We are an international research group located in the Microbial Ecology Laboratory (LEM), and are members of the Functional Diversity and Nitrogen Cycle Team (Dive-N), at University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, which is part of the University of Lyon in France.

We aim to understand the diversity, ecophysiology and ecology of key functional groups of microorganisms and their viruses in soil, and their contribution to biogeochemical cycling and mitigating their impact on climate change or harnessing their benefits for reducing environmental pollution and improving soil and plant health.

Key microbial functional groups include those involved in nitrogen, methane and carbon cycling with particular expertise in nitrifiers, methanotrophs and mycorrhizal fungi.

We use state-of-the-art techniques such as meta-omics to taxonomically and functionally characterize soil microbial and viral communities, and measure functional process rates in soil using stable isotope probing, gas analyses and colorimetric assays. We also use cultivation approaches for the development and exploitation of model systems, and leverage plant and soil microcosm experiments and field studies.