Doctorant.e

Louison Dufour

Research Interests

The ongoing global change is predicted to have numerous consequences on the physico-chemical properties of the ocean including a rapid expansion of warm nutrient-poor areas. This process is known to directly impact the ocean color, modifying the underwater light niches of phytoplankton cells. In this context, the objective of my PhD project is to evaluate the consequences of such changes on the distribution, dynamics and composition of marine Synechococcus communities. I will more specifically focus on strains capable of “chromatic acclimation”, i.e. to change their pigmentation according to the dominant color of the underwater environment, which were recently found to be the most abundant pigment type in the ocean.

 

Background

PREVIOUS EXPERIENCES

- Master 2 internship (2019, 6 months): “Adaptation to iron limitation and temperature of a major marine phytoplankton representative, the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus” – Roscoff Biological Station, Team Ecology of Marine Plankton. Supervisor: Laurence Garczarek

- Master 1 internship (2018, 2 months): “Monitoring of the toxicity of Ostreopsis cf. ovata using Artemia franciscana as a model” – Ocean Observatory of Villefranche-sur-Mer, Team Biodiversity and Biogeochemistry. Supervisors: Anne-Sophie Pavaux, Rodolphe Lemée

- Bachelor intership (2017, 1 month): Voluntary internship at the SOMLIT (Service d’Observation en Milieu Marin) - Ocean Observatory of Villefranche-sur-Mer. Supervisor: Laure Mousseau

 

EDUCATION

- Master degree (2017 – 2019) in Marine Sciences (SdM) at Sorbonne University, Paris