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Pollinators conservation is facing a strong taxonomic impediment which impacts the quality, speed and costs of pollination studies. France hosts 970 species of wild bees. The identification of many of them rely on expertise not because it is difficult, but due to the lack of proper tools. However, e

Gene regulation plays an essential role in shaping species differences and modulating phenotypes across development and environmental conditions. It essentially works through the recruitment of trans-acting intermediates to cis-acting DNA sequences affecting the expression of the nearby gene. While

In prokaryotes, the frequency of amino acids in proteomes is strongly correlated with the optimal growth temperature (OGT), but the associated substitutional patterns and their dynamics remain poorly understood. The ThermAdapt project addresses these two important issues through an original approach

Organisms continually respond to environmental inputs. Such a plastic response results from an adaptive process, but the evolution of the complex underlying genetic architectures remains poorly understood. In this project, we will focus on the evolution of gene expression plasticity and in the evolu

COR-Resilience project aims at reconstructing, quantifying and evaluating past, present and future impacts of anthropogenically-driven climate change (ocean acidification & global warming), and local stressors (e.g. heavy metals, nutrients) on the calcification and growth mechanisms of two of the ma

The process of plant litter decomposition is central in the global carbon cycling, and this process is substantially supported by freshwater ecosystems. Headwater streams receive massive inputs of autumn-shed riparian leaves which are subsequently decomposed by the interplay of microbial decomposers

Extant holocephalans are an anatomically bizarre group of deep sea dwelling fishes which are highly adapted to durophagy, and extraordinarily slow-evolving. They are also the tip of a lineage which has survived three big mass-extinctions. Thus, holocephalans have great potential as a case study in h

The Eocene-Oligocene transition (ca. 33.9–33.5 Ma) is considered as a key step in Cenozoic climate evolution and coincides with one of the main extinction events in Europe. It corresponds to a major faunal turnover associated with the extinction of 50% of the placental mammals and a shift in mammali

Biological introductions can theoretically reduce gene flow due to the limited number of founders and thus adaptability of invasive populations. However, multiple introduction events from different native source populations can result in admixed invasion fronts. Admixture can potentially favour intr

Characterizing how environmental pressures have shaped the diversity of protein folds and functions is essential to understand the evolution of biodiversity. Proteins are molecular Legos of protein bricks whose combination dictates the protein fold and function. Is the inventory of known protein bri

Many species species form social groups, showing a large diversity of cohesion and dynamics. This grouping behaviour has important consequences for their biology and ecology. A prominent characteristic of group living is that individuals of the same group have similar life histories and trajectories

Our general goal in this project is to further our understanding of the necessity, effectiveness, risks and ethical implications of assisted gene flow (AGF) to improve adaptation to climate change. To reach these goals, our plan is to: (i) Document the consequences of actual manipulations of gene

The Miocene is characterized by important tectonic activity that drove sea level changes and orogeny, in turn significantly altering the climate. About 20 million years ago the contact between Afro-Arabia and Eurasia created a land-bridge that enabled faunal exchanges between these two continents.

Reproductive ageing - the decrease in reproductive performance with increasing age - is a pervasive biological process associated with profound biological, demographic and social implications. Yet, a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of reproductive ageing remains particular

While the analysis of biodiversity has become a major topic of ecology and evolution, the diversity observed in life history trait trajectories at the individual level remains poorly understood. DivInT aims at filling this knowledge gap by (1) integrating existing data on individual trajectories of

The microbiota can play major roles mediating host adaptation. Plants rely on the ancestral Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis to supplement their phosphorus nutrition. However, recent findings indicate that the AM symbiosis is not essential. Indeed, there are at least three ‘non-mycorrhizal’ pla

Studying hydrothermal deep-sea vents ecosystems, some of the most intriguing and less investigated microbial ecosystems on Earth could provide unique opportunities to access fundamental knowledge on their both biodiversity and dynamic, while getting better understanding on how life expands its front

Salps are a group of gelatinous zooplankton present throughout the world's oceans (except the Arctic). Due to their complex life-cycle characterized by a very active phase of asexual proliferation (budding), salp populations seasonally grow exponentially and form very dense blooms that can cover sev

Marine mesozooplankton play a crucial role in the functioning of pelagic ecosystems and global biogeochemical cycles. It is very diverse from a taxonomic and phylogenetic point of view (e.g., giant protists, copepod, krill, small jellyfish, fish larvae), but also functionally (e.g., small vs. large

Global change drives expansions of the spatial ranges of many species and populations, influencing their demography, evolution and genetic diversity. In particular, expansions cause repeated bottlenecks increasing genetic drift which may provoke the accumulation and spatial surf of a so-called “expa

InvEcoF will take advantage of a rat eradication program on a Polynesian atoll (Tetiaroa) to investigate the impact of rat removal on the functioning of a coral atoll ecosystem via effects on two key faunal groups: seabirds and land crabs. Tetiaroa offers a unique experimental setting with 12 islets

Microorganisms have a central role in soil biogeochemical processes. While we understand the diversity and functional role of different prokaryotic groups, we are only beginning to recognise the scale of soil virus diversity. Importantly, the impacts of virus-host interactions on biogeochemical cycl

Nutrition and temperature are the major drivers of ectotherm performance. In the context of global warming, the interaction between such factors may exacerbate constraints on aquatic consumer growth and may decrease aquatic systems productivity much more that it is expected today. In aquatic systems

In the field of Evolutionary Ecology, climate change and urbanisation have been typically studied separately. However, urban heat island effects in cities represent a major challenge for urban dwellers facing climate change, particularly during extreme climatic events such as heat waves. The urban h

For the next decades, climate in Mediterranean region is expected to be 25% warmer over the year than the rest of the planet with up to 40% warming peak in summer. These increasing heatwaves in combination with drought and land-use change (decrease of grazing or protected lands, both increasing tree

Organisms from all three kingdoms of life release lipid membrane-bound particles defined as extracellular vesicles (EVs), showing their ubiquity in all cellular organisms. For a long time EVs were considered as waste products of cellular growth. However, recently it came to light that EVs play multi

Caenorhabditis elegans is one of the most powerful models available to understand how the activity of neural circuits generates behavior. Its nervous system is almost fully mapped, and its behavior thoroughly explored. This project aims to unify much of this previous work into an integrative model o

Sulfur is a ubiquitous and abundant element in hydrothermal vent environments and is crucial for energy production. Microbial sulfur disproportionation (=MSD) is less documented than the other redox reactions of the sulfur cycle (sulfate-reduction, sulfo-reduction and sulfo-oxidation). However, MSD