François-Étienne Sylvain, PhD candidate


​ACADEMIA
  • Ph.D. Biology (Université Laval) 2017-now
  • MSc. Biology (Université Laval) 2015-17
  • BSc. Biology,  (Université Laval) 2012-15

EXPERTISE
  • Metagenomics
  • Transcriptomics
  • Host and microbial genomics
  • Population genetics
  • Functional ecology
  • Microbial ecology and evolution

CONTACT
  • Email: francois-etienne.sylvain.1@ulaval.ca
  • Phone : 581-307-6834

CURRICULUM VITAE
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I am fascinated about how fish-microbe systems adapt to extreme environments.

PhD project

PictureBlack piranha (Serrasalmus rhombeus)

​Co-adaptation of fish hosts and microbes to the hostile waters of the Rio Negro (2017-now)

The Rio Negro, the Amazon’s primary tributary, is home to more than 1000 fish species, making it one of the most biodiverse water course on Earth. However, this environment is extremely hostile to any life form, due to its very acidic pH (3.0-4.0) and its nutrient and ion-depleted waters. How is it possible to observe such a high fish diversity in such an ecosystem?

The goal of our project is to understand how fishes from the Rio Negro adapt to the extreme water conditions found in this environment. We hypothesized that the answer to this question relies upon symbiotic bacteria living on the fish, that are originally recruited from the water. ​

MSc project

Picture
Discus fish (Symphysodon sp.)
Discus Microbiota Project (M.Sc.; 2015-2017)
​My master's project was about the recruitment of symbiotic bacteria in the intestinal microflora of the Discus (Symphysodon sp.), an Amazonian fish of high commercial value that feeds its offspring  with cutaneous mucus during the first few weeks of life.  We showed that Discus fry recruit some of the most important symbionts supporting the diversity of their gut microbiome when they feed on their parent's secretions, just like mammals!

Publications

  1. Sylvain FE, Normandeau E, Holland A, Val AL, Derome N. Genomics of Serrasalmidae teleosts through the lens of microbiome fingerprinting. In review at Microbiome. 
  2. Sylvain FE, Bouslama S, Holland A, Leroux N, Mercier PL, Val AL, Derome N. The Amazon River microbiome, a story of humic carbon. In review at ISME J.
  3. Leroux N, Sylvain FE, Normandeau E, Holland A, Val, AL, Derome N. Neutral evolutionary processes played a major role in the Amazonian Teleostean diversification: Unravelling Mesonauta festivus phylogeographic history. In review at Molecular Ecology.
  4. Audet-Gilbert E, Sylvain FE, Bouslama S, Derome N. 2021. Clownfish and anemone epithelial microbiomes converge before first physical contact. Microbiome. doi: 10.1186/s40168-021-01058-1
  5. Sylvain FE, Holland A, Audet-Gilbert E, Lavoie C, Val AL, Derome N. 2020. Amazonian fish microbiomes reveal tissue-specific signatures of host species and habitat. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. doi: 10.1128/AEM.00789-20
  6. Sylvain FE, Holland A, Audet-Gilbert E, Val AL, Derome N. 2019. Amazon fish bacterial communities show structural convergence along widespread hydrochemical gradients. Molecular Ecology. doi: 10.1111/mec.15184
  7. Llewellyn MS, Leadbeater S, Garcia C, Sylvain FE, Custodio M, Ang KP, Powell F, Carvahlo GR, Creer S, Elliot J, Derome N. 2017. Parasitism perturbs the mucosal microbiome of Atlantic Salmon. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/srep43465
  8. Sylvain FE, Derome N. 2017. Vertically and horizontally transmitted microbial symbionts shape the gut microbiota ontogenesis of a skin-mucus feeding discus fish progeny. Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-05662-w
  9. Sylvain FE, Cheaib B, Llewellyn M, Correia T, Fagundes DB, Val AL, Derome N. 2016. pH drop impacts differentially skin and gut microbiota of the Amazonian fish tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum). Scientific Reports. doi: 10.1038/srep32032