BEEM - Molecular Biology, Evolution and Ecology

Presentation

Since 2012, our team has built up around the means of investigating DNA to study the diversity, evolution and ecology of organisms. Our study models are organisms belonging to the metazoa, viridiplantae, rhodophyta, and communities of micro-organisms from a wide range of phyla, in marine, aquatic or emerged environments. Our research themes are those that can be addressed thanks to the strong conceptual basis of evolutionary biology and the universal methods for studying genomes: systematics, biological evolution, genetics, community ecology and the eco-evolutionary response of organisms to environmental change. Some of our members are more biologists with experimental approaches, others are more analysts and modellers of diversity, but we all share a wonder for the fantastic story of living things, its complexity and its twists and turns.

Illustration modèles et moyens équipe BEEM

Research topics

The Team

Leader of the BEEM team
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Leader of the BEEM team
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
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Alex Baumel
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Isabelle Biegala
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Laura Cappellen
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Cyllene Chatellier
DC-Doctoring
Anne Chenuil-Maurel
CR-Research charge
Marion Delettre
DC-Doctoring
Serge Gudin
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Pascal Hingamp
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Manuel Le Bris
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Emese Meglecz
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Lucie Miche
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Pascal Mirleau
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Calli Paul
DC-Doctoring
Yvan Perez
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Emmanuelle Renard
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Caroline Rocher
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Quentin Schenkelaars
MCF-Maitre de Conferences

Collaborations

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Using an approach that combines phylogenetics and population genomics, the BEEM team's work aims to bring together the intra- and interspecific levels of organisation in order to understand speciation and diversification, to better describe the genetic diversity of our models and to contribute to their integrative taxonomy.

Phylogenomics or population genomics: a comparison of two different views of kinship relationships for the delimitation of species within the genus Saxifraga, Baumel et al. 2023 Alpine Botany.

Our team studies the molecular and cellular mechanisms involved in the development and morphogenesis of model organisms (e.g. Porifera, bryophytes and vascular plants). Beyond the strictly fundamental interest of understanding the mechanisms involved (evo-devo), in the context of global change, we are seeking to understand how certain anthropogenic stresses impact genetic and epigenetic networks and what their developmental and phenotypic consequences are (eco-evo-devo).

The work of the BEEM team seeks to determine the composition of various communities (root or rhizosphere microbiota, marine benthos, marine plankton, epibiont assemblages, etc.) in order to identify the biotic or abiotic environmental factors that structure these communities and their role in the environment. Describing these biodiversities makes it possible to understand the effects of contaminants on community dynamics and production, to monitor environmental changes on phycotoxin production and health, to infer the dispersal scales of the populations forming these communities, or to assess the role of root microbiota in the survival of the Astragale de Marseille.

Our preferred method is metabarcoding (well mastered in the team, from molecular biology to bioinformatics, and supported by the expertise of the Molecular and Cellular Biology Department), often supplemented by more traditional approaches (in situ hybridisation and immunodetection, microorganism cultures, photographic analyses of benthic communities, molecular barcoding and phenotypic identification, etc.).