Dr Miloš Ćirić short-term staff exchange at INRAE (May - June 2023)

During May and June 2023 Dr Miloš Ćirić was a guest researcher at UMR Carrtel (INRAE) in Thonon, France. UMR Carrtel (INRAE) is a research unit of 40 people in INRAE working on lakes and aquatic ecosystems functioning, including close contact with managers and providing them with innovative tools for ecosystem monitoring. UMR Carrtel staff have also been specialized in DNA metabarcoding with more than 10 years of experience, participating in relevant networks (such as DNAAqua-Net), coordinating Diat.barcode barcoding library, etc.

 

Miloš Ćirić has been working in the field of phytoplankton ecology and algology for more than 10 years. His visit to UMR Carrtel laboratory was a step forward from the classical approach of species determination to DNA-based phytoplankton identification. Experts from INRAE, Dr Frederic Rimet and Dr Clarisse Lemonier, prepared a well-structured comprehensive training program and supervised Miloš Ćirić’s work at UMR Carrtel. The first days of the visit were dedicated to collecting the test samples, preparing the buffer solution for phytoplankton metabarcoding and presentation of DNA extraction protocols. After the successful training on test samples collected in Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), the first DNA extractions of phytoplankton and diatom samples collected in Serbian lakes and ponds were accomplished by Miloš Ćirić. The success of the extraction was confirmed by NanoDrop spectrophotometer which detected DNA of good quality and quantity. During the last week of his visit at UMR Carrtel, Miloš Ćirić launched the first PCR on phytoplankton DNA collected from lakes in Serbia.