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Climate change will threaten the ecosystems on which humans depend for healthcare. This phenomenon will be especially pronounced for populations of developing countries who depend on medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) as first medications. During the last decade, several MAPs were included to the

Cyclic lipopeptides (CLiPs) are microbial secondary metabolites with a large structural biodiversity which gives them a multitude of biological activities that can be exploited in various sectors such as human and animal health (antibiotics, antivirals) or plant health (antibiotics, antifungals, def

Advancing knowledge on bioenergetics is the key to identifying opportunities for improving the performance of the catalytic enzymes involved in photosynthesis. Here we propose to elucidate the role of a cofactor present in the chloroplast cytochrome b6f complex which is missing in the mitochondrial

The drops in high-throughput genomic data acquisition costs allow to use them to improve complex and costly traits, such as feed efficiency, a major lever for livestock sustainability. For such traits, genomic data are mainly available in experimental designs. The objective of FeedSeq is to provide

Structural variation is a major driver of genetic diversity and an important substrate for species adaptation and selection. Understanding the relationships between structural variants and functional innovations thus represents a major issue to be addressed. In allopolyploid species, which are commo

Crop production data combined with future climate projections can be used to estimate how production, including crop yield but also quality, will be affected by global changes. However, these trends are based on relationships between average environmental conditions and average plant responses. Beca

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are present in many essential proteins. They are synthesized on scaffold protein complexes from iron and sulfur delivery systems and an electron source, before their transfer to acceptor proteins. The MASTIC project aims at delineating the molecular and structural mechani

Plants sessile habit constrains their development and growth to the environment. This requires high adaptability of gene networks that build plant architecture and drive continuous organogenesis. Precise spatio-temporal regulation of developmental genes involves a ballet of epigenetic repressors and

Chemoecology of Cyclocephaline Beetles [CHEMOCYCLO] Cyclocephaline beetles (Melolonthidae, Dynastinae, Cyclocephalini) are ubiquitous and diverse (> 500 spp.) Neotropical flower-visiting insects involved in the pollination of ca. 900 species across at least seven families of angiosperms. Phytoph

In captive and production animals, housing conditions are often impoverished and monotonous, they restrict the expression of natural behaviors, impairing various indicators of welfare and markers of health and increasing public concern for animal welfare. Environmental enrichments have been proposed

Receptor-like kinases represent one of the largest gene family involved in plant resistance to pathogens. Recently we cloned Stb16q, the first monocotyledon cysteine-rich receptor-like protein kinase (CRK), which confers resistance to fungal pathogen. This result emphasizes the importance of analysi

Chloroplasts are at the centre of stress perception and regulation in plants. Thanks to recent work from our laboratory and others the hyperphosphorylated nucleotides guanosine pentaphosphate and tetraphosphate (ppGpp or G4P) are emerging as a major conserved signalling pathway that is capable of re

Light is the substrate of photosynthesis, allowing fixation of CO2 from the atmosphere, but it also damages the photosynthetic apparatus. Photosystem II (PSII) is the primary victim of this damage in a process termed photoinhibition. Despite being a major limiting factor to plant and algal productiv

Why plants produce cells with increased nuclear DNA content while they have a diploid genome is an unsolved question in biology. Somatic polyploidy is a common process in multicellular eukaryotes leading to genome multiplication and often occurs simultaneously with cell expansion in growing organs,

The Sym-GeAr project is based on our ongoing research in the Rhizobium-legume symbiosis, which showed that in certain legumes the endosymbiotic rhizobia, called bacteroids, undergo a terminal differentiation program that produces elongated cells in which the genome is amplified, abnormally methylate

Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is the process by which differentiated cells resume division and form embryonic structures without fertilization. Functional modules linked to SE have been identified in plant tissue cultures, but they are not well described molecularly, and the causal chain of events driv

Seeds are essential for human food and plant dispersal. Metabolically quiescent in the dry state, the developmental transition to the germinating seedling requires important transcriptional and epigenetic reprogramming. Nucleosomes constitute the first degree of chromatin organization; however, nucl

For sustainability of aquaculture, carnivorous fish such as rainbow trout have to change their “menu” from fish-based diet to diet free of fish resources. Feed producers have commonly replaced fish ingredients (oil and proteins) by plant ingredients. However, there is still a major problem of growth

Iron-sulfur (Fe-S) clusters are universal co-factors embedded in proteins belonging to different families, most of them supporting fundamental biological functions. Efficient Fe-S delivery to proper client apoproteins is ensured by complex cellular machineries involving few dozens of late-acting Fe-

Halogen metabolism is thought to play essential roles in macroalgal biology, but the related biosynthesis pathways, halogenating enzyme biochemistry and in vivo functions are poorly understood. The HaloGene project aims to study the biological functions of key halogenation enzymes, in the model brow

HABs are now considered as a major environmental, societal and economic concern for the sustainability of marine ecosystems and their uses and appear as a scientific challenge in national and international research strategies (Paris Agreement, UNESCO). HAB affect coastal ecosystem ecology, structure

Global climate change is a reality, day-to-day impacting our capacity to ensure food security worldwide. The timely reprogramming of gene expression in response to internal and external cues is essential for plant development and acclimation, especially in harsh environmental conditions. Understandi

