ATLASea

There are at least 12,000 known species in the French EEZ and another 1,000 have been documented in overseas territories. ATLASea aims to sequence the genomes of 5,000 of these species, targeted for phylogenetic coverage to provide insights into ecosystems that are particularly threatened, fragile, biologically important or economically strategic. ATLASea will collect, taxonomically identify and permanently preserve biological samples of each species. The France Génomique network of facilities will extract high quality DNA for sequencing. An advanced computational environment will perform the assembly, annotation, storage and distribution of genomes, which will achieve the gold standard “reference quality” to generate a highly trusted resource for future biological research and innovation. 

The data produced will enable ambitious goals:

(1)       the surveillance of marine ecosystems that are sensitive to perturbations by invasion of exogenous species, viral infections, pollution, or environmental changes. By facilitating rigorous biosurveillance, ATLASea will make it possible to act early in order to understand and preserve these critical ecosystems.

(2)       Bioengineering for the discovery of new molecules, metabolites, materials and synthesis pathways. By deciphering the genetic code of unknown marine organisms that have so far remained difficult to access, ATLASea will open the potential for innovation in numerous fields.

(3)        Better breeding and varieties of species important for aquaculture and agriculture with the potential to provide new sources of food and feed for humans and animals.

(4)       The massive production of new data for medical and fundamental research for decades to come in fields such as evolution, genetics, developmental biology, phylogenomics, taxonomy, physiology and biochemistry.

Finally, the ATLASea project represents a strategic opportunity in the current  international context, as it will be included in the European Reference Atlas Genome (ERGA) initiative, which is affiliated to the Earth Biogenome Project (EBP).

The role of the Roscoff Biological Station in Atlasea

• Actively participating in the sampling phase of these species, with extensive work involving the collection of macroalgae and marine animals.
• Providing access to its very rich microalgae culture collection (Roscoff Culture Collection – RCC), which includes nearly 1,000 different species (10,000 strains of unicellular organisms). Learn more.
• Coordinating at the national level the implementation of all the IT infrastructure required for the storage, availability, and analysis of all the data produced. Three bioinformatics platforms located in Brittany (at the Roscoff Biological Station, in Plouzané at Ifremer, and in Rennes) and two platforms in the Paris region will be involved throughout the project’s eight years to set up this infrastructure and these tools. Learn more.