Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet NEMABOX (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plant parasitic nematodes represent a significant group of plant pathogens that threaten current and future food security. Among them, the cyst nematodes target some of the most important crop species (tomato, potato) and cause up to 80% losses. European regulations prohibit the future use of many effective nematicides. We must improve our understanding of the virulence of the cyst nematodes to identify new targets for a sustainable biotechnological control of these pests. Here, I will use my experiences gained on plant-fungal interactions to address a major question in plant-nematode interactions: how is plant-parasitism orchestrated at the molecular level? To be virulent, cyst nematodes must inject “effector” proteins into the plant. These effectors are primarily produced in either the nematode’s dorsal or sub-ventral glands. Hundreds of these dorsal gland effectors are unified by a six base-pair non coding DNA motif, termed the “DOG box”. In a recent effort, a transcription factor that can recognize the DOG-box was identified, termed the “DOG box reader”. This discovery is the first tangible insight into the regulation of plant-nematode parasitism and opens the possibility to explore a new area of research. However, I recognize that the DOG box and its corresponding reader are only one part of the jigsaw puzzle. To complete the picture, in depth and breadth, I need to know: How does the DOG box reader work in vivo, and does it work alone? What are the genetic signatures and readers of other glands and at other times? To what extent are regulatory mechanisms conserved between cyst nematode species? I expect that successful completion of this fellowship will launch my independent academic career, drive forward the state-of the-art with a holistic “spatio-temporal” view of how plant-nematode parasitism is orchestrated at the molecular level, and provide a basis to explore sustainable solutions for improved food security, in line with the Horizon2020 programme.

Mots clés : plant pathogens, food security

Participants :
- University of Cambridge (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet CAPITULA (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plant reproduction relies on flowers and their arrangement into inflorescence –two interrelated traits that exhibit impressive variation between plant lineages and constrain crop yields and horticultural forms. A key aim in evolutionary biology is to unravel how the modification of genetic networks has led to the diversification of reproductive plant architecture and floral form. This project addresses this aim by seeking to understand how two fundamental biological processes, floral architecture and symmetry, have evolved in the daisy family Asteraceae, with unique combinations of these traits. Much of the research on Asteraceae has concentrated on model plant systems with simple heterogamous capitula (e.g. gerbera, sunflower). We propose an original and novel evolutionary-developmental (evo-devo) approach to floral evolution, by bringing to this field the species of Asteraceae with secondary heads (=syncephalia). This unique capitulum architecture has arisen from two rounds of capitulescence (i.e. inflorescence condensation followed by simplification) during their evolution. Syncephalous species which comprise ca. 70 genera from 11 tribes provide an invaluable source of material for deciphering the genetic basis of capitulum evolution since their genomes bear the signature of two inflorescence shifts toward capitulescence. Our approach, integrating the most recent experimental and theoretical developments in evo-devo and genomics fields, provides a unique opportunity to ask fundamental questions relating to coordinated trait evolution, and to increase our understanding of how genetic pathways have been altered or co-opted during the evolutionary diversification of flowers. The knowledge gained has the potential to open up novel molecular breeding strategies for developing improved varieties of horticultural and crop plants in this family of great economical importance (e.g. artichoke, chrysanthemum, gerbera, knapweeds, lettuce, sunflower).

Mots clés : floral and inflorescence structures, genetic pathways, polyploidisation, asteraceae

Participants :
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet SAPFLUXNET (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plant transpiration is one of the main components of the global water cycle, and at the same time, water availability is one of the main abiotic factors limiting plant productivity, growth and survival. Hence, understanding the main environmental controls on tree water use is essential to address relevant questions posed by global change-related impacts on forest ecosystem services, including water availability and carbon sequestration. Sap flow measurements using thermal methods have now been applied to measure seasonal patterns in water use and the response of transpiration to environmental drivers across hundreds of species of woody plants worldwide, covering a wide range of climates, soils and stand structural characteristics. Here, we will design and begin to assemble a global database of sub-daily, tree-level sap flow (SAPFLUXNET) that will be used to improve our understanding of physiological and structural determinants of plant transpiration and to further investigate the role of vegetation in controlling global water balance. I will collectively analyse sap flow responses to environmental drivers, at time scales from daily to seasonal and annual, using statistical and mechanistic models of plant water transport. I will synthesise the database into a set of traits related to physiological regulation of transpiration. I will analyse these traits in their climatic and phylogenetic context and in relation to other drought tolerance traits. SAPFLUXNET is the first project designed towards a profound understanding of whole-plant transpiration regulation in woody species across the globe.

