stephane uroz

**BIO:** I received my PhD in Microbial Ecology from the University of Paris XI (Orsay) in 2004 with Yves DESSAUX and Phil OGER as my advisers. My PhD research project was focused on the biological stability of the quorum sensing signal molecules, especially the N-acyl homoserine lactone class based on the hypothesis that these molecules need to be degraded to act as a signal, possibly by bacteria naturally occurring in the soil.To verify this hypothesis, I combined classical microbiology, molecular tools, genetic, biochemistry and chemistry. I performed my PhD in three places : in the lab ‘Interactions Plant Microorganisms’ at the Institute of Plant Sciences (ISV, Gif-sur-Yvette ; adviser : [Yves Dessaux](http://www.isv.cnrs-gif.fr/recherche/yd/yd.html)) ; in the lab of “Sciences de la Terre” at Normal School (ENS, Lyon ; adviser : Phil Oger) and at the Institute of Infections and Immunity at University of Nottingham (Queen’s Medical Centre, Nottingham; advisers: [Paul Williams, Miguel Camara and Siri Ram Chhabra](http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/quorum/))(European Union Marie Curie programme). The 15th of october 2004, I defended my thesis (Jury: P. SIMONET, S. REVERCHON, D. HAAS, M. DUBOW, Y. DESSAUX, P. OGER). The 22th of october 2004, I was hired as Junior Research associate (CR2) in the EFPA (now ECODIV) department of the French National Institute for Agricultural Reasearch (INRA), at the interface between two research units: i) The “Tree microbes interactions” (IAM, UMR1136) unit and ii) the “Biogeochemical cycles in forest ecosystems” (BEF, UR1138) unit. I am member of the Ecogenomic and mineral weathering teams. In January 2009, I became Research associate (CR1). The 24th of februrary 2014, I defended my HDR (Habilitation à diriger des recherches) entitled “Ecology of biotic and abiotic interactions of the forest soil bacterial communities: characterization of the actors, mechanims and related genes” (Jury: C. MOUGEL, P. SIMONET, S. VUILLEMIER, R. MARMEISSE, L. MOULIN, P. LEBLOND, E. GELHAYE, P. OGER and P. FREY-KLETT). I was appointed INRA Research Director (DR2) in december 2014. I was head of the Ecogenomics of interactions team in from January 2020 to december 2021. I was appointed Head of the Cluster[ of Excellence ARBRE (Advanced Research on the Biology of Tree Biology and Forest Ecosystems)](http://mycor.nancy.inra.fr/ARBRE) with Myriam LEGAY and Mathieu PETRISSANS. My main collaborator is **Marie-Pierre TURPAULT** (Geochemist and mineralogist) and Cintia BLANCO NOUCHE (PhD). I am also involved in several projects related to microbial ecology, interactions between bacteria/fungi and signalling between bacteria with the colleagues of the **Ecogenomic team** (**M. BUEE, A. DEVEAU, F.MARTIN, L. AUER, E. MORIN**). **RESEARCH TOPICS:** My current projects, integrated in a more global questioning related to forest ecosystem functioning and sustainability, are linking genomics on model bacterial strains to microbial ecology: - **Forest soil as a reservoir of microbial biodiversity** (specific diversity by monogenic metagenomics, global approach by massive metagenomics and functional metagenomics) - Forest soil as a reservoir of **mineral weathering** bacteria (functional diversity, genetics, genomics link to biogeochemistry and mineralogy) - **Minerals and rocks** as microbial habitats (**mineralosphere**) - Microbial interactions and functions in the **rhizosphere and mycorrhizosphere** (e.g., quorum sensing ; competition) - Impact of **nutrient availability** (inorganic nutrients)/ soil type /tree species on bacterial communities - Impact of **drought** on the distribution and functioning of the bacterial communities - Impact of the microorganisms on the **nutrient cycle** (geomicrobiology) - **Genomics and genetics** of mineral weathering bacteria **COLLABORATIONS :** [Phil Oger](http://geologie.ens-lyon.fr/LST/spip.php?article50) (CNRS-ENS, Lyon), PE Courty (INRAE, Dijon), [Johan H.J. Leveau](http://plantpathology.ucdavis.edu/faculty/leveau/) (Univ. Davis, USA), [Wietse de Boer ](http://www.nioo.knaw.nl/users/wdeboer)(NIOO-KNAW, Netherlands),[ Jussi Heinonsalo](http://www.helsinki.fi/bioscience/myco/staff.htm) (Univ. Helsinki, Finland), Jean Armengaud (CEA-Marcoule, Bagnols-sur-Cèze), Cédric Paris (ENSAIA/UL, Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy).