Research in my group aims at deciphering from the atomic to the genetic level the behavior and adaptation of Archaea in response to environmental stresses. Our aim is to explore the limits of life in the deep-biosphere, with an emphasis on the adaptation to hydrostatic pressure, temperature and salinity variations in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Over the years we have developped the two widely accepted hypethermophilic archaea, e.g. Thermococcus barophilus and Pyrococcus yayanosii, as genetic models for the study of high-hydrostatic pressure adaptation in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Our approaches are multi- and trans-disciplinary since we aim at understanding the physics behind the physiologic adaptation of cells. To this avail we use techniques ranging from spectral physics (Xray and Neutron diffraction and diffusion) to meta-omics (RNASeq and Proteomics, in order to track the genetic imprint of these adaptations from the cell level to the molecule.
This combination of approaches has led to two major scientific discoveries over the last two years. First, we have described the first atomistic model of of high hydrostatic pressure adaptation (Martinez Sci Rep 2016; Cario Sci Rep 2016) and described a novel membrane ultrstructure as a new adaptation strategy to high hydrostatic pressure and temperature in hyperthermophilic Archaea (Cario Front Microbiol 2015), and the validation of its properties in several subsequent studies.