Evolution, vectors, adaptations, symbiosis team

The Evolution, vectors, adaptations, symbiosis team studies the adaptations of living organisms to environmental changes. By combining fundamental and applied approaches, our research focuses on the factors influencing the evolutionary dynamics of mosquitoes, at the crossroads between evolutionary biology, epidemiology and vector control, including its societal dimensions. Therefore, we study insecticide resistance in several mosquito species, from a genomic basis to natural selection in natura. We also develop research on the interactions between mosquitoes and several viral and bacterial agents of their microbiota, with particular attention to the influence of the Wolbachia endosymbiont, responsible for cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), i.e. conditional mortality of embryos. We seek to understand the mechanisms and evolutionary dynamics of CI in natural populations. Finally, another area of our research concerns mitochondria, the descendant of endosymbiotic bacteria, through the study of the contribution of mitochondrial networks to cellular responses in pathological conditions or because of environmental modifications.