Microbial diversity and antagonistic interactions
My research focuses mainly on the study of microbial diversity. Microbes are everywhere and they are highly diverse. In a few gram of soil or in a litter of sea water there are more microbes than the whole human population on Earth. But they are not only abundant, they are highly diverse, containing the majority of the genetic diversity of living beings. Their ubiquity and their outstanding genetic and metabolic diversity make them very important for fields such as ecology, medicine, farming and industry. Thus this amazing invisible world is key for the human and planet health.
I’m interested in knowing who is out there in the micro-world in different environments and how they interact and organize in microbial communities. Despite their small size and limited corporal shapes varieties their huge genetic and functional diversity make them establish a wide variety of interactions, building up complex microbial communities. In this complex interaction networks antagonistic interactions may play an important role, as they develop specific biochemical weapons to outcompete competitors.