{"id":136685,"date":"2026-10-15T09:45:22","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/?page_id=136685"},"modified":"2026-10-15T11:39:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T11:39:17","slug":"subcellarctic","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/projects\/subcellarctic\/","title":{"rendered":"SUBCELLARCTIC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Capturing Arctic change: Advanced imaging and single-cell phenotyping of phytoplankton diversity in warming waters <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n

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The SUBCELLARCTIC project aims to use advanced imaging techniques to reveal the phenotypic diversity and adaptive strategies of phytoplankton in the context of global warming in the Arctic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Picture of the Tara Polar Station boat during protocol test close to Oulu, Finland, December 2025.\u00a0
Credit: Laurine Planat \/ Vincent Lab.
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Leveraging the Tara Polar Station as a sampling platform, the project will develop novel X-ray imaging methods to visualise phytoplankton within native sea ice core habitats, establish a biobank of chemically fixed Arctic samples for multiple imaging modalities (high-content microscopy, electron microscopy, expansion microscopy, phenogenomics), and map bacterial-diatom interactions in ecologically critical species. By combining cutting-edge EMBL imaging expertise with Arctic field sampling, this project will provide unprecedented morphological insights into how foundational polar microbes respond to rapid environmental change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  1. New methods for phytoplankton imaging in sea ice cores<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. An imaging biobank from extreme environments<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Chaetoceros<\/em> interactions in Arctic waters<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

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    During the tests done in the North of the Baltic Sea, close to Oulu, during the winter 2025, Chaetoceros<\/em> could already be observed in interactions with different partners. At that time, the sea was already covered with a few-centimeters thick layer of ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    Picture of Chaetoceros, from a field sample collected from the moon pool, onboard the Tara Polar Station boat, close to Oulu, Finland (20-200um fraction, magnification x20, 2025.12.18). Credit: Laurine Planat \/ Vincent Lab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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    Picture of Chaetoceros in interaction with ciliates, from a field sample collected from the moon pool, onboard the Tara Polar Station boat, close to Oulu, Finland (20-200um fraction, magnification x20, 2025.12.18). Credit: Laurine Planat \/ Vincent Lab.
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    Project lead<\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \n Flora Vincent<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Group Leader\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Lead scientist<\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \n Laurine Planat<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Predoctoral Fellow\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    Collaborators<\/h3>\n\n\n
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    \n Maria Marta Garcia Alai<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Research Team Leader and Senior Scientist\/ Deputy Head of EMBL Hamburg\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    \n \"image\n \n

    \n Yannick Schwab<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Team Leader\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    \n Gautam Dey<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Interim Head of CBB\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

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    \n \"image\n \n

    \n Niko Leisch<\/a>\n <\/h3>\n \n

    \n Head of Mobile Laboratory Services\n <\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n Edit\n <\/a>\n <\/article>\n <\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":714,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-title-left-aligned.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"embl_taxonomy":[],"class_list":["post-136685","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"embl_taxonomy_terms":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136685"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136781,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/136685\/revisions\/136781"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/714"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"embl_taxonomy","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.embl.org\/about\/info\/planetary-biology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/embl_taxonomy?post=136685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}