Mots clés : drought, global change, plant functional traits, plant hydraulic architecture, sap flow, shrubs, stomatal conductance, transpiration, trees, water cycle

Participants :
- Ghent University (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 172800.0 €
Projet HRPCDMECH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plants are rich sources of nutrients and water for diverse microbial communities. Some of these communities evolved parasitism as a strategy to access plant nutrients, with devastating results for crops. Plants are protected from infection by a waxy cuticular layer above the walls of epidermal cells. Would-be pathogens breaching this barrier, or entering via stomata, encounter an active plant immune system that specifically recognizes pathogens. Breaching leads to the deployment of two synergistic pathways that orchestrate immune responses. The first relies on the detection of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and culminates in pattern-triggered immunity (PTI). When the first is circumvented a second array of responses takes place known as effector triggered immunity (ETI). In ETI, host factors known as R proteins recognize pathogen effectors, an event which is accompanied by the execution of a unique programmed cell death (PCD) type known as the hypersensitive response (HR). Although the initiator of the HR-PCD is known to depend on the formation of an effector-R complex, the downstream molecular events remain elusive. Previous results showed that particular proteases known as metacaspases (MCs) modulate HR-PCD, highlighting the importance of proteolysis and proteome rearrangements for HR-PCD modulation. I will attempt to shed light on the rearrangements of the HR-PCD proteome landscape, by studying processes that control it: selective RNA decapping and translation and proteolytic events, in a highly temporal manner using systematic approaches and reverse genetics. This project is expected to elucidate the importance of these processes and provide a detailed analysis of mRNA and protein level rearrangements during HR-PCD. In addition, this project will suggest strategies for enhancement of plant immunity against pathogens, which is urgently needed to sustain food security considering the ever growing earth’s population.

Mots clés : cell death, stress biology, plant microbes interactions, transcriptomics, proteomics

Participants :
- Sainsbury Laboratory (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 183454.8 €
Projet MetaFun (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Plants benefit from their microbiome for specific functions such as nutrient uptake, defense and growth. When exposed to environmental stress conditions, plants are able to recruit specific helper microbiota to aid in the recovery from the stress. Understanding mechanisms underlying the interaction between plants and the myriad of microorganisms living in association with them is fundamental to fully harness the genomic potential of these microbes to improve crop agricultural performance. With a metatranscriptomics approach, MetaFun aims at investigating: 1) the microbiome functions involved in chemical communication with the host plant; 2) microbiome functions that become activated in response to recognition of a plant in need and act in co-operation within a community to help the plant to adapt to environmental stress. The innovative approach of MetaFun is based on the identification of microbial activities that become activated in response to specific biotic/abiotic stresses using a metagenomics and metatranscriptomics approach. Moreover, by combining a powerful experimental design, high resolution RNA-sequencing and advanced computational tools, MetaFun aims to decipher microbe-microbe interactions within the plant-associated microbiomes. The implementation of the MetaFun research project, combined with its training program carried out in an excellent scientific environment, represent a unique opportunity to restart the career of the experienced researcher and become an independent scientist.

