Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Dr Adam Monier

Dr Adam Monier

Royal Society University Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow

 A.Monier@exeter.ac.uk

 6973

 Living Systems Institute T05.16

 

Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD

Overview

Dr. Adam Monier is a marine microbiologist interested in the ecology and evolution of microbial eukaryotes and associated viruses and their interplay in oceans. Adam received his MSc and PhD in Bioinformatics from Aix-Marseille Université (France) with Profs. Hiroyuki Ogata and Jean-Michel Claverie (CNRS Structural and Genomic Information Laboratory). His doctoral work was followed by postdoctoral research with Prof. Alexandra Z. Worden (Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute MBARI, CA, USA) which focussed on the development of metagenomic tools to study marine microbial eukaryotes and with Prof. Connie Lovejoy (Université Laval and Takuvik CNRS International Lab., QC, Canada) on the effect of sea ice loss on the diversity and function of Arctic Ocean microbial communities.

In 2014, Adam was awarded a Royal Society Newton Fellowship to work at the University of Exeter on the impact of horizontal gene transfer events in phytoplankton-virus interactions. Since 2018, he is a Senior Research Fellow and a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Living Systems Institute where his group uses 'omics' tools to determine the influence of viral infection on phytoplankton physiology, and its repercussions on marine ecosystems.

Qualifications

2006 – 2009        PhD Bioinformatics (Aix-Marseille Université)

2004 – 2006        MSc Bioinformatics, Structural Biology and Genomics (Aix-Marseille Université)

2001 – 2004        BSc Cell Biology (Aix-Marseille Université)

Career

2018 – Present  Royal Society University Research Fellow 

2018 – Present  Senior Research Fellow (Living Systems Institute, University of Exeter)

2016 – 2018      NERC-funded Research Associate (Biosciences, University of Exeter)

2014 – 2016      Royal Society Newton Fellow (Biosciences, University of Exeter)

2012 – 2014      Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Université Laval (Québec, Canada) and Takuvik CNRS International Laboratory

2009 – 2011      Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute MBARI (Calif., USA)

2006 – 2009      Doctoral Student, CNRS Structural and Genomic Information Laboratory (Marseille, France)

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Research

Research interests

-Marine microbiology and virology

-Microbial/viral ecology and evolution

-Arctic oceanography

-Bioinformatics and phylogenetics

Research grants

  • 2020 Royal Society Research Grant
    Nanopore-sequencing for pan-genomics (£20k)
  • 2018 Royal Society University Research Fellowship
    Investigation of the ecological role of infected phytoplankton (£580k)
  • 2018 Royal Society Research Fellows Enhancement Award
    Viral manipulation of host chromatin and gene transcription in infected phytoplankton (£238k)
  • 2017 LabexMer
    Cluster of Excellence LabexMER "Changing Ocean" (France/EU); International Scholar Grant (€2k)
  • 2014 Royal Society Newton International Fellowship
    Did horizontal gene transfer ‘rewire’ ocean microbial metabolic networks? (£55k)

