Dr Valerie Cueff-Gauchard

Dr Valerie Cueff-Gauchard, Ifremer, France

Valerie is engineer in microbiology. She works at Ifremer Brest in Microbiology in Extreme Environments Lab (LMEE, Ifremer – CNRS – UBO UMR 6197). She is specialized in FISH and molecular biology, but also anaerobic thermophilic cultures. She is in charge of the lab collection of microorganisms and the associated database. She works with different researchers on exploration of microbial diversity from extreme environments. For many years, she is mainly involved in studies of symbiosis in hydrothermal vents, on several model species like the caridean shrimp Rimicaris exoculata. The other models include gastropods, other shrimp species, deep coral, the "Pompeii worm" Alvinella pompejana and nematods. She contributes to determine the main prokaryote actors involved in symbiosis, their role and to understand relationships between animals and their symbionts. That's why she embarks regularly on oceanographic cruises, mainly on Mid Atlantic Ridge to sample and to undertake in vivo experiments with pressurized aquariums.

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