The challenge is to reduce inputs and thus promote adaptation to biotic and abiotic stresses for an agriculture that will be less resource intensive, more environment-friendly and adapted to climate change.

Screening for candidate genes involved in stress response in tomato.

In the ANR Adaptom,we have studied the genetic basis of the response to stress conditions using the MAGIC population, which has been characterized by the breeding companies Gautier Semences in Morocco and Clause in Israel under water stress, heat stress and variable salt conditions (PhD I Diouf). We plan to identify candidate genes by fine mapping the major QTL and start their validation through Tilling (in collaboration with INRA Bordeaux) and CrispRCas9 genome editing.

An ANR project (TomEpiSet, coordinator M. Zouine, INP-Toulouse) started in 2017, focusing on the impact of heat stress. This will allow us to deepen our approach of this major stress for tomato in Mediterranean countries.

In the EU TRADITOM project, we are coordinating the WP on the impact of environment on fruit quality.

Relevant Publications

Petrovic I, S Savić,; J Gricourt; M Causse, Z Jovanović; R Stikić (2021) Effect of long term drought on tomato leaves: the impact on metabolic and antioxidative response. Phys Mol Biol Pl 27, 2805-2817

Bineau E*, Diouf I*, Y Carretero, R Duboscq, F Bitton, A Djari, M Zouine, M Causse (2021) Genetic and transcriptome variation of tomato response to heat stress.  Plant J 107, 1213-1227 https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.15379

Diouf  I, E Albert, R Duboscq, S Santoni, J Gricourt , M Causse (2020) Integration of QTL, transcriptome and polymorphism studies reveals candidate genes for water stress response in tomato. Genes 2020, 11, 900; doi:10.3390/genes11080900

Diouf I, L Derivot, S Koussevitzky, Y Carretero, F Bitton, L Moreau and M Causse (2020) Genetic basis of phenotypic plasticity and genotype × environment interactions in a multi-parental tomato population. J Exp Bot; Online ahead of print  doi: 10.1093/jxb/eraa265. 

Diouf IA, Derivot L, Bitton F, Pascual L and Causse M (2018) Water Deficit and Salinity Stress Reveal Many Specific QTL for Plant Growth and Fruit Quality Traits in Tomato. Front. Plant Sci. 9:279. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00279

Albert E, R Duboscq, M Latreille, S Santoni, M Beukers, JP Bouchet, F Bitton, J Gricourt, C Poncet, V Gautier, JM Jiménez-Gómez, G Rigaill, M Causse (2018) Allele specific expression and genetic determinants of transcriptomic variations in response to mild water deficit in tomato. The Plant J. 96: 635-650. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.14057

Albert E, Gricourt J, Bertin N, Bonnefoi J, Pateyron S, Tamby JP, Bitton F, Causse M. 2016. Genotype by watering regime interactions in cultivated tomato: lessons from linkage mapping and gene expression. Theor Appl Genet 129: 395-418

Albert E, Segura V, Gricourt J, Bonnefoi J, Derivot L, Causse M (2017) Association mapping reveals the genetic architecture of tomato response to water deficit: focus on major fruit quality traits. J Exp Bot 67: 6413-30

Ascorbate in tomato.

Ascorbate (vitamin C) is an ideal antioxidant and an excellent nutritional quality marker in both fresh and processed fruit and vegetables. Research on this vitamin is vital for the production of healthy and high quality fruit and vegetables but ascorbate has also redox functions within a plant cell which must be understood and taken into account if we aim to manipulate the levels of this vitamin.

We have been focusing on redox control of the ascorbate pool starting with the impact on traits of agronomic interest. Network analysis of transcriptomic, metabolomic and proteomic data of lines silenced for either ascorbate oxidase or ascorbate free radical reductase has revealed several hubs including a gene encoding a ribosomal protein and a direct comparison of transcriptome data for these two lines shows the  differentially expressed genes are over-represented for functions involving structural constituents of Ribosomes as well as protein binding and protein kinase regulator activity.

Relevant Publications

V Truffault, G Riqueau, C Garchery, H Gautier, RG Stevens (2018) Is monodehydroascorbate reductase activity in leaf tissue critical for the maintenance of yield in tomato? Journal of plant physiology 222, 1-8

Stevens R, Baldet P, Bouchet JP, Causse M, Deborde C, Deschodt C, Faurobert M, Garchery C, Garcia V, Gautier H, Gouble B, Maucourt M, Moing A, Page D, Petit J, Poessel JL, Truffault V and C Rothan (2018) systems biology study in tomato fruit reveals correlations between the ascorbate pool and genes involved in ribosome biogenesis, translation and the heat-shock response. Frontiers Plant Sci doi:10.3389/fpls.2018.00137

V Truffault, SC Fry, RG Stevens, H Gautier (2017) Ascorbate degradation in tomato leads to accumulation of oxalate, threonate and oxalyl threonate. The plant journal 89 (5), 996-1008