Reducing the environmental impact of chemical treatments and controlling epidemics are two imperatives of modern agriculture. In the soil, a plant disease begins with the interaction between root cells and a pathogen. A molecular dialogue is established and leads successively to the attraction of th

Disease resistance (R) genes are crucial components for sustainable agriculture. NLR disease R genes are encoded by one of the largest and most variable multigene families in plants. Despite its agronomical importance, little is known about the intra-species diversity of NLR. Other types of immune r

A key question in biology is how a given phenotype is generated from a genotype. We now have a good understanding of the role of transcriptional control in generating a phenotype. However, there is a major observation that is still not understood: multiple phenotypes can derive from one genome in on

In the current context of climatic and ecological changes, considering that more than 50% of agricultural production loss is caused by abiotic stresses and that phytosanitary products used against pests are widely criticized, there is an urgent need to find new solutions for a sustainable agricultur

Extracellular polysaccharidic capsules are a virulence factor of many bacteria, which also shapes gene flux and therefore, drives species evolution. This project stems from our novel observation that not all bacteria from a clonal population produce the same amount of capsule. Such phenotypic hetero

Long-term immunization methods have long been considered impossible to implement in invertebrates due to a lack of a vertebrate-like adaptive immune system. However, recent advancement has shown that innate immunity can too develop memory mechanisms allowing for efficient protection against pathogen

To cause disease in rice, Xanthomonas oryzae bacteria use DNA-binding proteins called TAL effectors (TALEs) that induce plant susceptibility genes upon binding to their promoters. Broad-spectrum resistance to this devastating pathogen has been achieved by employing strategies to prevent the bacteria

Photosystem II (PSII), a membrane embedded photosynthetic complex, is the unique catalyser of solar energy conversion into organic compounds. In the context of ever changing environmental conditions and to foresee biotechnological applications of photosynthetic organisms, it is compulsory to underst

Along with the evolution of animals and plants, bacteria have evolved the capacity to interact intimately with eukaryotic cells. These associations form a dynamic continuum from pathogenicity to mutualism along which bacteria can rapidly evolve and change their lifestyle. However, the molecular mech

Marine phytoplankton account for more than 45% of total net primary production and play an essential role in supplying organic matter to marine food webs. A global decline of phytoplankton biomass has been reported over the past century (1% of chlorophyll-a concentration per year), leading to a decr

Plant roots are vital for survival and growth as they regulate the intake of water and nutrients from the soil along with their transport to the shoot. Roots develop specific diffusional barriers in the endodermis, a cell layer separating the inner parts from the external parts of the root. These ba

MALCOM-X aims at elucidating allelopathic compounds from the moss Physcomitrium patens. These compounds are used by the plant to control both its interaction with neighbours and its own development. In particular, two types of compounds will be searched, based on their signalling roles in strigolact

Pathogenic bacteria must constantly adapt to environmental changes during infection. Our results show that the entomopathogenic bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis has developed an alternative to sporulation to survive in the host cadaver. This study, focused on bacteria of the Bacillus cereus group, p

The demographic increase estimated for the next 50 years will induce a simultaneous growth in the world cereal demand for feeding as well as for non-food uses. In addition, there will be a decrease of agricultural land areas, especially in the developing countries. Agriculture will also have to incr

Despite their ecological, economic and social importance, coral reefs are impacted by climate change, fragilizing the symbiotic corals and leading to coral bleaching. Nevertheless, not all coral species, nor even all individuals within species, have the same sensitivity to stress, thus unbalancing t

Iron (Fe) is an essential micronutrient for plant productivity and the quality of their derived products. However, Fe is generally poorly available to plants because it is mainly present in the soil in the form of insoluble (hydr)oxydes. We and others have recently identified a novel mechanism invol

The integration of viral sequences is widespread in eukaryotic DNA and often evoked as a major source of diversification and acquisition of new functions. This is remarkably illustrated in certain parasitoid wasps. Indeed, the chromosomes of these species contain dozens of viral loci derived from th

Plant - plant interactions occur continuously in the rhizosphere and are likely to be modulated by a third partner: the microbiota. In particular, the host plant - root parasitic plant model constitutes a particularly illustrative example of a very fine communication in the rhizosphere which can be

The goal of the TEAMTOX proposal is to decipher the regulation of the biosynthesis of mycotoxins produced by a “Meta-Fusarium sp.”. A Meta-Fusarium sp., gathering the major Fusarium species involved in Fusarium Head Blight (FHB), will be considered in ecophysiology analyses as an individual fungus t

Adaptive phenotypic plasticity and local adaptation are two evolutionary processes that can help polyphagous insects to track changes in their host plants. Both processes can result in a higher oviposition preference or a higher offspring performance on host plants from which insect populations orig

The cnidarian-dinoflagellate association represents one of the most important symbioses in the marine environment between a animal and a unicellular eukaryote (Symbiodiniaceae). This association is widespread in temperate and subtropical coastal ecosystems: it is the very foundation of the highly pr

Uncovering how epigenome regulation influences gene expression has revolutionized former views in developmental and evolutionary biology. In particular, an ever-increasing number of studies are unveiling how modulation of chromatin status, compaction and accessibility, impact on the transcriptional