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Publications

Journal articles

Metz S, Itoïz S, Obiol A, Derelle E, Massana R, Berney C, de Vargas C, Soudant P, Monier A, Chambouvet A, et al (2023). Global perspective of environmental distribution and diversity of Perkinsea (Alveolata) explored by a meta-analysis of eDNA surveys. Sci Rep, 13(1). Abstract.  Author URL.
Allen MJ, Cicéron F, Monier A (2022). The potential of nature’s unseen industrious heroes: marine viruses. The Biochemist, 44(2), 18-21.
Estell C, Davidson L, Steketee PC, Monier A, West S (2021). ZC3H4 restricts non-coding transcription in human cells. Abstract.
Estell C, Davidson L, Steketee PC, Monier A, West S (2021). ZC3H4 restricts non-coding transcription in human cells. Elife, 10 Abstract.  Author URL.
Chambouvet A, Smilansky V, Jirků M, Isidoro-Ayza M, Itoïz S, Derelle E, Monier A, Gower DJ, Wilkinson M, Yabsley MJ, et al (2020). Diverse alveolate infections of tadpoles, a new threat to frogs?. PLoS Pathog, 16(2).  Author URL.
Chambouvet A, Monier A, Maguire F, Itoïz S, del Campo J, Elies P, Edvardsen B, Eikreim W, Richards TA (2019). Intracellular Infection of Diverse Diatoms by an Evolutionary Distinct Relative of the Fungi. Current Biology, 29(23), 4093-4101.e4.
Demory D, Baudoux A-C, Monier A, Simon N, Six C, Ge P, Rigaut-Jalabert F, Marie D, Sciandra A, Bernard O, et al (2019). Picoeukaryotes of the Micromonas genus: sentinels of a warming ocean. ISME J, 13(1), 132-146. Abstract.  Author URL.
Wideman JG, Monier A, Rodríguez-Martínez R, Leonard G, Cook E, Poirier C, Maguire F, Milner DS, Irwin NAT, Moore K, et al (2019). Unexpected mitochondrial genome diversity revealed by targeted single-cell genomics of heterotrophic flagellated protists. Nature Microbiology, 5(1), 154-165.
Leonard G, Labarre A, Milner DS, Monier A, Soanes D, Wideman JG, Maguire F, Stevens S, Sain D, Grau-Bové X, et al (2018). Comparative genomic analysis of the 'pseudofungus' Hyphochytrium catenoides. Open Biol, 8(1). Abstract.  Author URL.
Monier A, Chambouvet A, Milner DS, Attah V, Terrado R, Lovejoy C, Moreau H, Santoro AE, Derelle É, Richards TA, et al (2017). Host-derived viral transporter protein for nitrogen uptake in infected marine phytoplankton. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(36), E7489-E7498. Abstract.
Joli N, Monier A, Logares R, Lovejoy C (2017). Seasonal patterns in Arctic prasinophytes and inferred ecology of Bathycoccus unveiled in an Arctic winter metagenome. ISME Journal, 11(6), 1372-1385. Abstract.
Richards TA, Monier A (2016). A tale of two tardigrades. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 113(18), 4892-4894.  Author URL.
Simmons MP, Sudek S, Monier A, Limardo AJ, Jimenez V, Perle CR, Elrod VA, Pennington JT, Worden AZ (2016). Abundance and Biogeography of Picoprasinophyte Ecotypes and Other Phytoplankton in the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. Appl Environ Microbiol, 82(6), 1693-1705. Abstract.  Author URL.
Comte J, Monier A, Crevecoeur S, Lovejoy C, Vincent WF (2016). Microbial biogeography of permafrost thaw ponds across the changing northern landscape. Ecography, 39(7), 609-618. Abstract.
Monier A, Worden AZ, Richards TA (2016). Phylogenetic diversity and biogeography of the Mamiellophyceae lineage of eukaryotic phytoplankton across the oceans. Environ Microbiol Rep, 8(4), 461-469. Abstract.  Author URL.
Terrado R, Monier A, Edgar R, Lovejoy C (2015). DIVERSITY OF NITROGEN ASSIMILATION PATHWAYS AMONG MICROBIAL PHOTOSYNTHETIC EUKARYOTES. JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY, 51(3), 490-506.  Author URL.
Derelle E, Monier A, Cooke R, Worden AZ, Grimsley NH, Moreau H (2015). Diversity of Viruses Infecting the Green Microalga Ostreococcus lucimarinus. J Virol, 89(11), 5812-5821. Abstract.  Author URL.
Monier A, Comte J, Babin M, Forest A, Matsuoka A, Lovejoy C (2015). Oceanographic structure drives the assembly processes of microbial eukaryotic communities. ISME Journal, 9, 990-1002. Abstract.
McRose D, Guo J, Monier A, Sudek S, Wilken S, Yan S, Mock T, Archibald JM, Begley TP, Reyes-Prieto A, et al (2014). Alternatives to vitamin B 1 uptake revealed with discovery of riboswitches in multiple marine eukaryotic lineages. ISME Journal, 8(12), 2517-2529. Abstract.
Monier A, Findlay HS, Charvet S, Lovejoy C (2014). Late winter under ice pelagic microbial communities in the high Arctic Ocean and the impact of short-term exposure to elevated CO<inf>2</inf> levels. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5(SEP). Abstract.
Monier A, Sudek S, Fast NM, Worden AZ (2013). Gene invasion in distant eukaryotic lineages: Discovery of mutually exclusive genetic elements reveals marine biodiversity. ISME Journal, 7(9), 1764-1774. Abstract.
Vergin KL, Beszteri B, Monier A, Thrash JC, Temperton B, Treusch AH, Kilpert F, Worden AZ, Giovannoni SJ (2013). High-resolution SAR11 ecotype dynamics at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site by phylogenetic placement of pyrosequences. The ISME Journal, 7(7), 1322-1332. Abstract.
Read BA, Kegel J, Klute MJ, Kuo A, Lefebvre SC, Maumus F, Mayer C, Miller J, Monier A, Salamov A, et al (2013). Pan genome of the phytoplankton Emiliania underpins its global distribution. Nature, 499(7457), 209-213. Abstract.  Author URL.
Monier A, Terrado R, Thaler M, Comeau A, Medrinal E, Lovejoy C (2013). Upper Arctic Ocean water masses harbor distinct communities of heterotrophic flagellates. Biogeosciences, 10(6), 4273-4286. Abstract.
Monier A, Welsh RM, Gentemann C, Weinstock G, Sodergren E, Armbrust EV, Eisen JA, Worden AZ (2012). Phosphate transporters in marine phytoplankton and their viruses: Cross-domain commonalities in viral-host gene exchanges. Environmental Microbiology, 14(1), 162-176. Abstract.
Cuvelier ML, Allen AE, Monier A, McCrow JP, Messié M, Tringe SG, Woyke T, Welsh RM, Ishoey T, Lee JH, et al (2010). Targeted metagenomics and ecology of globally important uncultured eukaryotic phytoplankton. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(33), 14679-14684. Abstract.
Monier A, Pagarete A, De Vargas C, Allen MJ, Read B, Claverie JM, Ogata H (2009). Horizontal gene transfer of an entire metabolic pathway between a eukaryotic alga and its DNA virus. Genome Research, 19(8), 1441-1449. Abstract.
Monier A, Larsen JB, Sandaa RA, Bratbak G, Claverie JM, Ogata H (2008). Marine mimivirus relatives are probably large algal viruses. Virology Journal, 5 Abstract.
Monier A, Claverie JM, Ogata H (2008). Taxonomic distribution of large DNA viruses in the sea. Genome Biology, 9(7). Abstract.
Monier A, Claverie JM, Ogata H (2007). Horizontal gene transfer and nucleotide compositional anomaly in large DNA viruses. BMC Genomics, 8 Abstract.

