Anne Pajot is a PhD student at the GENALG laboratory, PHYTOX unit, at IFREMER in Nantes, and at the GEPEA laboratory of the University of Nantes, in Saint-Nazaire. Her thesis topic is based on the study of the influence of light and nutrients on the photosynthetic apparatus in a microalgae. More precisely, she studies the light collecting antenna, which contains pigments and proteins. One of the pigments, fucoxanthin, is of immense interest in the fields of nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. By studying its synthesis in microalgae and the associated genes, we can anticipate its natural production on a larger scale. Then, a second axis of the thesis is based on the optimization of an extraction and purification method of fucoxanthin, in order to better respect the principles of green chemistry.
Before her PhD, Anne Pajot was trained at the University of Technology of Compiègne. She obtained an engineering degree in Biological Engineering as well as a Master’s degree in Biotechnology. After two internships in research laboratories (astrobiology, marine biology), her first experience was in entrepreneurship. She launched with partners the company Bioxegy in Paris, in the field of biomimicry. Afterwards, she was a biology/chemistry/biochemistry teacher in a Parisian high school. Then, marine biology having always been a passion, she started a thesis with the study of a marine microalgae. In parallel to the development of her subject, she also taught for a few months the tutorials in Mechanisms of Evolution at the University of Nantes. In parallel to the PhD, she is also a member of the EABA (European Algal Biomass Association) as a communication advisor.
First identification of the Fucoxanthin Chl a,c binding Protein in Tisochrysis lutea.