Mots clés : plant microbiome, plant beneficial microbes, microbial functions

Participants :
- Utrecht University (Pays-Bas) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 263358.72 €
Projet CVVOC (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plants have evolved an impressive defense system to combat herbivores. These defenses include morphological structures like spines and secondary metabolites that have toxic, repellent, or antinutritional effects on consumers. Many plant defenses are constitutively expressed, but some are induced in response to herbivore damage. Damaged plants emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the environment that may induce defenses in adjacent, undamaged tissue or may be eavesdropped by neighboring plants, enabling them to prime their own resistance response prior to attack. While once controversial, this plant-plant communication resulting in a VOC-induced phenotypic response that reduces damage from attacking herbivores has been demonstrated in over 50 species. Recently, researchers have found distinguishing VOC blends among sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) referred to as chemotypes. Field experiments demonstrated that communication between A. tridentata plants of the same chemotype resulted in less damage by herbivores compared to that between plants of different chemotypes. Chemotypes were also found to be highly heritable. This is consistent with the hypothesis that volatile communication evolved as a within-plant warning mechanism due to limited vascular signaling. Because emitted volatile cues become available to potential competitors of the same or different species, selection for cues that are more private would likely be of greater benefit to the emitter. At the time of this study, only 2 A. tridentata chemotypes had been identified. More recent work has found an additional 6 chemotypes. Here we propose to rigorously test the ecological consequences of chemotypic variation and the processes that maintain it. Through synergistic efforts combining my expertise in field ecology and plant-insect interactions and that of the host and collaborators in ecological chemistry and molecular biology, we will forward the field of volatile-mediated plant-plant interactions.

Mots clés : chemical ecology, plant communication, volatile organic compounds, entomology, volatile mediated species interactions

Participants :
- University of Eastern Finland (Finlande) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 179325.6 €
Projet DROUGHTROOT (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plants have to constantly adjust their water status during development and in response to very changing environmental conditions, recently increased by climate change. By exploring the soil and taking up water, plant roots play a crucial role in these processes. Drought exerts deep effects on root functions by altering root cell water permeability (hydraulics) and modulating the growth and architecture of the root system. Water channel proteins named aquaporins adjust root hydraulics in response to many stimuli, including drought stress. Auxin plays, together with abscisic acid (ABA), a pivotal role in root growth and development and regulates aquaporins during lateral root formation (LRF). The present project proposes a frame for integrating these effects by exploring functional links between root architecture, aquaporins and hydraulics, phytohormones, and modelling. Responses to water stress will be studied from the elementary level of LRF up to the whole root level to identify complex interactions and signalling pathways. The Arabidopsis root was chosen as a model for accelerated discovery, as it allows a unique combination of developmental biology, genomics, biophysics and mathematical modelling, with the purpose to transfer this knowledge to crops. This novel and multidisciplinary project will be carried out by a researcher with a strong scientific expertise on agriculture and plant molecular physiology which perfectly matches the proposed project. The latter will be implemented within a consolidated group and an internationally recognized institution (Aquaporin team, BPMP, CNRS/INRA/SupAgro/UM2 Montpellier, France). This combination provides a unique scientific platform for the research training of the applicant and the development of frontline research in plant science. The overall project will be strongly beneficial for the development of the applicant’s independent research career and will definitely strengthen his scientific profile.

Mots clés : drought tolerance, hormonal interactions, root growth development, root hydraulics, aquaporins, plant water relations, mathematical modelling, plant molecular physiology

Participants :
- Centre national de la recherche scientifique (France) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 173076.0 €
Projet TWISTER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plants synthesize a wide range of secondary metabolites, among them, terpenes. These molecules are notably produced in trichomes which are specialized structures present on the surface of aerial organs. Although the terpene biosynthetic pathways have been well deciphered, their transport across membranes remains poorly understood. This is for instance the case for sesquiterpenes such as artemisinin, an extremely potent anti-malaria drug. Despite the immense benefits of these compounds for plant defenses as well as for human health, no sesquiterpene transporters have yet been identified. It was recently shown that Pleiotropic Drug Resistance (PDR) transporters, which belong to the large ATP-Binding Cassette family, are involved in diterpene transport in Nicotiana tabacum trichomes. Thus, other PDR transporters could transport other types of terpenes such as sesquiterpenes. Recently, two PDR transporters of Artemisia annua, namely AaPDR1 and AaPDR2, have been shown to be specifically expressed in glandular and T-shaped trichomes, respectively. Interestingly, glandular trichomes are known to produce artemisinin while T-shaped trichomes have been shown to produce ß-caryophyllene. Thus, we can hypothesize that AaPDR1 and AaPDR2 transport dihydroartemisinic acid, the artemisinin precursor, and ß-caryophyllene, respectively. In order to examine this hypothesis, this project aims to express these transporters in N. tabacum BY2 cells and characterize their activity using toxicity and transport assays in whole cells as well as direct transport in plasma membrane vesicles. In case our hypothesis concerning the substrates is incorrect, we will rely on a transportomics approach, which consists of running transport assays using metabolites extracted from isolated trichomes as putative substrates. In parallel, as a side project, isolated glandular and T-shaped trichomes will be submitted to quantitative proteomic comparison in order to identify their respective metabolisms.


