EDUCATION

PhD- Biology, Université du Québec à Montréal (Québec, Canada), 2010
Dissertation: Links between the structure and the metabolic performance of bacterioplankton communities in response to environmental gradients.
Advisor : Prof P.A. del Giorgio

Ms- Alpine ecology, Université Grenoble I & Université de Savoie (France), 2002
Thesis: Microbial community structure and dynamics in Lake Bourget (France). Advisors: Prof. D. Fontvieille, Dr. I. Domaizon

Bs- Cell biology and physiology, Université de Bourgogne (France), 2000

D.E.U.G. (2yrs University Diploma), Organismal Biology, Université de Bourgogne (France), 1999

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Microbial ecology
Microbial diversity and function
Ecosystem functioning
Microbial biogeography
Single-cell activity and physiology
High-throughput sequencing
Flow cytometry

PROFESSIONNAL RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Centre d’Études Nordiques – TAKUVIK international joint laboratory, Québec, Canada
Postdoctoral researcher (2012-present)
Taxonomic distribution and ecology of microbial communities in Nunavik thaw ponds
Study of the spatial patterns in microbial diversity at the local and regional scale across the rapidly changing permafrost landscape.
Identification of co-occurrence networks within microbial consortia in arctic aquatic ecosystems.
Advisors: Dr. W. F. Vincent and Dr. C. Lovejoy.

Department of Ecology and Genetics – Limnology, Uppsala University (Sweden)
Postdoctoral researcher (2010 –2012)
Investigate the contribution of dispersal and seed banks to freshwater bacterioplankton communities response along marine gradient
Analyses of 454-pyrosequencing data from batch cultures in laboratory and in situ experiments.
Advisors: Dr. S. Langenheder and Dr. E.S. Lindström.

Département des sciences biologiques, UQÀM, Montréal, Canada
PhD student (2004-2010)
Study of bacterial response to environmental gradients
Develop conceptual and methodological approaches to explore links between community diversity and function
Analysis of bacterial single-cell activity and physiology using a multiparametric procedure
Advisor : P. A. del Giorgio

UMR CARRTEL, Université de Savoie - INRA, Bourget du lac, France
Research assistant (2002-2003)
Study of the impact of grazing pressure on bacterial communities
Improvement of fluorescent in situ hybridization procedure

UMR CARRTEL, Université de Savoie - INRA, Bourget du lac, France
Ms student (2001-2002)
Taxonomic distribution of lake bacterioplankton and protists
Temporal dynamics of bacterial, flagelates and ciliates populations

PUBLICATIONS

Peer-reviewed articles
Comte J., A. Monier, S. Crevecoeur, C. Lovejoy and W. F. Vincent. (2015) Microbial biogeography of permafrost thaw ponds across the changing northern landscape. Ecography. 8, 1-10.

Crevecoeur S., W. F. Vincent, J. Comte and C. Lovejoy. (2015) Bacterial community structure across environmental gradients in permafrost thaw ponds : Methanotroph-rich ecosystems. Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology. 6, 192. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.00192.

Monier A., J. Comte, M. Babin, A. Forest, A. Matsuoka, and C. Lovejoy. (2015) Oceanographic structure drives the assembly processes of microbial eukaryotic communities. The ISME Journal. 9, 990–1002, doi: 10.1038/ismej.2014.197.

Comte, J., E. S. Lindström, A. Eiler and S. Langenheder. (2014) Can marine bacteria be recruited from freshwater sources and the air? The ISME Journal. 8, 2423-2430.

Beattie, S. A., Armstrong D., Chaulk A., Comte J., Gosselin M., and Wang F. (2014). Total and Methylated Mercury in Arctic Multiyear Sea Ice. Environmental Science & Technology. 48(10), 5575-5582.

Comte, J., Fauteux, L., and del Giorgio, P.A. (2013) Links between metabolic plasticity and functional redundancy in freshwater bacterioplankton communities. Frontiers in Aquatic Microbiology. 4, 112. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00112.

Comte, J., and del Giorgio, P.A. (2011) Composition influences the pathway but not the outcome of the metabolic response of bacterioplankton to resource shifts. PLoS ONE 6(9): e25266. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0025266.

Comte, J., and del Giorgio, P.A. (2010) Linking the patterns of change in composition and functional capacities in bacterioplankton successions along environmental gradients. Ecology, 91: 1466-1476.

Maurice, C.F., Bouvier, T., Comte, J., Guillemette, F., and del Giorgio, P.A. (2010) Seasonal variations of phage life strategies and bacterial physiological states in three northern temperate lakes. Environmental Microbiology, 12: 628-641.

Comte, J., and del Giorgio, P.A. (2009) Links between resources, C metabolism, and the major components of bacterioplankton community structure across a range of freshwater ecosystems. Environmental Microbiology, 11: 1704-1716.

Comte, J., Domaizon, I., Fontvieille, D., Viboud, S., Paolini, G., and S. Jacquet. (2006) Microbial community structure and dynamics in the largest natural French lake (Lake Bourget). Microbial Ecology, 52: 72-89.

Articles in review
Comte J., C. Lovejoy, S. Crevecoeur and W. F. Vincent. Co-occurrence patterns in aquatic bacterial communities across changing permafrost landscapes. Biogeosciences (accepted in Biogeosciences Discussions, doi:10.5194/bgd-12-10233-2015).

Przytulska A., J. Comte, I. Laurion and W. F. Vincent. Phototrophic pigment diversity and picophytoplankton abundance in subarctic permafrost thaw ponds. Biogeosciences (accepted in Biogeosciences Discussions, doi:10.5194/bgd-12-12121-2015).

Zha, Y., M. Berga, J. Comte and S. Langenheder. Interactive effects of diversity and dispersal on the functional performance and stability of bacterial communities. PLoS-ONE.

Langenheder, S., J. Comte, Y. Zha, S. Samad, L. Sinclair, A. Eiler, E. S. Lindström. Remnants of marine bacteria can be retrieved from deep sediments in lakes of marine origin. Environmental Microbiology.

Comte J., S. Langenheder, M. Berga, and E. S. Lindström. Contribution of different dispersal sources to the metabolic response of lake bacterioplankton following a salinity change The ISME Journal.