Emmanuel Emboulé
Intern
Laboratory for Research in Complex Systems
Education
Université des Antilles (Biology of Organisms and Ecosystems)
What's your background?
I was born on the island of Guadeloupe where I did all my schooling and I have always been fascinated by the world around me. I started studying biology at the university of Antilles in Guadeloupe where I obtained a bachelor's degree in Biology of Organisms and Ecosystems. Then I wanted to push my knowledge even further. I enrolled in the master program Biology Ecology and Evolution. Currently I am in the 2nd year of that master.
What's your role at LRC?
I am participating in a study on the implementation of a new continuous flow-through cultivation system for the study of chemoautotrophic symbioses. I am using two biological models: a eukaryotic model zoothamnium niveum, and prokaryotic model of filamentous Large Sulfur Bacteria. I carry out a set of tests to define optimal culture conditions and develop a standard protocol for the operation of the cultivation system.
What trend, breakthrough or discovery are you most excited about?
I am particularly interested in studies on biological complexity. I love the research on the interactions between organisms. In my opinion, understanding the interactions between organisms is key in the understanding of organisms’ biology.
Research Interests
Symbiosis is defined as the living together of different organisms. It is ubiquitous in nature. Among the many forms of symbiosis, mutualism is the type of association where both partners benefit from the association. It is a form cooperation between species and is now recognized as a driving force of evolution. One important benefit that organisms often gain from mutualism is nutrition. There are well studied nutritional symbiosis such as the heterotrophic (e.g. rumen, termite, pea aphid) and photosynthetic (e.g. coral, green hydra) symbioses. Chemosynthetic symbioses however, even while being ubiquitous and evolutionarily relevant, have received far less attention and their research been hampered by the lack of model systems. We are therefore focusing our effort on the establishment of two chemosynthetic symbiosis models systems.