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Taxonomy, venoms and evolution of the Conoidea – CONOTAX
Conoideans are studied since the 70's for the toxins they produce and for their potential therapeutic applications. However, the systematic of the group (species delimitation and phylogeny) remains largely unknown, as well as the underlying evolutionary processes. The goals of the CONOTAX project is
Molecular mechanisms underlying plant specialization in the pea aphid complex – Bugspit
Aphids are pests of many crops and represent many insect pests that suck plant sap and inject toxic saliva into plant. Most of aphids are specialized to a few plant species and cannot feed on others. The detailed knowledge on aphid adaptation mechanisms to host plants will be valuable to develop new
Habitat degradation and hormonal stress: linking physiological theory and conservation biology – DESTRESS
In the context of global change, theories predict that the populations living in these fluctuating environments should adopt a plastic strategy. What are the constraints that limit the possibilities of plasticity enabling individuals to cope with environmental change? In this project, we want to com
Global Environmental changes and Metacommunities: Species interactions and spatial dynamics – GEMS
Current changes in environmental condition threaten biodiversity across ecosystems and regions. Global Environmental Change (GEC) is predicted to increase as a corollary of the increased human exploitation of the environment. In Europe, the fragmentation of landscapes interacts with climate change i
INVertebrate IMmune memORY: specificity and mechanisms of immune memory in the Lophotrochozoan snail Biomphalaria glabrata – INVIMORY
The existing observations of immune memory in invertebrates are mainly phenomenological, based on ecological or phenotypic studies without a clear understanding or description of the potential underlying molecular and/or cellular mechanisms. The international community working on invertebrate innate
Predicting the ability of populations to adapt in function of their evolutionary history and their environmental background – CAPA
Conservation agencies have clear demands: « how to use existing data; population genetic diversity and environmental background, to predict their ability to adapt? Our aim is to measure the extent to which such potential can be predicted on the basis of genetic and environmental data gathered by usi
Reproductive barriers and speciation in marine isopods of the Jaera albifrons group – ISOBAR
The isobar project focuses on two mechanisms that can impede gene flow between species, with the long term objective to understand how these processes might have evolved, leading to the ramification of an ancestral species into several distinct entities. The first mechanism that we study is behavior
DENTal TRIbology and food controls: an innovative combination for characterizing the evolution of herbivorous mammalian communities – TRIDENT
The TRIDENT project aims to describe how mammals cope and have coped with present and past climate changes. Here, we focus on the diet of herbivorous mammals because the vegetation is the very element in a given ecosystem to be affected by climate change. To track diet (and its changes through Time)
Organization of microbial community and fate of pollutants in the rhizosphere – RHIZORG
Organic pollution (hydrocarbons) can be treated by the joint action of plants and rhizosphere microorganisms. However, this method of phytoremediation showed contrasting levels of efficiency. Our hypothesis is that the high spatial and temporal variability of processes in the rhizosphere induced hig
Does a genome made of multiple divergent copies allow genomic plasticity in absence of sexual reproduction in a plant-parasitic animal ? – ASEXEVOL
Objectives - To determine the proportion of genes present in multiple copies as a result of the peculiar genome structure of asexual root-knot nematodes. - To determine whether gene copies form duplicated genomic blocks. - To determine the average % divergence at the nucleotide level between dupl
Mecanisms and evolution of genetic dominance – DOMEVOL
Each of the colour patterns of this species is highly similar to other species of toxic butterflies, a phenomenon referred as Müllerian mimicry. A group of linked genes, so called 'supergene' controls variations in wing colour pattern and exhibit numerous alleles. Each allele of this supergene encod
Mate choice for good genes or compatible genes : an integrative approach with a focus on the major histocompatibility complex – CMatecHoice
The role of mate choice on intraspecific biodiversity, true potential of evolution and adaptation of species, is unknown. Indeed, only a choice for «good genes« that can erode this biodiversity has long been considered. More recently, a choice for «compatible genes' that may increase (or maintain) t
Integrated response of plant, microbial and N Cycling InTEractions to precipitation patterns – INCITE
Changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, including more intense drought periods and extreme precipitation events, have been documented globally in recent decades, and are predicted to carry on. It is urgent to evaluate the consequences of these change on ecosystems, and this strongly relie