Study of marine biofilms as bioindicators of the chemical quality of seawater in the mediterranean coastal environment

Beginning: October 2024

Abstract:

The thesis is part of the BIOFINDIC+ project (Agence de l’Eau, 2024-2027), following the initial BIOFINDIC project (Agence de l’Eau, 2021-2024), which findings indicates the community of diatoms in marine biofilms as strong potential bioindicators of organic and metallic contaminants in Mediterranean coastal waters. Building on that, this research thesis has three main objectives:
(i) Study the temporal evolution of contaminant accumulation in biofilms across the French Mediterranean coastline (covering 1,800 km) between the first campaign in 2021 and the second in 2024. Particularly at sites where biofilms were more effective than mussels at accumulating contaminants.
(ii) Assess the specificity of biofilm responses on a smaller spatial scale to contaminant bioaccumulation and its potential as a bioindicator, by investigating the diatom community structure. Two ecologically distinct, multi-contaminated sites were selected for this purpose: the Bay of Toulon and the Thau Lagoon, each with localized sources of contamination.
(iii) Investigate microbial community responses to specific pollutants using reductionist approaches in mesocosms via a set of "omics" approaches.