Freshwater ecosystems are strongly impacted by anthropogenic activities. These activities lead to habitat loss, pollution and climate change. If species cannot reach more suitable habitats, they are under selective pressure to develop adaptive strategies to cope with these new environmental conditions.
In research direction, we aim to understand the adaptive genomic and epigenomic mechanisms in response to pollution invasive species of bivalves.
We are currently investigating epigenetic responses to pollution in the zebra mussel Dreissena polymorpha and the Asian clam Corbicula fluminea by comparing whole-genome DNA methylation profiles of populations from polluted and non-polluted localities.