anaerobes with Professor Prevost, Jacques Se ´nez returned to
Marseille where he created the laboratory of bacterial chemistry and biological corrosion in 1947; in this laboratory, he
began his basic research with technological applications on
sulfate-reducing bacteria and hydrocarbon biodegradation
and corrosion of concrete by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. He
created, at the University of Marseille, the second Chair of
Microbiology in France after Paris, in 1950. He developed
his research team in 1962 and created the great laboratory of
bacterial chemistry which became a reference laboratory for
environmental bacteria and biotechnology, which he
directed until 1983. He wrote a standard reference book in
microbiology, Microbiologie Ge ´ne ´rale (General Microbiology) published by DOIN (Se ´nez 1968). He inspired many
researchers at CNRS, ORSTOM, and at the university who
continued his research paths on sulfate-reducing bacteria (Le
Gall and Fauque 1988) and allowed the development of
several research laboratories on marine microbiology
devoted to the role of bacteria in biogeochemical cycling
or in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in the marine
environment. Researchers in these laboratories contributed
to the first French book for marine microbiology, Microorganismes
dans
les
e ´cosystemes
oce ´aniques
(Microorganisms in Ocean Ecosystems) (Bianchi et al.
1989).
It has long been recognized that animal organisms harbor
a large number of microbes on their surface and the Russian
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, born in 1845, was one of the first to
study them. He was formed at the University of Kharkoff in
natural sciences and went on to study marine fauna at
Heligoland and then to various universities (Go ¨ttingen,
Munich, Giessen) where he studied intracellular digestion
in the flatworm and phagocytosis. In addition to his work on
immunity that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology and
Medicine in 1908, he started the study of the flora of the
human intestine and developed a theory that gut microbes’
metabolites caused poisoning, which could be prevented
through a diet containing fermented milk, containing large
amounts of lactic acid.
The French Rene ´ Dubos, born in Val d’Oise near Paris, in
1901 was recruited in the National Agronomical Institute
(INRA) as an agronomist in 1921. He soon moved to work
with O. T. Avery at Rockefeller University in New York
where he studied enzymes that break down the capsule of
pneumococci and developed gramicidin, the first
commercialized antibiotic. He was elected to the US
National Academy of Sciences in 1941 as a consequence
of this discovery but was always an advocate that biological
equilibrium was a better way to fight diseases than
antibiotics. He thus coined the well-known motto “think
globally, act locally” to suggest that global environmental
problems can be solved only by considering ecological,
economic, and cultural aspects of our local surroundings.
His most popular work Mirage of Health (1959) is a reflection on the balance between hosts and pathogens where
health is never definite because disease results from the
dynamic process of life.
Microbial ecology of the digestive tract, animal and
human, has experienced strong development in the group
of P. Raibaud in the laboratory of INRA at Jouy-en-Josas, by
using several techniques such as axenic animals and
antibiotherapy, allowing to know the dominant flora at different stages of life and the changes associated with certain
diseases (Ducluzeau and Raibaud 1979).
2.6
Microbial Ecology Today
Since 1970, microbial ecology has developed considerably,
and many research laboratories around the world are
involved in this field of research. Microbial ecologists
study interactions between microorganisms and their environment or between microorganisms and other biological
components of ecosystems. Therefore, they require a wide
knowledge in the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology.
The study of microbial ecology therefore requires close links
with various disciplines for studies of microorganisms and
their roles in their environments, whether in geophysics,
geochemistry, soil science, limnology and oceanography,
climatology, general biology, botany and zoology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and statistics and biostatistics.
The methods of molecular biology, which have greatly
expanded since the 1980s, have led to major advances in all
biological sciences and especially in microbial ecology.
They, among others, contributed greatly to the knowledge
of the diversity and adaptations of microbial communities in
ecosystems. They have allowed understanding microbial
interactions by gene flow and response capacities of microbial communities to environmental stresses and increasingly
important inputs of toxic compounds in ecosystems. Considering these different subject areas, the community of microbial ecologists is very large today, as shown by the number
of scientific articles in constant increase in the flagship
journals of the discipline such as Microbial Ecology (quarterly since 1974), FEMS Microbiology Ecology (quarterly
since 1985), Applied and Environmental Microbiology
(monthly since 1976), Environmental Microbiology
(monthly since 1999), Geomicrobiology Journal (quarterly
since 1983), Aquatic Microbial Ecology (monthly since
1995), and ISME Journal (monthly since 2007) and in
numerous journals of ecology, soil science, and aquatic or
ocean studies.