Participants :
- Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgique) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 160800.0 €
Projet B-different (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : TERMINATED

Plasma cells (PC) secreting high-affinity antibodies are key for long-term immunity and the success of vaccines. PC are mainly generated within the germinal centre (GC), a microenvironment where B cells undergo affinity maturation and selection. The GC reaction guarantees that only B cells expressing immunoglobulin with the highest affinity for the antigen will commit to terminal differentiation. Stringent regulation is essential, as dysfunctional GC B cells can cause defective immunity, autoimmunity, or B-cell lymphomas. Affinity maturation requires rapid changes in the B cell transcriptome and proteome to enable cell fate decisions. This is governed by the interplay of signal transduction pathways and regulation at transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Post-transcriptional control is key for rapid remodelling of gene expression, yet its role in terminal differentiation remains largely unexplored. The host lab pioneers the study of RNA-binding proteins (RBP) in lymphocyte development and has unpublished data indicating that the RBP ZFP36L1 inhibits terminal differentiation of B cells in vitro. The regulation and function of ZFP36L1 in GCs is however unknown. In this proposal I will build on the unique and multidisciplinary expertise of the host lab and my experience on post-transcriptional regulation and immunity to address how ZFP36L1 dictates fate decision of B cells. Uniquely available mouse models will allow me to study how signal strength and signal transduction control ZFP36L1 activity and its downstream implications for humoral immunity. Cutting-edge technologies will be employed to elucidate the dynamics of ZFP36L1-RNA interactions and how they in turn define the proteome and fate of GC B cells. This work will reveal the role of an important new regulator of PC differentiation, and will enable me to expand my knowledge, acquire new biochemical, bioinformatics and managerial skills, and facilitate my career development as an independent scientist.

Mots clés : b cells, rna binding protein, clip, signal transduction, affinity maturation, terminal differentiation, germinal centre, post translational modification

Participants :
- UK Research and Innovation (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 212933.76 €
Projet PLASMMONS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Plasmons are oscillations of charge carriers in metallic nanoparticles that confine light in the nanometer length-scale. Translationally symmetric arrays of metallic nanoparticles, termed Plasmonic Super-Crystals (PSCs), can become an integral part of augmented light-harvesting technologies, like plasmonic solar cells and photocatalysts. A current limitation is that plasmons are fragile, short-living excitations, which are highly sensitive to the exact arrangement of matter at the nanoscale. The structural stability of PSCs is prone to multifarious nanomechanical motions such as nanoparticle-vibrations, colloidal phonons, and surface waves on the substrate. With this project, I aim to elucidate the role of nanomechanical motions on the plasmonic properties of PSCs. To achieve this goal I will employ White Light Absorption (WLA) to study plasmonic resonances and Brillouin Light Scattering (BLS) to study mechanical resonances. Plasmonically-enhanced BLS and spectroscopic investigation of plasmons in vibrationally-excited PSCs, will be used to reveal cross-talking between the two subsystems. A momentum-resolved view of vibrational waves will be acquired with angle-resolved BLS. The experimental results will be interpreted based on frequency-domain, finite-element simulations of plasmomechanical coupling phenomena. With this approach, I intend to adopt the concept of microscopic couplings from condensed-matter Physics, to a metamaterial and determine the fundamental excitations and interactions of these artificial structures. Understanding the interplay between plasmonic and structural degrees of freedom in PSCs is expected to pave the way for their use in plasmomechanical devices.

Mots clés : phononic crystals, brillouin light scattering, colloids, colloidal crystals, plasmons, plasmonic supercrystals

Participants :
- Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań (Pologne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 149625.6 €