Nicolas BierneJul 3, 2025
Great news! The next #AMMR meeting on #MusselsAreCool research is now scheduled for September 2026 at the Tjärnö Marine Lab in Sweden. Save the dates! #MarEvol
https://www.gu.se/en/event/international-symposium-advances-in-marine-mussel-research
International Symposium: Advances in Marine Mussel Research

The 6th International Symposium on Advances in Marine Mussel Research (AMMR2026) will take place 2–4 September 2026 at the Tjärnö Marine Laboratory on Sweden’s Bohuslän coast. This global, interdisciplinary meeting will highlight the latest Mytilus research — from molecular biology to ecosystem science.

University of Gothenburg
Nicolas BierneApr 14, 2025
#PostDoc in #Montpellier on mussel transmissible cancers genomes. These weird cancers, microparasites with a mussel genome, have undergone genome doublings and aneuploidisation. You will play with PacBio and Nanopore data. Join the #HyperCan team in a joyfull environment. #TransCan #MarEvol #PopGen #MusselsAreCool #JobAlert https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/333894
Post-Doctoral Researcher – Haplotype-Resolved Assembly and Structural Variation of Polyploid Genomes in Transmissible Cancers of the Blue Mussel (M/F)

- work environment: Host-Pathogen-Environment Interactions Laboratory (UMR5244 IHPE), Montpellier - main mission: 

EURAXESS
Nicolas BierneNov 7, 2024
Urgent cherche étudiant #Master2 pour #stage sur la #connectivité #génétique entre populations côtières, naturelles et portuaires, et éoliennes off-shore de moules. Génotypage par puce SNP 60K. Stage à l'ifremer #LaTremblade, avec séjour à #Montpellier. Le projet comprend un financement de thèse, c'est pas cool ça? Faites passer SVP #MusselsAreCool 
Show threadNicolas BierneSep 4, 2024
@aecahill wow, congrats Abi #MusselsAreCool
Nicolas BierneJun 4, 2024

Best practices to extract ancient DNA from mollusc shells #MusselsAreCool

https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0302646

Advancing responsible genomic analyses of ancient mollusc shells

The analysis of the DNA entrapped in ancient shells of molluscs has the potential to shed light on the evolution and ecology of this very diverse phylum. Ancient genomics could help reconstruct the responses of molluscs to past climate change, pollution, and human subsistence practices at unprecedented temporal resolutions. Applications are however still in their infancy, partly due to our limited knowledge of DNA preservation in calcium carbonate shells and the need for optimized methods for responsible genomic data generation. To improve ancient shell genomic analyses, we applied high-throughput DNA sequencing to 27 Mytilus mussel shells dated to ~111–6500 years Before Present, and investigated the impact, on DNA recovery, of shell imaging, DNA extraction protocols and shell sub-sampling strategies. First, we detected no quantitative or qualitative deleterious effect of micro-computed tomography for recording shell 3D morphological information prior to sub-sampling. Then, we showed that double-digestion and bleach treatment of shell powder prior to silica-based DNA extraction improves shell DNA recovery, also suggesting that DNA is protected in preservation niches within ancient shells. Finally, all layers that compose Mytilus shells, i.e., the nacreous (aragonite) and prismatic (calcite) carbonate layers, with or without the outer organic layer (periostracum) proved to be valuable DNA reservoirs, with aragonite appearing as the best substrate for genomic analyses. Our work contributes to the understanding of long-term molecular preservation in biominerals and we anticipate that resulting recommendations will be helpful for future efficient and responsible genomic analyses of ancient mollusc shells.

Nicolas BierneFeb 22, 2024

Interview de @Maurine_Hammel sur la radio RTS, au sujet de son article publié hier dans les Proceedings de la Royal Society au sujet de la plus forte prévalence du cancer transmissible des moules MtrBTN2 dans les ports #MusselsAreCool

https://www.rts.ch/audio-podcast/2024/audio/un-cancer-contagieux-chez-les-moules-28412774.html

Un cancer contagieux chez les moules

Un cancer fait des ravages chez les moules. On pensait que la maladie se transmettait essentiellement au sein dʹun même banc, de manière localisée mais selon une étude publiée hier dans la revue Proceedings of the Royal Society, les moules ont tendance à se fixer sur les coques des bateaux et à voyager à travers le monde. La propagation du cancer se fait donc très à dʹautres bancs de moule. Bastien Confino reçoit Maurine Hammel. doctorante à lʹUniversité de Montpellier et première autrice de cette étude sur le cancer des moules.

rts.ch
Nicolas BierneFeb 21, 2024

Interview d'Erika Burioli au sujet de son projet ERC sur l'évolution du cancer transmissible des moules MtrBTN2. L'étude des ces entités biologiques uniques et fascinantes va continuer à nous occuper pour encore quelques années. Encore bravo à Erika. #MusselsAreCool

https://www.umontpellier.fr/articles/a-lum-la-science-s03-ep04-le-cancer-transmissible-des-moules/

A l'UM la science [S03-ep04] : Le cancer transmissible des moules - Université de Montpellier

Cette semaine Erika Burioli du laboratoire Interactions hôtes – pathogènes – environnement (IHPE) nous parle du cancer transmissible qui affecte les moules. En deuxième partie d’émission Maylis Labonne et Franck Ferraton nous font visiter le plateau de sclérochronologie du laboratoire Marbec. Une émission diffusée chaque mercredi à 18h sur Divergence FM…

Université de Montpellier
Nicolas BierneFeb 21, 2024

I'm delighted to see our study on the prevalence of the mussel transmissible cancer MtrBTN2 published today in Proc Roy Soc B. A great piece of work by Maurine Hammel, with a nice multidisciplinary collaboration. We had originally planned to test for higher prevalence in one of the two host species in sympatry, but ended up finding a better spread in urban marine waters. #TransCan #MusselsAreCool

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2023.2541

Nicolas BierneDec 14, 2023
It's time for a mussel emoji #MusselsAreCool (Thanks to @alxsim )
Biodiversity communication in the digital era through the Emoji tree of life: iScience
https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(23)02646-9
Nicolas BierneNov 17, 2023

In the #MusselsAreCool toots series:

Mussels are a serious biofouling problem, but they could also inspire antifouling solutions.

Mussel-inspired antifouling

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2015/cc/c5cc06852e

https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsnano.5b06066