-M., Bernard, S., Zirah, S., and Guyot, F. (2016)...
Credits
© Adrienne Kish
Figure: Fe phosphate mineral-encrusted Sulfolobus acidocaldarius cell (hyperthermoacidophilic archaeon) observed by transmission electron microscopy. (Right) CryoTEM image of the amorphous Fe phosphate minerals (with accompanying EDX spectra) rendering the p3 hexagonal symmetry of the S. acidocaldarius S-layer visible (inset image). (Left) Cross-section of a Fe phosphate encrusted S. acidocaldarius cell showing the preserved S-layer structure (electron bright spots shown in inset image)
Kish, A., Miot, J., Lombard, C., Guigner, J-M., Bernard, S., Zirah, S., and Guyot, F. (2016) Preservation of Archaeal Surface Layer Structure During Mineralization. Scientific Reports, 6:26152.
Heavy Metal: Bioremediation
We are investigating the roles of cellular surface biopolymers including exopolysaccharides (EPS) and S-layer proteins in the biosorption and bioremediation of heavy metals and radionuclides in environments contaminated by activities such as mining.
Principal collaborators: Virginie Chapon, Laurie Piette (CEA, DSV-IBEB-SBVME-LIPM); Séverine Zirah, Carine Lombard (MCAM, MNHN)
Chandramohan A, Remusat L, Duprat E, Zirah S, Lombard C, Kish A. 2019. Novel mechanism for surface layer shedding and regenerating in bacteria exposed to metal-contaminated conditions. Frontiers in Microbiology 9:3210.
Credits
Adrienne Kish
Figure: S-layer mineralization the metallotolerant bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. after exposure to Fe. (A) Empty mineralized S-layer “shell” lacking a cell observed by SEM (secondary electron mode) after exposure of Lysinibacillus sp. TchIII 20n38 to a Fe-rich solution. Empty S-layer mineral encrustation can be thick (lift-side image) or thinner and “lacy” (right-side image). (B) Top and bottom images show cells emerging from shed mineralized S-layers. Cells were in mid-exponential growth phase prior to exposed to Fe, followed by incubated in LB for up to 5 days. Black arrows show emerging cells. White arrows indicate mineralized S-layers.
Chandramohan A, Remusat L, Duprat E, Zirah S, Lombard C, Kish A. (2019) Novel mechanism for surface layer shedding and regenerating in bacteria exposed to metal-contaminated conditions. Frontiers in Microbiology 9:3210.
Recent General Public Seminars
2023 - invited speaker Les Nuits Etoilées d’Auvergne « Exobiologie : D’autres formes de vie dans l’univers ? »
2023 - invited speaker European Astrobiology Institute Academy « Life with a pinch of salt » https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7aeQr6Bfb4
2022 – vidéo AstroBioEdu (Société Française d’Exobiologie) « Exobiologie en orbite » https://astrobioeducation.org/fr/video/43 (in French)
2021 au présent – Membre du Comité d’Organisation des webinars « Archaea Power Hour Europa » pour (et par) des jeunes cheurcheur.euse.s
2021 - invited guest, podcast “Joyful Microbe” https://joyfulmicrobe.com/extremophiles-adrienne-kish/ (in English)
2021 - Skype a Scientist
2021 - public webinar Cité des Sciences « Microbes de l’extrême: des durs à cuire » (“Extreme microbes: The tough ones”) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6UAXUV0FDk (in French)
2021 - invited guest, podcast “Chercheuses” http://2021 - invitée du podcast « Chercheuses » https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Tyiqbad6dE0F09gL1aDe8 (in French)
2020 - public seminar/webinar «La vie dans les milieux extrêmes», Les Jeudis de la Fondation Rovaltain, 5 May 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9CldAShlwA (in French)
2019 - invited guest, radio program «La Méthode Scientifique » on France Culture on 13 May 2019, Adrienne Kish and Patrick Forterre « Extrêmophiles : la vie à toute épreuve » (“Extremophiles: Life at all challenges”) https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/la-methode-scientifique/la-methode-scientifique-emission-du-lundi-13-mai-2019 (in French)
2018 - invited public seminar (Kish A) « Bizarre, comme c’est bizarre! (Les extrêmophiles: Les formes de vie insolites sur Terre) » (“Extremophiles: The most surprising forms of life on Earth”), Société des Amis du Muséum, MNHN, Paris, FRANCE <https://www.facebook.com/events/603520906709208/>
2017 - invited speaker, round table panelist CNES « Mardis de l’espace » (“Space Tuesdays) « Planètes habitables, planètes habitées? » (“Habitable planets, inhabited planets?”), Kish A, Butel B,Turbet M, Viso, M., CNES, Paris, FRANCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnqKHdFyTrQ (in French)
Publications
2025
- , 2025 — The salty tango of brine composition and UV photochemistry effects on Halobacterium salinarum cell envelope biosignature preservation. Communications Biology vol. 8, n° 1, p. 1-14ISSN2399-3642
2023
- , 2023 — Future space experiment platforms for astrobiology and astrochemistry research. npj Microgravity vol. 9, n° 1, p. 1-9ISSN2373-8065
- , 2023 — Molecular acclimation of Halobacterium salinarum to halite brine inclusions. Frontiers in Microbiology vol. 13, , p. 1075274ISSN1664-302X
- , 2023 — Membrane lipid adaptation of soil Bacteroidetes isolates to temperature and pH. Frontiers in Microbiology vol. 14, , p. 1032032ISSN1664-302X
2020
- , 2020 — Improved Isolation of SlaA and SlaB S-layer proteins in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. Extremophiles vol. 24, n° 4, p. 673-680ISSN1433-4909
2019
- , 2019 — Novel Mechanism for Surface Layer Shedding and Regenerating in Bacteria Exposed to Metal-Contaminated Conditions. Frontiers in Microbiology vol. 9, , p. 3210ISSN1664-302X
2017
- , 2017 — Experimental maturation of Archaea encrusted by Fe-phosphates. Scientific Reports vol. 7, n° 1, p. 16984ISSN2045-2322
2016
- , 2016 — Post-translational methylations of the archaeal Mre11:Rad50 complex throughout the DNA damage response. Molecular microbiology vol. 100, n° 2, p. 362-78ISSN1365-2958 (Electronic) 0950-382X (Linking)
- , 2016 — Preservation of Archaeal Surface Layer Structure During Mineralization. Scientific Reports vol. 6, n° 1, p. 26152ISSN2045-2322
2015
- , 2015 — « Electrophoresis » in Encyclopedia of Astrobiology.. Encyclopedia of Astrobiology , , dir. Springer-Verlag GmbH p. 718-719 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-11274-4