Education

PhD, University of Paris XI, 1995

Lab information

Microbiology, Adaptation and Pathogeny
https://map.insa-lyon.fr/en/node/130

Research focus

My research aims at deciphering — from the atomic to the genetic level — the behavior and adaptation of Archaea in response to environmental stresses. The aim is to explore the limits of life in the deep-biosphere, with an emphasis on the adaptation to hydrostatic pressure, temperature and salinity variations in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Over the years I have helped develop the two widely accepted hypethermophilic archaea, e.g. Thermococcus barophilus and Pyrococcus yayanosii, as genetic models for the study of high-hydrostatic pressure adaptation. My approaches are multi- and trans-disciplinary since I aim at understanding the physics at work in the physiologic adaptation of cells. To this avail I use techniques ranging from spectral physics (Xray and Neutron diffraction and diffusion) to meta-omics (meta-genome sequencing, RNASeq and Proteomics) in order to track the genetic imprint of these adaptations from the cell level to the molecule.
This combination of approaches has led to several major scientific discoveries over the last years. First, I have described the first atomistic model of high hydrostatic pressure adaptation (Martinez Sci Rep 2016; Cario Sci Rep 2016; Salvador-Castell Soft Matter 2020) and second I have described and validated a novel membrane ultrstructure as a new adaptation strategy to high hydrostatic pressure and temperature in hyperthermophilic Archaea (Cario Front Microbiol 2015; Salvador-Castell Langmuir 2020; Tourte Front Microbiol 2020).

Publications