François Guyot

Expertise

Scientific Expertise

Thermodynamics and kinetics applied to natural processes
Biomineralization
Mineralogy
Geochemistry, Biogeochemistry
Chemical Thermodynamics
Mineral Physics

Analytical Skills

Electron microscopies (SEM and TEM)
Crystallography (X-ray Diffraction and Absorption)
Geochemical Modeling (Chess)

Contact Informations

Website : https://francoisguyot.org

Function and attachment

Professor MNHN

E-mail

fguyot(at)mnhn.fr

Career

Professional Resume

2013- : Professor of the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN Paris)
2017-2022: Professor of Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)
2014-2019: Deputy Director of IMPMC
1995-2013: Professor of Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP, France) - University Paris Diderot
1996-2001: Professor of Institut Universitaire de France (IUF)
1994-1995: Research Fellow at the Center for High Pressure Research, Stony Brook University, New York (USA)
1990-1994: CNRS Researcher in mineralogy/geochemistry at IPGP (Paris, France)
1988-1990: Research Assistant at the Center for High Pressure Research, Stony Brook University, New York (USA)
1986-1988: Teaching Assistant at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS Paris, France)

Educational Background

Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) - Physical and Chemical Properties of Deep Earth Materials - 1993.
PhD. in Condensed Matter Physics, University Paris Curie & IPGP - 1988
Agregation in Physics and Chemistry Sciences - 1985

Publications

Total number of peer-reviewed scientific publications (December 2024): 276
Total number of citations in scientific journals (December 2024): ≈ 18000
H index (December 2024): 75
ResearcherID: C-3824-2016

