Collections of the 8 research teams and the technological platform
Our work aims at the understanding of the roles of the cell wall proteins during plant development . It is then necessary (i) to identify the whole cell wall protein complement, (ii) to follow the dynamics of the proteome in different physiological conditions, and (iii) to perform functional studies.
The main goal of the “Eucalyptus functional genomics” group is to understand the transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of wood formation during development and in response to environmental cues. Such an understanding of the regulatory networks underpinning wood formation is crucial for improving sustainability, productivity and wood quality of tree plantations in order to meet the increasing demand of wood while preserving natural forests and biodiversity.
The making of fruits comprises three distinct stages known as fruit set, growth and maturation and in this regard, it offers a unique example of a series of developmental shifts tightly regulated by intricate signaling pathways that still remain poorly understood. The GBF research project aims to decipher the factors and mechanisms underlying the control fruit set, fruit ripening and flesh tissue differentiation. Elucidating the mechanisms underpinning fruit setting is fundamental to our understanding of reproductive biology and is essential for designing new approaches to improve crop yield and fruit quality in the face of climate change. Likewise, fruit ripening is of prime importance as most sensory and nutritional quality traits take place during this ultimate phase of fruit development.
The team is more specifically interested in understanding how plants uses the post-translational modification ubiquitination to control the localization and abundance of intrinsic plasma membrane proteins in response to developmental and environmental cues, and unraveling the networks of ubiquitination and discovering new proteasome-independent roles for ubiquitination using plants as model.
We concentrate at present our studies in two main directions: (i) identify the molecular mechanisms involved in the regulation of expression and the activity of microRNAs (miRNAs), some of them being regulated by peptides and (ii) identify and study new classes of regulating peptides.
Our scientific objectives are: (i) to identify calcium signal generating complexes by using immune Receptor-like Kinase signaling pathways as framework and (ii) to decipher the contribution of plant specific calcium sensors (Calmodulin–like proteins and their targets) in immunity responses.
Our research aims at understanding how symbiotic associations evolved between plants and microorganisms. Using combinations of phylogenomics, biochemistry and genetics in multiple plants we try to determine the molecular bases of the origin, conservation and diversification of these associations.
The team investigates how microbe-microbe interactions drive the outcome of plant-microbe interactions. For that we rely on our favorite microbial models: Arbuscular Mycorrhizal (AM) fungi (Rhizophagus irregularis), Oomycota (Aphanomyces euteiches and Pythium oligandrum), Actinomycota (Streptomyces sp.) and Rhizobia (Sinorhizobium and Bradyrhizobium).
This platform is dedicated to the analysis of plant metabolites as well as fungal and bacterial metabolites that may be involved in biotic interactions.