Physiology, Ecology and Environment (P2E)

The laboratory focuses on the biological, physiological, ecological and evolutionary mechanisms of animal and plant species in a context of global change. We have two main areas of interest : 1 ) plant adaptation to climate change and drought, using multidisciplinary approaches ranging from physiology and ecophysiology to ecology and epigenetics. 2) the adaptation of insects to their environment in a context of global change, including major issues such as invasive insects and insect vectors of human and animal diseases. Thus, the laboratory is organised into four teams on the campus of the University of Orléans. The «Trees and Responses to Water and Environmental Constraints, ARCHE». The team, ‘Cellular Signalling’, The team, Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution of Forest Entomofauna, BEEFE’, and the last team, ‘Neurobiology and Neuropharmacology of Ion Channels, NNIC’.

Equipment:

• Climatic chambers
• In vitro culture chamber
• A Canaux-CELL electrophysiology platform (for testing compounds of pharmaceutical and veterinary interest).
• Various laboratory equipment. As a INRAE USC, it has access to experimental equipment at the INRAE Ardon site.

Research topics:

Research themes are distributed across the research teams:

• « Tree Responses to Hydric and Environmental Constraints Team » (ARCHE/TRHEC): ecophysiology, epigenetics, and phytomanagement.
• « Cell Signaling Team »
• « Forest Insect Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution Team » (FIBEET): tree–insect interactions
• « Neurobiology and Neuropharmacology of Ion Channels Team » (NNIC): insect behavior and mechanisms