Responses of marine algal holobionts towards environmental changes. Algal Holobionts

Brown algae form key marine ecosystems and live in tight association with bacteria essential to their growth and development. Environmental changes can cause imbalances in these systems, leading to shifts in bacterial communities and sometimes giving rise to pathogenic interactions. Hence, considering both the algae and their microbiome (i.e. the holobiont) is of essence to understand their response to environmental challenges. However, little is known about the functioning and resilience of these complex systems. This project has two main objectives: 1) to establish a laboratory holobiont model to predict the complex mutualistic interactions between algae and bacteria and to test these predictions; 2) to elucidate the processes that occur when the equilibrium between algae and bacteria is disturbed.