Lab Members: Emilie Lefevre

Emilie Lefevre

Current Research at the Lutzoni Lab 

My current research project focuses on endophytic fungi associated with plants and lichens of the boreal forest. The roles of fungal endophytes and interactions with their hosts, other endophytic microbes and environmental factors remain obscure, as does the extent and spatial scaling of their diversity. In summer 2011, we conducted an intense field trip along a 800 mi. South-North and East-West transects in Quebec, Canada, sampling for three phylogenetically divergent hosts (the moss Pleurozium shreberi, the black spruce Picea mariana, and the lichen Cladonia rangiferina). I am currently using both environmental cloning-sequencing of the partial ITS-LSU region and a newly developed metagenomic approach using Ion Torrent sequencing of targeted ITS1 amplicons in order to understand the extent and spatial scaling of the endophytic fungal diversity in the boreal forest.

Education 

Ph.D., 2007 Aquatic Microbial Ecology, Université Clermont-Ferrand II, France

M.Sc., 2003 Ecology of Aquatic Systems, Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France

B.Sc., 2001 Marine Biology, Université de La Rochelle, France

Research Interests

Microbial food web interactions
Environmental factors structuring microbial communities
Spatial scaling of microbial diversity
Microbial community response to environmental and anthropogenic perturbations

Professional Experience 

2011- Postdoctoral research associate, Lab Manager, Duke University, USA
2010 – 2011 Postdoctoral research associate, Colorado State University, USA
2007 – 2010 Postdoctoral research associate, The University of Alabama, USA
2003 – 2006 Graduate teaching assistantship, Université Clermont-Ferrand II, France

Publications 

Vélez CG, Letcher PM, Schultz S, Mataloni G, Lefèvre E, Powell MJ, 2013. Three new genera in Chytridiales from aquatic habitats in Argentina. Mycologia. In press

Lefèvre E, Letcher PM, Powell MJ, 2012. Temporal variation of the small eukaryotic community in two freshwater lakes: emphasis on zoosporic fungi. Aquatic Microbial Ecology 67: 91-105.

Sime-Ngando T, Lefèvre E, Gleason HF, 2011. Hidden diversity among aquatic heterotrophic flagellates: Ecological potentials of zoosporic Fungi. Hydrobiologia 659: 5-22.

Lefèvre E, Jobard M, Venisse J-S, Bec A, Kagami M, Amblard C, Sime-Ngando T, 2010. Development of a real-time PCR assay for quantitative assessment of uncultured freshwater zoosporic fungi. Journal of Microbiological methods 81(1): 69-76.

Lefèvre E, Roussel B, Amblard C, Sime-Ngando T, 2008. The molecular diversity of freshwater picoeukaryotes reveals high occurrence of putative parasitoids in the plankton. PloS ONE 3(6): e2324. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002324.

Gleason HF., Kagami M., Lefèvre E, Sime-Ngando T, 2008. The ecology of chytrids in aquatic ecosystems: roles in food web dynamics. Fungal Biology Reviews 22: 17-25.

Lefèvre E, 2007. Taxonomic and functional diversity of heterotrophic flagellates in lakes: molecular approaches. PhD Thesis, Université Clermont-Ferrand II, 131pp. (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/6131516057/ref=dp_image_z_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books)

Lefèvre E, Bardot C, Noël C, Carrias J-F, Viscogliosi E, Amblard C, Sime-Ngando T, 2007. Unveiling fungal zooflagellates as members of freshwater picoeukaryotes: evidence from a molecular diversity study in a deep meromictic lake. Environmental Microbiology 9(1):61-71.

Lefèvre E, Carrias J-F, Bardot C, Sime-Ngando T, Amblard C, 2005. A preliminary study of heterotrophic picoflagellates using oligonucleotidic probes in Lake Pavin. Hydrobiologia 55: 61-67.