Lisa Tanet (MEB team) defended her thesis on 7 May at 14:00 by videoconference. Congratulations!
On the following topic: "Bacterial bioluminescence, from the oceans to Biolum-Archi: a fascinating biological phenomenon at the service of a sustainable Mediterranean habitat model?
Thesis supervisor: Christian Tamburini, CNRS Research Director
Co-director: Laurence Casalot, IRD Research Fellow
Summary:
This research work, carried out from December 2016 to November 2019, was funded by the SUD-PACA region, as part of the Emploi Jeunes Doctorants funding scheme. Tangram Architectes, an architecture, urban planning and landscape agency, is the regional economic partner for this project.
For this new interdisciplinary project, my thesis work combined fundamental and applied research, and focused on the following question: can bacterial bioluminescence be used to create a sustainable housing model? Can we integrate this natural light into our daily lives, both indoors and outdoors, through the use of bioluminescent elements? My work in the laboratory has been an initial approach to the application of bacterial bioluminescence. All the experiments carried out during this thesis were carried out on the laboratory's model strain, Photobacterium phosphoreum ANT-2200. During the course of this PhD, with a view to its application, we sought to improve the conditions under which bacterial bioluminescence is emitted and to make it sustainable over time.
This manuscript consists of (i) a first introductory chapter on the phenomenon of bioluminescence, including a literature review on the ecological importance of bioluminescent bacteria in the marine environment; (ii) a second chapter on the study of the regulation of light emission from the model strain; (iii) a third chapter focusing on the effects of oxygen on the physiology of the model strain via the use of a culture platform allowing controlled and regulated conditions; (iv) and a fourth chapter bringing together information relating to an application of bacterial bioluminescence and the prototypes developed during this thesis. In this last chapter, the advantages, as well as the current limitations, of using bioluminescence as a source of illumination are set out.
The results obtained in the course of my doctorate have provided some initial answers and have enabled us to acquire new knowledge about the strain used, and about bioluminescent bacteria in general. This work is intended to be continued and extended by further research, with an even more practical and applied focus on bioluminescence.