Traversing European Coastlines
An expedition to study coastal ecosystems and their response to the environment, from molecules to communities
The Decelle Group at the CNRS in collaboration with the Schwab Team at EMBL, and other collaborating groups, are focusing on understanding the morpho-genetic plasticity of free-living and symbiotic microplankton to changing environments. Harnessing the power of the Mobile Labs, the project will combine single-cell omics studies with state-of-the-art subcellular imaging.
An international EMBL-EPFL-UNIGE team (Dey, Schwab, Saka, Dudin, Hamel, Guichard) are coupling expansion microscopy (Cryo-ExM and U-ExM) to FISH for species ID and sub-cellular imaging. We aim to create an atlas of native eukaryotic cellular biodiversity with unprecedented 3D spatial resolution, with a long-term view to assess the repercussions of climate change on free-living microplankton populations.
The Engel group at the University of Basel uses cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to visualize structures inside native cells with molecular resolution. In the cryOcean project, we aim to chart the molecular organization of photosynthetic organelles (light-harvesting thylakoid membranes and carbon-fixing pyrenoids) in diverse marine algae species sampled directly from the ocean.
This project is dedicated to understanding the diversity, distribution and impact of intimate interactions involving diatoms, major primary producers in the ocean. By using a combination of single-cell live and subcellular imaging, high-throughput phenotyping approaches, and in situ chemotactic assays, the Vincent lab at EMBL, asks how microbial interactions can affect diatom behaviour, development and survival in a changing ocean.
NAVARRO aims to capture dynamic cellular processes in diverse marine environments – bridging structural biology with environmental studies. With advanced cryo-EM sample preparation instruments now available directly at the marine sampling sites, The Schwab Lab at EMBLwe have begun investigating molecular machines in situ, within their natural context.
The Schwab Lab at EMBL employs high-resolution correlative electron microscopy to reveal the complex cellular architecture of marine dinoflagellates from natural environments. We are constructing a geo-centric ultrastructural atlas of dinoflagellates using high-resolution 2D EM, high-throughput X-ray tomography, and volume EM methods.
The Hehenberger Group (Biology Centre, CZ) investigates the processes during plastid endosymbiosis using microorganisms that steal and transiently retain plastids from their prey. We aim to analyze the physiological and genetic integration of the plastids in such lineages by combining cultivation-dependent and -independent approaches with the support of the AML. The project is part of the ERC CoG-funded project KLEPTOS.
Diatoms from genus Chaetoceros are known to form chains that can go up to 50 cells. Because of technical limitations, our knowledge of why those chains are formed is limited. Thanks to in situ single-cell sampling made during the TREC expedition and single-cell RNA sequencing, this project in the Vincent lab at EMBL, aims to explore the impact of environmental conditions on chain formation and length, and decipher the ecological importance of chains.
The main goal of the project, led by Decelle group at CNRS/UGA/CEA, is to better understand the life history of the marine microalga Phaeocystis, which is a keystone phytoplankton taxon in the ocean. In coastal waters, blooms of colonies can have negative impacts in the ecosystems with consequences on the fisheries and touristic activities. The ability to live in symbiosis intracellularly in a host cell is also an intriguing phenomenon in Phaeocystis. By unveiling the diversity of the microbiome across these different life stages and along the European coast, we hope to bring new information to better understand the ecological success of this microalga. The microbiome will be assessed by different sequencing strategies thanks to the samples collected during the TREC expedition.
TREC projects are highly collaborative, involving EMBL and partner institutes. View the expanding project portfolio.