Dr Lauriane Plouhinec

Biography

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellow in Prof. Nathalie Juge’s group at QIB. My research focuses on understanding how carbohydrate-active enzymes (CAZymes) shape interactions between diet, the gut microbiota and host health. My current project, XENOZYME, investigates the role of dietary xenobiotic-active CAZymes in the human gut symbiont Ruminococcus gnavus, from the enzymatic mechanisms underlying dietary xenobiotic metabolism to their potential implications for microbiome interactions and host health. Ultimately, this work aims to better understand the factors driving interindividual differences in microbial responses to diet, while uncovering novel enzymatic activities in the human gut microbiota.

Before joining QIB, I completed my PhD in 2025 at the Fungal Biodiversity and Biotechnology Laboratory (Aix-Marseille University, France), in collaboration with Adisseo, where I investigated the role of fungal pectin-degrading enzymes in animal feed. My research explored how the diversity and complementary activities of fungal enzymes contribute to the breakdown of complex plant cell wall polysaccharides, using soybean pectin as a model. I also investigated how enzymatic modification of soybean meal could influence its effects on chicken gut health, broadening the investigation from enzyme activity to its potential implications for gut microbiota composition and function. This work gave me a strong background in CAZyme function and application, while developing my interest in their biological role and understanding how microbial enzymes operate within complex biological environments and influence host-microbiome interactions.

More broadly, I am interested in understanding how microbial organisms use their enzymatic machinery to interact with their environment, adapt to changing conditions and influence the communities they inhabit. My research interests lie at the intersection of enzymology, microbial ecology and host-microbiome interactions, with a particular focus on how these processes relate to human and animal health, nutrition and the environment.

Prior to my PhD, I spent two years working as a Research Engineer at Lesaffre International (Lille, France), where I explored enzyme applications in various fields, including baking, biofuels, animal feed, human nutrition and health.