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eDNA-Guy project

Sébastien Brosse, the principal investigator, proposes to develop a non destructive alternative to traditional fish samples by characterizing fish assemblages using eDNA metabarcoding (Taberlet et al. 2012). The eDNA project will consist in collecting DNA released by organisms directly in the water. Environmental DNA sequences are then compared to existing databases to assign sequences to species. This method, developed in France by SPYGEN, has been shown efficient in characterizing fish faunas in temperate rivers (Civade et al. 2016; Valentini et al. 2016). Nevertheless, applications of this method to tropical freshwater environments remain rare. In other words, eDNA proposes to develop a biotic inventory tool for Amazonian fishes equivalent to the VigiDNA® procedure developed by SPYGEN for European freshwaters, and to measure the sensitivity of this tool to fish assemblage changes caused by anthropic disturbances. eDNA will therefore collect environmental DNA samples from more than 100 sites characterized by a range of anthropic disturbances and with known fish assemblages (Allard et al. 2016). eDNA will focus on a subsample of 60 of these sites in this anthropisation gradient. The comparison with results from more traditional samples will allow to calibrate the methods and to detect fish assemblage changes caused by anthropic disturbances.

RETHINk project

Richard Berthomé and Fabienne Vailleau (LIPM) in collaboration with the SYNGENTA biotechnology company propose to develop a projectaiming at unravelling the genetic bases of plant-pest-environment interactions, using tomato as a model. The main objective is to characterize new resistance mechanisms to the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia, remaining efficient at elevated temperature (32°C). This project will contribute to maintain the full genetic potential of a high value vegetable in a sustainable way in the context of climate change. To tackle these challenges, they propose to explore the genetic variability of response to Ralstonia of a unique set of wild tomato accessions (Solanum pimpinellifolium) covering a large geographical scale (Peru, Chile, Galapagos), while taking into account the inter- and intra-genetic diversities of the pathogen, and the incidence of global warming. TULIP will support the first crucial task of a larger project (BURNED) in collaboration with Syngenta, i.e. the creation and analysis of unique genomic resources needed for GWA and comparative genomics studies that will be performed on tomato and Ralstonia, respectively.