Biological sciences

MERG’s research work focuses on: (1) characterisation of benthic habitats; (2) monitoring of changes to local marine life resulting from ongoing environmental changes (e.g. warming sea temperatures, species range expansions, invasion by non-indigenous species); (3) assessing the services provided by habitats and ecosystems (i.e. their resource potential); (4) monitoring the effects of human impacts on these habitats; (5) evaluating the conservation status of local coastal and marine living resources.

• changes in vegetation of lakes as a result of human pressure and global warming;
• functional diversity of vegetation in lake ecosystems; 
• stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes (δ13C and δ15N) in lakes;

Phytotoxicity of chemical contaminants of the water environment: physiological, biochemical and molecular responses of plants and green algae to pharmaceuticals, herbicides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Factors influencing the cell cycle of the green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. Transient and stable transformation of selected plant and green algae species: production of recombinant proteins, lipids and waxes.

Main research area concerns ecology and ecophysiology of avian seasonal migration, particularly migratory strategies of waterbirds and shorebirds within Palearctic. Our studies focus on phenology, stopovering, population composition, intra- and interspecific competition, resource partitioning as well as individual condition based on hematological and physiological measures. Moreover we monitor waterbird populations wintering in the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic).

The main objective of our research group is to exploit properties of Prokaryotes that thrive in extreme habitats for potential biotech applications. Enzymes being in our focus such as Enzymes such as DNA replication/transcription enzymes, DNA/RNA ligases, nucleases, SSB proteins, helicases, recombinases constitute primary targets to advance the knowledge on genome plasticity, maintenance and evolution.

Since the creation of the team in 1982 by the founders of the institute, its researchers have been interested not only in the practices of space transformation but also in the doctrines, paradigms, ideas and theories on which they are based. This orientation has led us to build tools for observation, analysis and evaluation, but also to examine theories, discourses and representations.

The project of INSERM Unit 1078 is to enable a better understanding of the genetic and pathophysiological bases of some human genetic diseases, for example cystic fibrosis, hemochromatosis, hereditary chronic pancreatitis or some mitochondrial pathologies.

The ambition of our research project from gene to patient is to decipher the relationship between the structure of the genes and their function and between genotype and phenotype. To carry out these projects, Unit 1078 relies on:

BEEP is a Joint Research Unit of CNRS, Ifremer and UBO. Located in front of the Brest gully on the exceptional site of the Brest-Iroise Technopole, its resources are spread over two adjacent campuses: the Ifremer Center in Brest and the European University Institute for the Sea (UBO sea component). The premises belong to UBO and Ifremer.

LEMAR is a strongly interdisciplinary laboratory that brings together ecologists, biologists, biogeochemists, chemists, physicists and marine environment lawyers. Its objectives are (1) to conduct research on topics of fundamental research or societal importance; (2) to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development objectives in both North and South countries; (3) to bring innovations in relation to the economic world and results that support public policies; (4) to engage in interdisciplinary training in the field of marine and coastal science.

Our research includes two main fields of interest: research related to the photodynamic inactivation (PDI) of bacterial infections as well as the application of modern tools of molecular biology in the study of stem cells, cancer, metabolic and infectious diseases. PDI is based on the concept that metabolically active cells, like bacteria, fungi accumulate a photosensitizer (PS), a small molecular compound, which is excited by visible light.