PUBLICATIONS 2023-2024

Antonin Affholder, François Guyot, Boris Sauterey, Régis Ferrière, Stéphane Mazevet (2023) Putative Methanogenic Biosphere in Enceladus's Deep Ocean: Biomass, Productivity, and Implications for Detection The Planetary Science Journal 3 (12), 270
B Truffet, G Fiquet, G Morard, MA Baron, F Miozzi, M Harmand, A Ravasio, M Mezouar, F Guyot (2023) High pressure dissociation of CaTiO3 perovskite into CaO and CaTi2O5 Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors 334
Nguyen, Tieu Ngoc, Imène Chebbi, Raphaël Le Fèvre, François Guyot, and Edouard Alphandéry. « Non-Pyrogenic Highly Pure Magnetosomes for Efficient Hyperthermia Treatment of Prostate Cancer ». Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 107, 4 (2023): 1159‑76. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-12247-9.
Kularatne, Kanchana, Olivier Sissmann, François Guyot, and Isabelle Martinez. « Mineral Carbonation of New Caledonian Ultramafic Mine Slag: Effect of Glass and Secondary Silicates on the Carbonation Yield ». Chemical Geology 618 (2023): 121282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2022.121282.
Laura Galezowski, Nadir Recham, Dominique Larcher, Jennyfer Miot, Fériel Skouri-Panet, Hania Ahouari, François Guyot (2023) Biologically Assisted One-Step Synthesis of Electrode Materials for Li-Ion BatteriesMicroorganisms 11, 3
Claire Carvallo, Anaïs Fondet, Raphaël Le Fèvre, Dario Taverna, Yohan Guyodo, Imène Chebbi, Vincent Dupuis, France Lagroix, Malika Khelfallah, J-M Guigner, François Guyot, Edouard Alphandéry, Amélie Juhin (2023) Magnetic and structural properties of biogenic magnetic nanoparticles along their production process for use in magnetic hyperthermia Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials 575
Charly Favreau, Alicia Tribondeau, Marie Marugan, François Guyot, Béatrice Alpha-Bazin, Arul Marie, Rémy Puppo, Thierry Dufour, Arnaud Huguet, Séverine Zirah, Adrienne Kish (2022) Molecular Acclimation of Halobacterium salinarum to Halite Brine Inclusions Front. Microbiol, Extreme MicrobiologyVolume https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.1075274
Truong, Chloé, Sylvain Bernard, Pierre Le Pape, Guillaume Morin, Camille Baya, Pauline Merrot, Aurore Gorlas, and François Guyot. « Production of carbon-containing pyrite spherules induced by hyperthermophilic Thermococcales: a biosignature? » Frontiers in Microbiology 14 (2023): 1145781. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1145781.
Moeller, Christoph, Christian Schmidt, Denis Testemale, François Guyot, Maria Kokh, and Max Wilke. « Hydrolysis Rate Constants of ATP up to 120 °C and 1.6 GPa: Implications for Life at Extreme Conditions ». Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.06.017.
Combaudon, Valentine, Olivier Sissmann, Sylvain Bernard, Jean-Christophe Viennet, Valentine Megevand, Corentin Le Guillou, Julia Guélard, Isabelle Martinez, François Guyot et al. « Are the Fe-Rich-Clay Veins in the Igneous Rock of the Kansas (USA) Precambrian Crust of Magmatic Origin? » Lithos 474‑475 (2024): 107583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2024.107583.
Nitschke, Wolfgang, Orion Farr, Nil Gaudu, Chloé Truong, François Guyot, Michael J. Russell, and Simon Duval. « The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life) ». Life 14, (2024): 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14050607.
Boutillez, Chloé, Anne Perez, Aurélie Verney-Carron, François Guyot, and Stéphanie Rossano. « The Role of Fe in the Browning of Medieval Model Glasses in the Presence of the Pseudomonas Putida Bacteria Strain ». International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation 188 (2024): 105734. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2024.105734.
Chades, Théo, Raphaël Le Fèvre, Imène Chebbi, Karine Blondeau, François Guyot, and Edouard Alphandéry. « Set-up of a Pharmaceutical Cell Bank of Magnetospirillum Gryphiswaldense MSR1 Magnetotactic Bacteria Producing Highly Pure Magnetosomes ». Microbial Cell Factories 23, (2024): 70. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-024-02313-4.
Nguyen, Tieu Ngoc, Imène Chebbi, Raphaël Le Fèvre, François Guyot, and Edouard Alphandéry. « Stable Pharmaceutical Composition of Cryo-Protected Non-Pyrogenic Isotonic Chains of Magnetosomes for Efficient Tumor Cell Destruction at 45 ± 1 °C under Alternating Magnetic Field or Ultrasound Application ». Nanoscale 16, (2024): 18984‑97. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4NR02284J.
Nitschke, Wolfgang, Orion Farr, Nil Gaudu, Chloé Truong, François Guyot, Michael J. Russell, and Simon Duval. « The Winding Road from Origin to Emergence (of Life) ». Life 14, 5 (2024): 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/life14050607.
Truong, Chloé, Sylvain Bernard, François Baudin, Aurore Gorlas, and François Guyot. « Carbon-Containing Pyrite Spherules: Mineral Biosignatures in Black Smokers? » European Journal of Mineralogy 36, 5 (2024): 813‑30. https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-813-2024.
Amouretti, Alexis, Marion Harmand, Bruno Albertazzi, Antoine Boury, Alessandra Benuzzi-Mounaix, D. Alex Chin, François Guyot, Michel Koenig, Tommaso Vinci, and Guillaume Fiquet. « Laser-Driven Shock Compression and Equation of State of Fe 2 O 3 up to 700 GPa ». Physical Review B 110, 14 (2024): 144110. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.110.144110.
Moeller, Christoph, Christian Schmidt, Denis Testemale, François Guyot, Maria Kokh, and Max Wilke. « Hydrolysis Rate Constants of ATP up to 120 °C and 1.6 GPa: Implications for Life at Extreme Conditions ». Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 382 (2024): 74‑90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.06.017.
Truong, C., S. Bernard, A. Gorlas, and F. Guyot. « Abiotic syntheses of pyrite: clues to assess the biogenicity of pyrite spherules ». Geochemical Perspectives Letters 32 (2024): 27‑33. https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2438.
Mathon, François P., Matthieu Amor, François Guyot, Nicolas Menguy, Christopher T. Lefevre, and Vincent Busigny. « Establishing the Content in Trace and Minor Elements of Magnetite as a Biosignature of Magnetotactic Bacteria ». Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 386 (2024): 127‑38. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2024.09.020.

