Environmental Microbiology Bioprocesses (SEM)
Managers: Laurie Casalot and Benjamin Misson
The MEB team explores taxonomic and functional microbial diversity in the oceans, with historic expertise in the isolation and essential characterisation of cultured models.
This descriptive exploration is complemented by a comprehensive view of the role of microorganisms and their interactions in the functioning of marine ecosystems. These fundamental foundations provide a better understanding of the impact of human activities and pave the way for the development of bioprocesses.
The team's research is organised around 4 unifying themes
Exploring the microbial marine world
Marine microorganisms are major players in the functioning of the oceans, but are still largely unknown. The identification of new species of bacteria, archaea, viruses or unicellular eukaryotes, and the description of microbial assemblages and their dynamics under given environmental conditions form an important basis of marine microbial ecology.
Functional microbial ecology from gene to ecosystem
Exploring the biodiversity of marine ecosystems allows us to characterise the microbial world present, but does not provide any clues as to how these ecosystems function.
As well as describing the microbial world, the SEM team's research activities will aim to understand the role of this microbial compartment in the transfer of matter and energy in the marine environment.
Marine microorganisms in the Anthropocene era
Marine microbial diversity and functions vary in space and time according to their biotic and abiotic environments. As an integral part of this environment, humans exert a range of pressures and disturbances on the marine environment, both on a global scale (climate change) and a local scale (chemical pollution).
Microbial ecology and major societal challenges
Knowledge of marine ecosystems and how they function enables us to identify microbial metabolisms and functional traits. By taking into account the human impact on ecosystems, we can identify potential targets for improving our activities to lessen their effect, or tools for exploiting microbial resources. The MEB team will make the knowledge acquired at the fundamental level available to society in order to propose improvements or new solutions in response to major societal issues.