Dr. D. Le Coq obtained his Ph.D. in 1983 in the University Pierre & Marie Curie (Paris 6) after working on protein secretion and genetic regulation in B. subtilis, under the direction of Dr. P. Gay. He carried out postdoctoral studies on genetics of B. subtilis sporulation at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, at La Jolla (California, USA) under the direction of Dr. J.A. Hoch. He then took a position of “Chargé de Recherche” at CNRS at the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon, now AgroParisTech, where several years of research were mainly focused on the mechanism of regulation by antiterminators of the BglG/SacY family in B. subtilis, and the link with the phosphotransferase system. He then has switched to more global studies, first by participating to the functional analysis of B. subtilis genes, and then in the MICALIS Institute of INRAE to research on the regulation of the fluxes of the central carbon metabolism in this organism. More recently he became involved in studies of spatiotemporal genetic regulations associated to the formation of complex and structured thick biofilms by a non domesticated B. subtilis strain.