Research

My main research interest is to better understand the behaviour, history and evolution of natural systems at both the local and global scales. A significant part of this research is dedicated to explicitly take into account, when present, the biological compartment of these systems by modeling their advanced thermodynamics, including non-equilibrium thermodynamics and thus de facto the kinetics. Determining these thermodynamics and kinetics requires experimental practice on analogs of these systems at the submicron scale through the structure of complex interfaces between different media (e.g. biological and mineral), compositional gradients or deciphering phase assemblages in tiny experimental setups (e.g. micro-reactors). For this I systematically apply advanced structural and chemical visualization of these analog microsystems by (mostly electron) microscopies and spectroscopic techniques.

I am currently mainly applying this approach to hydrothermal systems, whether in the deep ocean or at the surface of continents. Those are privileged interfaces between the Earth's chemically reduced interior and the often more oxidized external fluid envelopes. An important research question, that remains mysterious to this day, is the level of contribution of living organisms to the geochemical functioning of these systems. For this reason, over the past few years, in close collaboration with my colleague Aurore Gorlas of Université Paris Saclay -the major advances that we made together in this field should be largely credited to her-, I developed a research project about life of hyperthermophilic microoganisms at extreme temperatures in highly mineralized hydrothermal environments. This research has major implications for biogeochemical cycles, for search of life limits on Earth and in other planets and for discussions about the conditions of emergence of life. I believe that this particular area of science also has the potential, in the more or less long term, to provide decisive solutions to current health and energy issues in an unstable world.

In the course of this quest to identify the limits and impact of life at high temperatures, I came across the concept of habitability and, with my colleagues Antonin Affholder and Régis Ferrière, I developed thermo-kinetic models of the limits of living organisms. As phosphorus is the main biogeochemical marker of living organic matter and therefore likely the major limiting nutrient for determining the qualitative and quantitative boundaries of the biosphere, this logically, but only very recently, led me to an in-depth study of phosphorus and phosphorylation in current and ancient natural systems, What was merely a side project is now becoming central in my research.

In parallel, I am involved in several research projects, for which I am not the principal investigator, helping colleagues with my skills in microscopy, spectroscopy and thermokinetic modelling. in the fields of

High-pressure mineralogy of planetary interiors,
Thermodynamics of biomineralization by prokaryotic microorganisms
Environmental biomineralogy with special emphasis on hydrogen production and consumption by microorganisms,
Medical biomineralogy with special emphasis on interactions between minerals and macro-organisms.

NEWS December 2024

The year 2024 was scientifically great. Probably the most satisfying was the publication of Chloé Truong's three articles on the role of pyrite minerals in the adaptation of hyperthermophilic microorganisms to their highly mineralized hydrothermal environment. And the best news was the award of the Haüy-Lacroix Mineralogy Prize from the Société Française de Minéralogie Cristallographie to Chloé's thesis work.

The 3 Chloé’s articles

Truong, Chloé, Sylvain Bernard, Pierre Le Pape, Guillaume Morin, Camille Baya, Pauline Merrot, Aurore Gorlas, and François Guyot. « Production of carbon-containing pyrite spherules induced by hyperthermophilic Thermococcales: a biosignature? » Frontiers in Microbiology 14 (2023): 1145781. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1145781.
Truong, Chloé, Sylvain Bernard, François Baudin, Aurore Gorlas, and François Guyot. « Carbon-Containing Pyrite Spherules: Mineral Biosignatures in Black Smokers? » European Journal of Mineralogy 36, 5 (2024): 813‑30. https://doi.org/10.5194/ejm-36-813-2024.
Truong, C., S. Bernard, A. Gorlas, and F. Guyot. « Abiotic syntheses of pyrite: clues to assess the biogenicity of pyrite spherules ». Geochemical Perspectives Letters 32 (2024): 27‑33. https://doi.org/10.7185/geochemlet.2438.