I study the microorganisms of reptiles and amphibians.

The objectives are :

  1. to enrich the knowledge on microorganisms of a large diversity of species,

  2. to study the possible transmissions between commercialized and wild species in Ile de France,

  3. to see if there is an effect of urbanization on the microbial communities of Ile de France species,

  4. to see the effect of captivity on the microbial communities of individuals in zoological parks,

  5. to better define the zoonotic risks of commercialized and captive species for humans. 

For that, I realise an extensive sampling (buccal, cutaneous and anal swabs) on amphibians and reptiles from (a) the trade in collaboration with “La Ferme Tropicale” (Paris), (b) zoological gardens (Zoological garden of Paris), and (c) in the wild.

I will carry out metabarcoding analyses to detect viruses, fungi, bacteria and parasites. This will be performed at the University of Antwerp in collaboration with Dr. S. Gryseels.

Publications 

Louapre, P., Muller, K., Bettencourt‐Amarante, S., Thiery, D., & Moreau, J. (2022). Sexual audience affects male's reproduction investment without consequences on reproductive outputs. Insect Science.

Biard, C., Monceau, K., Teixeira, M., Motreuil, S., Bettencourt-Amarante, S., Develay, L., & Moreau, J. (2022). Coccidial oocyst release: once a day or all day long? Tropical bird hosts shed new light on the adaptive significance of diurnal periodicity in parasite output. Parasitology, 149(4), 469-481.