PhD defence of Maxime Allioux

Please come to Maxime Alliou's PhD defence, it will take place in IUEM Amphi A  Thursday 17th of December 8:00 am

Abstract

Hydrothermal vents host a vast microbial diversity, both at the taxonomic and metabolic levels. These ecosystems are qualified as extreme, because they harbor harsh physico-chemical gradients. Sulfur is omnipresent in these environments, and it can be used by a large diversity of microorganisms for oxidation or reduction reactions. However, the sulfur cycle remains partially unknown in these ecosystems. The objective of this thesis was to study the poorly documented or thermodynamically predicted metabolisms of the sulfur cycle in hydrothermal ecosystems, namely the dismutation of inorganic sulfur compounds, the catabolism of organosulfur compounds and the comproportionation of sulfur. Four new inorganic sulfur compound disproportionating taxa were discovered during this study and extensive genomic analyses were conducted to decipher the pathways of inorganic sulfur compound dismutation. Comparative genomics analyses identified a gene cluster potentially involved in elemental sulfur dismutation in marine hydrothermal bacteria, but this result will need to be confirmed by functional approaches. Finally, the microbial communities of the geographically isolated hot springs from the Kerguelen Islands were studied by metagenomics, revealing the presence of many new lineages of bacteria and archaea in these previously unstudied habitats.