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Photosynthesis in PHYTOplankton Mixtures to Investigate Community Structuration.

Objective

Phytoplankton is not only at the basis of the marine food chain but also an important buffer of climate changes, given that marine photosynthesis is responsible of 50% of the CO2 fixation on Earth. Despite their central roles in the Ocean, our understanding of the forces that shape the dynamics and structuration of phytoplankton communities is still limited by major methodological constraints in the marine environment. Prominent among them is the difficulty to simultaneously measure physiological responses from each microalga species within mixtures, which prevail in the Ocean. I recently developed an innovative approach based on a physical phenomenon, the Electro-Chromic Shift (ECS) of the photosynthetic pigments, to extract the photosynthetic responses of each species within an assembly. Photosynthesis is an ideal probe, i.e. a gateway to investigate both biotic interactions and abiotic stresses which are major determinants of the structuration of the phytoplankton community, because it is the prime target of those external factors. In this project, I propose to use this method to analyze the effects of three major parameters that contribute to shaping the ecological patterns at sea: differential capacities to harvest nutrients (leading to competition for nutrients); direct inhibition of the metabolism of competitors through the use of secondary metabolites (allelopathy), and, in addition to these biotic interactions, the responses of phytoplankton species to the rapid and intense light changes to which they are subjected. These studies will be conducted both in laboratory conditions and in the field for validation, so that the overall project will ultimately constitute a major breakthrough: it will provide a new tool allowing the study in situ and in real time of the cellular mechanisms giving rise to the ecological patterns observed in the Ocean.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

ERC-STG - Starting Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2016-STG

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Host institution

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 424 813,00
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 424 813,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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