Given these important developments, microbial
ecologists have decided to establish an international association, ISME (International Society for Microbial Ecology),
created in 1977. This society aims to enable global
22
P. Caumette et al.
Marseille where he created the laboratory of bacterial chemistry and biological corrosion in 1947; in this laboratory, he
began his basic research with technological applications on
sulfate-reducing bacteria and hydrocarbon biodegradation
and corrosion of concrete by sulfur-oxidizing bacteria. He
created, at the University of Marseille, the second Chair of
Microbiology in France after Paris, in 1950. He developed
his research team in 1962 and created the great laboratory of
bacterial chemistry which became a reference laboratory for
environmental bacteria and biotechnology, which he
directed until 1983. He wrote a standard reference book in
microbiology, Microbiologie Ge ´ne ´rale (General Microbiology) published by DOIN (Se ´nez 1968). He inspired many
researchers at CNRS, ORSTOM, and at the university who
continued his research paths on sulfate-reducing bacteria (Le
Gall and Fauque 1988) and allowed the development of
several research laboratories on marine microbiology
devoted to the role of bacteria in biogeochemical cycling
or in the biodegradation of hydrocarbons in the marine
environment. Researchers in these laboratories contributed
to the first French book for marine microbiology, Microorganismes
dans
les
e ´cosystemes
oce ´aniques
(Microorganisms in Ocean Ecosystems) (Bianchi et al.
1989).
It has long been recognized that animal organisms harbor
a large number of microbes on their surface and the Russian
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov, born in 1845, was one of the first to
study them. He was formed at the University of Kharkoff in
natural sciences and went on to study marine fauna at
Heligoland and then to various universities (Go ¨ttingen,
Munich, Giessen) where he studied intracellular digestion
in the flatworm and phagocytosis. In addition to his work on
immunity that earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology and
Medicine in 1908, he started the study of the flora of the
human intestine and developed a theory that gut microbes’
metabolites caused poisoning, which could be prevented
through a diet containing fermented milk, containing large
amounts of lactic acid.
The French Rene ´ Dubos, born in Val d’Oise near Paris, in
1901 was recruited in the National Agronomical Institute
(INRA) as an agronomist in 1921. He soon moved to work
with O. T. Avery at Rockefeller University in New York
where he studied enzymes that break down the capsule of
pneumococci and developed gramicidin, the first
commercialized antibiotic. He was elected to the US
National Academy of Sciences in 1941 as a consequence
of this discovery but was always an advocate that biological
equilibrium was a better way to fight diseases than
antibiotics. He thus coined the well-known motto “think
globally, act locally” to suggest that global environmental
problems can be solved only by considering ecological,
economic, and cultural aspects of our local surroundings.
His most popular work Mirage of Health (1959) is a reflection on the balance between hosts and pathogens where
health is never definite because disease results from the
dynamic process of life.
Microbial ecology of the digestive tract, animal and
human, has experienced strong development in the group
of P. Raibaud in the laboratory of INRA at Jouy-en-Josas, by
using several techniques such as axenic animals and
antibiotherapy, allowing to know the dominant flora at different stages of life and the changes associated with certain
diseases (Ducluzeau and Raibaud 1979).
2.6
Microbial Ecology Today
Since 1970, microbial ecology has developed considerably,
and many research laboratories around the world are
involved in this field of research. Microbial ecologists
study interactions between microorganisms and their environment or between microorganisms and other biological
components of ecosystems. Therefore, they require a wide
knowledge in the fields of physics, chemistry, and biology.
The study of microbial ecology therefore requires close links
with various disciplines for studies of microorganisms and
their roles in their environments, whether in geophysics,
geochemistry, soil science, limnology and oceanography,
climatology, general biology, botany and zoology, biochemistry and molecular biology, and statistics and biostatistics.
The methods of molecular biology, which have greatly
expanded since the 1980s, have led to major advances in all
biological sciences and especially in microbial ecology.
They, among others, contributed greatly to the knowledge
of the diversity and adaptations of microbial communities in
ecosystems. They have allowed understanding microbial
interactions by gene flow and response capacities of microbial communities to environmental stresses and increasingly
important inputs of toxic compounds in ecosystems. Considering these different subject areas, the community of microbial ecologists is very large today, as shown by the number
of scientific articles in constant increase in the flagship
journals of the discipline such as Microbial Ecology (quarterly since 1974), FEMS Microbiology Ecology (quarterly
since 1985), Applied and Environmental Microbiology
(monthly since 1976), Environmental Microbiology
(monthly since 1999), Geomicrobiology Journal (quarterly
since 1983), Aquatic Microbial Ecology (monthly since
1995), and ISME Journal (monthly since 2007) and in
numerous journals of ecology, soil science, and aquatic or
ocean studies.
Given these important developments, microbial
ecologists have decided to establish an international association, ISME (International Society for Microbial Ecology),
created in 1977. This society aims to enable global
22
P. Caumette et al.