NEMO-Nature, Marine Ecology and Oceans team

Presentation

The NEMO team studies all aspects of marine biodiversity, and combines naturalist methods with chemical and experimental analyses.

Specialities : Taxonomy and Biology of Marine Invertebrates (sponges, crustaceans, bryozoans and ascidians), Marine Ecology and Natural Product Chemistry

Study areas : Mediterranean and special ecosystems such as underwater caves, deepwater and polar environments, as well as urban environments (Ports & Marinas)

Keywords: Integrative Taxonomy, Phylogeny, Phylogeography, Connectivity, Biological Invasions, Phenology, Adaptation, Individual Resilience, Chemical Ecology, and Marine Natural Product Chemistry.

NEMO team June 2024

Research topics

The Team

Leader of the NEMO team
DR-Research Director
Leader of the NEMO team
DR-Research Director
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Coline Bedoret
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Gerard Bellan
DR-Research Director
Denise Bellan
DR-Research Director
Titouan Biré
DC-Doctoring
Clément Cabioch
DC-Doctoring
Pierre Chevaldonné
DR-Research Director
Marie Derrien
PD-Post Doctorant
Alexander Ereskovskiy
DR-Research Director
Marie Grenier
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Tal Idan
PD-Post Doctorant
Petr Kuznetsov
DC-Doctoring
Alexandre Le Loarer
PD-Post Doctorant
Christophe Lejeusne
MCF-Maitre de Conferences
Sacha Molinari
ITA-Engineer Administrative Technician
Morgane Monteil
DC-Doctoring
Thierry Perez
DR-Research Director
Charlotte Simmler
CR-Research charge
Jean Vacelet
PR-Professor
Nardo Vicente
PR-Professor

Collaborations

Photo gallery

Within this first theme, our research activities include

  • biodiversity inventories of selected habitats (for example caves and reefs) in protected and unprotected areas;
  • early detection of bioinvasive species;
  • an assessment of connectivity models for benthic marine organisms;
  • Wherever possible, we will compare these inventories and community maps with those carried out in the past.

All these activities to assess biodiversity and its evolution in space and time require a good level of taxonomic and naturalist expertise.

More specifically, integrative taxonomy which considers the combination of interdisciplinary morphological, histological, DNA barcode and metabolomic fingerprinting data, plays an important role in our research activities.

In the ocean, major changes in biodiversity result from:

  • pollution,
  • the exponential acceleration in the introduction of exotic species and
  • a sharp rise in temperature.

 

These long-term changes are sometimes considerably accelerated by the occurrence of mass mortality events, which can seriously affect the functioning of ecosystems, and therefore the services they provide.

Within this theme, the resilience of several sensitive species will be evaluated through population monitoring and the study of sexual reproduction, asexual reproduction, and regeneration.

This research aims to elucidate the impact of environmental factors on the phenology, regeneration, and recovery capacities of invertebrates in the coastal marine waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The extended monitoring will allow for comparisons of the adaptations and potential responses of selected species in both anthropogenically pressured areas and undisturbed regions. The study of phenology and recovery/regeneration capacities of marine organisms is directly linked to societal and economic interests, opening the door to more effective management of ecosystem survival and functionality.

 

Current projects in this area include:.
Amidex International MARRIO

MARseille to RIO: MARine biodiversity under global change scenaRIOs

MARINDIV (Institute of Ocean Sciences)

Studying the biological and chemical diversities of Mediterranean Invertebrates in Marinas to reveal their antimicrobial potentials

The functioning of marine ecosystems, particularly through the production and exchange of metabolites, remains far from being understood. Benthic invertebrates serve as reservoirs of exceptional chemical diversity, which has been extensively studied for its promising bioactivities, offering prospects for the development of new therapeutic agents (e.g., anti-cancer cytotoxic compounds).

Within our team, we strive to understand how and why specialized marine metabolites are produced, not only to assess their role within an ecosystem but also to propose eco-responsible methods for sustainably exploring their biotechnological potential.

 In this theme, we seek to

  • understanding the molecular and microbiological mechanisms involved in the biosynthesis of marine metabolites,
  • develop methods for capturing metabolites released into seawater by marine invertebrates, with the dual aim of understanding their ecological functions and assessing their pharmacological activities;
  • design experiments to assess the role of released metabolites in marine chemical mediation and ecosystem functioning.

 

 

Current projects in this area include
Amidex International MARRIO: MARseille to RIO: MARine biodiversity under global change scenaRIOs
ANR JCJC SESAM: Sponges Exometabolites as Sources of AntiMicrobials