29280 PLOUZANE - BRITTANY - FRANCE
Academic and Research Staff :
- Eric DESLANDES, Professor, Head of LEBHAM (e-mail)
- Jean-Yves FLOC'H, Emeritus Professor (e-mail)
- Marcel DIOURIS, Senior Lecturer (e-mail)
- Erwan AR GALL, Lecturer (e-mail)
- Marie-Anne BESSIERES, Lecturer (e-mail)
- Valérie STIGER, Lecturer
(e-mail)
- Christian MAGNE, Lecturer
(e-mail)
- Nathalie POUPART, Lecturer (e-mail)
Temporary Position in Teaching and Research :
- Christelle SIMON-COLIN (e-mail)
PhD. Students:
- Mayalen ZUBIA (CIFRE-funded fellowship)
- Solène CONNAN (Brittany region-funded fellowship) (e-mail)
- Xavier DAUVERGNE (Brittany region-funded fellowship) (e-mail)
- Erwan PLOUGUERNE (CUB-funded fellowship) (e-mail)
- Anna MEUDEC (Erika contract) (e-mail)
Researcher employed on contracts :
- Stéphane CERANTOLA
- Fabienne GOULARD
- Fanny LE FUR
Technical Services :
- Marie-Aude POULLAOUEC
- Christiane JULLOU
Secretary :
- Anne-Sophie PODEUR
LEBHAM's research group found its origin in 1992 in the organisation of the XIVth International Seaweed Symposium (Brest-St Malo). This laboratory was member of the GDR-CNRS n° 1002 from 1991 to 1996.
The researches carried out by LEBHAM's group focus both on the physiology and biochemistry of marine macrophytes in relation with their environment. Emphasis is placed on the study of substances of ecophysiological or economical interest (bioactive substances, osmotic metabolites, cell-wall polysaccharides).
They are structured round three main axes: seaweed polysaccharides, bioactive substances extracted from marine plants and biodiversity of marine macrophytes. Studies are both extended to the coastal and marine phanerogams (Zostera). Field investigations are being conducted together with those in laboratory.
Indeed, a growing interest is now devoted to some of the studied compounds (oligosaccharides, phycotoxins, osmotica) because of potential applications in biotechnology, agribusiness, cosmetics and pharmacology fields. A better knowledge of their biosynthesis should lead to a greater mastery of their production. In the long run, the identification of bioactive substances along with that of the conditions of their production by marine plants should allow one to get an insight on the interactions between benthic organisms and on their consequences on biodiversity.
Various techniques for extraction, analysis and measurement of biological parameters (pilot extraction, spectrophotometry, HPLC, GC, NMR, electrophoresis, oxymetry) are applied to samples, either freshly collected from the algal populations along the coasts of Brittany or submitted to experimental culture conditions in the laboratory. This is why the LEBHAM laboratory has been equipped with incubators for cultivation and thermostated rooms supplied with running sea-water. LEBHAM also owns reference collections of algae and a room equipped for microscopic observation.
Key-words
seaweeds, algae, marine macrophytes, carrageenans, biosynthesis, invasive species, bioactive substances, Solieria, Grateloupia, Undaria, Sargassum, Turbinaria, Zostera.
