EVOGENE Seminar - Unveiling microbial interactions in the ocean using omics approaches

Abstract: Ecosystems are composed of many interacting parts (species, populations or single cells) that in combination constitute the functional basis of the biosphere. In contrast to animal and plants, our knowledge of ecological interaction among microbes is still rudimentary. Increasing our understanding of ecological interactions is particularly needed for oceanic microeukaryotes, which include a large diversity of poorly understood symbiotic relationships that range from mutualistic to parasitic. Here we will present our research project on the determination of microbial interactions in the sea, introducing the multiple omics approaches and data analysis methods we are using or planning to use (in particular, amplicon sequencing, Single-Cell genomics and metagenomics together with networks analyses). Furthermore, we will present preliminary results obtained from a model marine ecosystem in the Mediterranean Sea (Blanes Bay Microbial Observatory).