The IFREMER SG2M unit (Shellfish Health, Genetics and Microbiology), created in 2013, is the result of the merger of several entities of the former AGSAE unit (Genetic Improvement, Animal Health and Environment), and the Laboratoire de Microbiologie-Laboratoire National de Référence pour la Microbiologie des coquillages (MIC-LNR).
The SG2M unit carries out research to help manage the biodiversity of coastal areas and shellfish ecosystems. In this context of global change and sustainable aquaculture, the unit seeks to develop knowledge concerning the interactions between infectious agents, hosts and environment in marine molluscs, and contamination cycles.
SG2M's activities are divided into four areas:
Sanitary microbiology and the transfer pathways and dynamics of human pathogens in the coastal environment,
The study of diseases affecting marine molluscs,
The knowledge of genomes, domestication and improvement of bivalves,
Securing shellfish by controlling water quality.
In parallel, the unit also monitors shellfish production systems and the sanitary quality of shellfish production.
Located in La Tremblade, the Laboratory of Genetics and Pathology of Marine Molluscs contributes in particular to :
The improvement of shellfish by polyploidy and by the selection and testing of the strains obtained;
The study of pathogenic organisms infecting shellfish and their monitoring;
The analysis and management of biological and ecological risks related to aquaculture strategies, the study of interactions between species in aquaculture and the environment;
The decontamination and purification of shellfish through the knowledge of their physiology.
This department replaced DRV-RA at TREMBLADE during the restructuring of 2005.
