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 available to society the knowledge acquired at the fundamental level to propose improvements or new solutions that respond to the major issues facing society. These solutions will, of course, be based on scientific questions, but also on appropriate technological developments.

The problems of recovering waste (municipal, agricultural, aquaculture, etc.) using marine micro-organisms could be combined with the problems of producing bio-energies (hydrogen, methane, micro-algae, etc.). Understanding and improving bioprocesses will be possible thanks to our knowledge of microorganisms, their metabolisms and the associated viral controls, via omics approaches, and thanks to the team's automated and instrumented pilot installations, which enable the analytical monitoring of reactors under controlled conditions. This research will be developed in close collaboration with developing countries, in particular as part of the LMI Biotech H2, and with industrial partners.

Biomarkers of human activity and knowledge of microbial dynamics and activities in urban areas and/or areas used by humans will provide decision-making tools for environmental management. For example, the management of port activities using indicators will make it possible to manage risks by prioritising actions according to their impact. Similarly, the development of indicators to understand the elements governing the microbial system in mangroves will provide additional information for monitoring water quality.