Thematic research areas

Research is organized into five main areas.

Chemical and Molecular Ecology and Evolution

Objective

In hyperdiverse neotropical forests, diversity is the result of ecological and evolutionary processes that can reach astonishing levels of complexity.

The EECM area focuses on the study of these processes that modulate molecular, chemical and trait diversity, all of which contribute to the performance of individuals in their environment. The geographical scope covers the West Indies and Amazonia.

Topics include:

Understanding evolutionary processes such as mutation, population structuring, adaptation, diversification, speciation and introgression,
Understanding biotic interactions, such as mutualisms, pollination, competition and predation on evolutionary processes,
Studying the results of ecological and evolutionary processes in support of biodiversity conservation.

Research activities

The work we have developed within this framework has dealt with :

sources of genetic diversity,
the structuring of populations and the mechanisms that give rise to this structuring,
the performance and adaptive capacities of populations and species,
biotic interactions and their consequences for species performance,
practical and applied aspects of the results of evolutionary processes.

Schematic diagram showing the diversity of themes addressed by the EECM axis, from evolution at the molecular level (microevolution) to phylogenetic studies (macroevolution), taking into account the abiotic and biotic environment.

Highlights

Low-frequency somatic mutations are heritable in Angelica and Grignon francs.

The origin and fate of new mutations have received less attention in plants than in animals. As in animals, plant mutations are expected to accumulate with growth and time, and through exposure to ultraviolet light.

However, unlike animals, plant reproductive organs are formed late in an individual's development, allowing mutations accumulated during growth to be passed on to offspring.

We resequenced the DNA of different branches differentially exposed to sunlight from two tropical tree species. We have shown that new mutations are generally rare in plant tissues and do not mimic branching patterns, but can nevertheless be passed on to offspring.

Our results offer insight into heritable mutations in plants and their essential role in driving evolution.

Published in PNAS

Sylvain Schmitt, Patrick Heuret, Valérie Troispoux, Mélanie Beraud, Jocelyn Cazal, et al.. Low-frequency somatic mutations are heritable in tropical trees Dicorynia guianensis and Sextonia rubra. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2024, 121, ⟨10.1073/pnas.2313312121⟩. ⟨hal-04481461⟩

Press releases

Interview radio (in french)

Delbot, Alexandra, and Sylvain Schmitt. 2024. “Les ultraviolets ne guident pas l’évolution des arbres.” France Culture. March 6, 2024. ► Listen

Chalamet, Timotee, and Niklas Tysklind. 2024. “Les arbres sont-ils des Xmens?” Les arbres sont-ils des Xmens? | Radio Peyi. July 7, 2024. ► Listen

Some projects

[ 2024 - 2026 ] GEYSER

Develop a panel of SSRseq microsatellites (high-throughput genotyping) based on the rosewood reference genome already acquired, to genotype all individuals from the Risquetout plantation so that it can be integrated into the Guiana Biological Resource Center, managed by CIRAD.

[ 2023 - 2025 ] Barcodrain

Methodological developments for using rainwater eDNA to monitor canopy and soil biodiversity in tropical environments.

[ 2022 - 2025 ] FELiPS

Studying the ecology of wild felines in French Guiana by combining participatory science, scat DNA (sDNA), population genetics and metabarcoding approaches.

[ 2020 - 2023 ] Treemutation

Do the tissues of trees most exposed to light have a higher mutation rate ?

► Other EECM projects