Geneviève Lajoie

Scientific researcher,
Université de Montréal

Institut de recherche en biologie végétale
E-mail: genevieve.lajoie1@gmail.com
Institution page
Personal page




Education

  • Postdoctoral Researcher [09/2020 - 04/2021]
    University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, BC Laboratory of Dr. Laura W. Parfrey
  • PhD in Biology [05/2016 - 08/2020]
    Award of Excellence University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), Montreal (QC) Laboratory of Dr. Steven W. Kembel
  • M.Sc. in Biology [09/2012 - 12/2014]
    Award of excellence University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke (QC) Laboratory of Dr. Mark Vellend
  • B.Sc. in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences [09/2009 - 04/2012]
    Major in Plant Biology - Research Profile Summa Cum Laude McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue (QC) Laboratory of Dr. Marcia J. Waterway


Research

My research focuses on the ecology and the evolution of the associations between hosts and symbionts. I am particularly interested in the processes that determine the specificity of plant microbiota on their hosts according to different environmental gradients. I use next generation sequencing, bioinformatics and functional ecology approaches to address these types of questions. This research contributes to better document the foliar microbial biodiversity related to plant species in Quebec. This research then contributes to identify and better predict which members of the plant microbiota might be most affected by environmental changes and changes in their host distribution.

Prizes and honours

  • Finalist - Doctoral Award [2020] Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
  • Postgraduate scholarship (CGS D). 105,000$ [2016]
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
  • Fonds de recherche du Québec en nature et technologie (FRQNT)
  • Science and technology internship scholarship. 13,200$ [2015] Natural Resources Canada
  • Master's scholarship. 15,000$ [2013] FRQNT
  • Master's scholarship (CGS M). 17,500$ [2012] NSERC
  • Ping Kwan Lau Convocation Prize - Best cumulative average obtained at the end of the B.Sc. (Env. Ag.) [2012] McGill University
  • Undergraduate Student Research Award. 4,500$ [2012] NSERC
  • Undergraduate Student Research Award. 4,500$ [2011] NSERC
  • MacDonald Medal - Best cumulative average obtained in B.Sc. (Env. Ag.) [2010, 2011] McGill University
  • Dorothy Newton Swales Prize - Excellence in Botany. 500$ [2010] McGill University
  • Lara Drummond Excellence Entry Scholarship. 15,000$ [2009] Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University
  • J.W. McConnell Excellence Entry Scholarship. 3,000$ [2009] McGill University


QCBS students

Pierre-Marc Brousseau

Postdoctoral fellow
Other (co-)supervisor: Maxim Larrivée, Insectarium de Montréal
(Start: 2023)
Other QCBS (co-)supervisor: Jean-Philippe Lessard
Arthropods as indicators of climate changes in the province of Québec

Mobina Gholamhosseini

Ph.D.
(Start: 2022, End: 2025)
Other QCBS (co-)supervisor: Anne Bruneau
Effects of urbanization on spatial and temporal dynamics of leaf microbial communities

Laurine Dariel

M.Sc.
(Start: 2023, End: 2025)
Other QCBS (co-)supervisor: Anne Bruneau
Study of the microbiota of Bonsais and Penjings of the Montreal Botanical Garden, and detection of phytopathogens.

Examples of species studied

Fucus distichus


Publications

17- Host specificity of plant-associated bacteria is negatively associated with genome size and host abundance along a latitudinal gradient
Journal Article
Wang Z , Lajoie G , Jiang Y , Zhang M , Chu C , Chen Y , Fang S , Jin G , Jiang M , Lian J , Li Y , Liu Y , Ma K , Mi X , Qiao X , Wang X , Wang X , Xu H , Ye W , Zhu L , Zhu Y , He F , Kembel S W ,
2024 Ecology letters (Date Added: 2024-06-13)

16- How tree traits modulate tree methane fluxes: A review
Journal Article
Moisan M , Lajoie G , Constant P , Martineau C , Maire V ,
2024 Science of the Total Environment (Date Added: 2024-06-10)

14- Data-driven identification of major axes of functional variation in bacteria
Journal Article
Lajoie G , Kembel S W ,
2023 Environmental Microbiology (Date Added: 2023-09-08)

13- Bacterial endophytes of sugar maple leaves vary more idiosyncratically than epiphytes across a large geographic area
Journal Article
Demarquest G , Lajoie G ,
2023 FEMS microbiology ecology (Date Added: 2023-09-02)

12- Alternative approaches to identify core bacteria in Fucus distichus microbiome and assess their distribution and host-specificity
Journal Article
Park J , Davis K , Lajoie G , Parfrey L W ,
2022 Environmental Microbiomes (Date Added: 2022-11-26)

11- Beyond specialization: re-examining routes of host influence on symbiont evolution
Journal Article
Lajoie G , Parfrey L W ,
2022 Trends in Ecology and Evolution (Date Added: 2022-05-15)

10- Erratum: Functional diversity: An epistemic roadmap (BioScience DOI: 10.1093/biosci/biz089)
Journal Erratum
Malaterre C , Dussault A C , Mermans E , Barker G , Beisner B E , Bouchard F , Desjardins E , Handa I T , Kembel S W , Lajoie G , Maris V , Munson A D , Odenbaugh J , Poisot T , Shapiro B J , Suttle C A ,
2021 BioScience (Date Added: 2021-10-17)

9- Plant-bacteria associations are phylogenetically structured in the phyllosphere
Journal Article
Lajoie G , Kembel S W ,
2021 Molecular Ecology (Date Added: 2021-09-09)

8- Earlier spring reduces potential for gene flow via reduced flowering synchrony across an elevational gradient
Journal Article
Rivest, S, Lajoie, G, Watts, DA, Vellend, M
2021 American Journal of Botany (Date Added: 2021-03-29)

7- Host neighborhood shapes bacterial community assembly and specialization on tree species across a latitudinal gradient
Journal Article
Lajoie, G, Kembel, SW
2020 Ecological Monographs (Date Added: 2021-02-10)

6- Adaptive matching between phyllosphere bacteria and their tree hosts in a neotropical forest
Journal Article
Lajoie, G, Maglione, R, Kembel, SW
2020 Microbiome (Date Added: 2020-06-02)

5- Functional Diversity: An Epistemic Roadmap
Journal Article
Malaterre, C, Dussault, AC, Rousseau-Mermans, S, Barker, G, Beisner, BE, Bouchard, F, Desjardins, E, Handa, IT, Kembel, SW, Lajoie, G, Maris, V, Munson, AD, Odenbaugh, J, Poisot, T, Shapiro, BJ, Suttle, CA
2019 BioScience (Date Added: 2019-10-25)

4- Making the Most of Trait-Based Approaches for Microbial Ecology
Journal Article
Lajoie, G, Kembel, SW
2019 Trends in Microbiology (Date Added: 2019-07-14)

3- Characterizing the contribution of plasticity and genetic differentiation to community-level trait responses to environmental change
Journal Article
Lajoie, G, Vellend, M
2018 Ecology and Evolution (Date Added: 2018-04-03)

1- Drawing ecological inferences from coincident patterns of population- and community-level biodiversity
Journal Article
Vellend, M, Lajoie, G, Bourret, A, Múrria, C, Kembel, SW, Garant, D
2014 Molecular Ecology (Date Added: 2014-05-01)