Rémi's first PhD paper describing the MitoFinder bioinformatic pipeline designed to automatically extract mitogenomic signal from genomic data has been published in Molecular Ecology Resources. MitoFinder software can be downloaded from GitHub (https://github.com/RemiAllio/MitoFinder). We illustrated MitoFinder efficiency with ant UCE libraries but it also works well with other type of capture data in which numerous off-target reads are sequenced, as well as with RNAseq trans

Rémi and Frédéric attended SMBE 2019, the annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution in Manchester (UK). Rémi presented a poster describing our MitoFinder bioinformatic pipeline designed to automatically extract mitogenomic signal from NGS sequencing data. The corresponding preprint is available from bioRxiv (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/685412v1) and the MitoFinder program can be downloaded from GitHub (https://github.com/RemiAllio/MitoFinde

Rémi and Frédéric attended ALPHY 2019, an annual meeting organized in France since 1995, dedicated to the field of Bioinformatics and Comparative Genomics in Paris (France). Rémi gave a talk presenting the results on building bioinformatic pipeline to extract mitogenomic signal from DNA capture sequence data. This tool will be useful for our metabarcoding studies aimed at assessing the the diet of ant-eating mammals in South Africa and French Guiana. Allio R.*, Romiguier J.,

Frédéric and Rémi attended the the 9th Annual Oppenheimer De Beers Research Conference in Johannesburg (South Africa). Frédéric gave a talk presenting the results of building a reference mitogenome database of termites and ants from the Tswalu Kalahari and Tussen die Riviere reserves. Rémi presented a poster on mitochondrial divergence through biogeographical disjunction in three species of African carnivores. These studies are conducted in collaboration with Nico Avenant of

Frédéric and Rachid presented a poster showing preliminar results on developing a metagenomic approach to characterize the diet of South African ant-eating mammals at the 8th Annual Oppenheimer De Beers Research Conference in Johannesburg (South Africa). This work is a collaboration with Nico Avenant of the National Museum of Bloemfontein and Nora Weyer, Wendy Panaino and Andrea Fuller of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. #Conference #Microbiome #SouthAfric

Rachid just join the ConvergeAnt team as a research assistant in molecular biology. He will be managing the molecular data production for the project. #Metagenomics #Diet #Anteaters #Armadillos #Aardwolf #Aardvark #Molecularbiology #Genomics #Transcriptomes #Researchassistant

Ana Maria started her 6-month Master project on the molecular characterization of the diet of ant-eating mammals using metabarcoding and metagenomic tools. She will be analyzing fecal samples previously collected by Carly Vynne in the Emas National Park in Brazil. Ana Maria is a M2 student of the Master DTec-Bio progamme of the Université de Montpellier. #Students #Master #Metagenomics #Diet #Anteaters #Armadillos