The Marine and Freshwater Plants specialty section publishes significant findings and major advances on the evolution, cell biology, physiology, ecology, genetics, and biotechnological applications of photosynthetic organisms living in aquatic habitats. Since the emergence of photosynthesis has occurred several times in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, the considered organisms range from cyanobacteria to plastid-containing eukaryotes, commonly termed microalgae, macroalgae and seagrass. Studies on established model species (e.g. Synechocystis, Chlamydomonas, Ostreococcus, Thalassiosira, Phaeodactylum, Nannochloropsis, Bigelowiella, Chondrus, Ectocarpus, etc.), novel model or non-model species are welcome. Aquatic habitats encompass oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds, mangroves, snow, ice, and even water droplets in aerosols and clouds.

Eric Maréchal is Director of Research at CNRS and is currently Director of the Cell and Plant Physiology Laboratory, a joint unit of CNRS, CEA, INRA and University Grenoble Alpes, Grenoble, France. He was appointed 'Professeur Agrégé' in Life Sciences, at Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, in 1990, and completed his PhD at University of Grenoble Alpes, France, in 1994. From 1994 to 1997 he joined the Nam-Hai Chua Laboratory at the Rockefeller University, New York, USA. After a short period in the Biocatalysis division at Rhône-Poulenc, Lyon, he joined the CNRS in 1998. An important part of his research activities has focused on the evolution of glycerolipid metabolism in photosynthetic eukaryotes, from primary (green algae, plants) to secondary endosymbionts (apicomplexans, diatoms, eustigmatophytes, etc.). His scientific interests also include the study of microalgae in water habitats from oceans to the snow cover in mountain ecosystems, the remodelling of glycerolipids in eukaryotic cells in response to environmental stresses, and the impact of climate change on microalgal biodiversity. He also combines basic and applied sciences in collaborative programs with industrial partners.