Chapters

Jackson VLN, Allen MJ, Monier A (2021). VIRUSES OF EUKARYOTIC MICROALGAE. In  (Ed) Studies in Viral Ecology, Wiley, 89-119.
Ogata H, Monier A, Claverie J-M (2011). Distribution of Giant Viruses in Marine Environments. In Ceccaldi HJ, Dekeyser I, Girault M, Stora G (Eds.) Global Change: Mankind-Marine Environment Interactions, Springer. Abstract.

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Teaching

I teach a wide range of topics, from bioinformatics, phylogenetics and genomics to microbial ecology, evolution and oceanography.

Drop-in visits from students: my (virtual) office hours are from 1400 to 1600, Tuesdays term-time (contact me by email for the Zoom link).

Modules

  • BIO3037—Ecology of Environmental Change
  • BIO3046—Frontiers in Plant Biology
  • BIO3083—Current Issues in Marine Biology
  • BIO3092—Bioinformatics

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Supervision / Group

Postdoctoral researchers

  • Felix Ciceron
  • Susan Kimmance

Postgraduate researchers

  • Keith Harrison
  • Victoria Jackson

Alumni

  • Ashley Bell (PhD student in Temperton and Tyler labs, Biosciences, University of Exeter)
  • Estelle Kilias (Postdoctoral researcher, Oxford University)
  • Margot Tragin
  • Martha Valiadi (Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Greece)

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