R Stevens, V Truffault, P Baldet, H Gautier (2017) Ascorbate Oxidase in Plant Growth, Development, and Stress Tolerance. Ascorbic Acid in Plant Growth, Development and Stress Tolerance, 273-295

L Mounet-Gilbert, M Dumont, C Ferrand, C Bournonville, A Monier, et al (2016) Two tomato GDP-D-mannose epimerase isoforms involved in ascorbate biosynthesis play specific roles in cell wall biosynthesis and development. Journal of experimental botany 67 (15), 4767-4777

V Truffault, N Gest, C Garchery, A Florian, AR Fernie, H Gautier, et al (2016) Reduction of MDHAR activity in cherry tomato suppresses growth and yield and MDHAR activity is correlated with sugar levels under high light. Plant, cell & environment 39 (6), 1279-1292

Multi-stress (biotic and abiotic) in Prunus.

Reducing phytosanitary inputs in fruit production is particularly important because it meets several requirements: Ecophyto objectives, prohibition of certain pesticides, specifications from distributors (number of active substances detected in fruit), potential overcoming of resistance...

The main pathogens causing most treatments or damage are beeing identified for each Prunus species (eg for peach: brown rot, aphids and powdery mildew, leaf curl; for apricot: canker and monilia on flowers), and will be the subject of future work.

In addition, the regularity of production, linked to the adjustment of phenology to the climate and the frequency of floral anomalies, induced by environmental conditions during the months before flowering, are a real problem for apricot.

Relevant Publications

Multi-stress (biotiques et abiotiques) chez les Prunus

Del Cueto, J., A. Kosinska-Cagnazzo, et al. (2021). Phenolic compounds identified in apricot branch tissues and their role in the control of Monilinia laxa growth. Scientia Horticulturae 275: 109707. doi.org/ 10.1016/j.scienta.2020.109707 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304423820305355

Mustafa, M. H., D. Bassi, et al. (2021). Phenotyping Brown Rot Susceptibility in Stone Fruit: A Literature Review with Emphasis on Peach. Horticulturae 7(5): 115. doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae7050115 https://www.mdpi.com/2311-7524/7/5/115

Oliveira Lino, L., B. Quilot-Turion, et al. (2020). Cuticular waxes of nectarines (Prunus persica L. Batsch) during fruit development in relation to surface conductance and susceptibility to Monilinia laxa. Journal of Experimental Botany. doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa284 https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/71/18/5521/5859083

Tresson, P., L. Brun, et al. (2020). Future development of apricot blossom blight under climate change in Southern France. European Journal of Agronomy 112: 125960. doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2019.125960 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S116103011930098X?via%3Dihub

Yu, J., A. O. Conrad, et al. (2020). Distinctive Gene Expression Patterns Define Endodormancy to Ecodormancy Transition in Apricot and Peach. Frontiers in plant science 11(180). doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.00180 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32180783/

Omrani, M., M. Roth, et al. (2019). Genome-wide association multi-locus and multi-variate linear mixed models reveal two linked loci with major effects on partial resistance of apricot to bacterial canker. BMC Plant Biology 19(1): 31. doi.org/10.1186/s12870-019-1631-3 https://bmcplantbiol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12870-019-1631-3

Esmenjaud, D., C. Van Ghelder, et al. (2018). New data completing the spectrum of the Ma, RMia and RMja genes for resistance to root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne spp. in Prunus. Phytopathology. doi.org/10.1094/PHYTO-05-18-0173-R https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30256187/

Bellingeri, M., Quilot-Turion, B., Oliveira, L., Bevacqua, D. (2018). The Crop Load Affects Brown Rot Progression in Fruit Orchards: High Fruit Densities Facilitate Fruit Exposure to Spores but Reduce the Infection Rate by Decreasing Fruit Growth and Cuticle Cracking. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 5. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2017.00170/full

Pascal, T., Aberlenc, R., Confolent, C., Hoerter, M., Lecerf, E., Tuero, C., Lambert, P. (2017). Mapping of new resistance (Vr2, Rm1) and ornamental (Di2, pl) Mendelian trait loci in peach. Euphytica, 213 (6). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10681-017-1921-5

Mariette, S., Wong Jun Tai, F., Roch, G., Barre, A., Chague, A., Decroocq, S. , Groppi, A., Laizet, Y., Lambert, P., Tricon, D., Nikolski, M., Audergon, J.-M., Abbott, A. G., Decroocq, V. (2016). Genome-wide association links candidate genes to resistance to Plum Pox Virus in apricot (Prunus armeniaca). New Phytologist, 209 (2), 773-784. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.13627

Saucet, S. B., Van Ghelder, C., Abad, P., Duval, H., Esmenjaud, D. (2016). Resistance to root-knot nematodes Meloidogyne spp. in woody plants. New Phytologist, 211 (1), 41-56. https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.13933

Cirilli, M., Geuna, F., Babini , A.-R., Bozhkova, V., Catalano, L., Cavagna, B., Dallot, S., Decroocq, V., Dondini, L., Foschi, S., Ilardi, V., Liverani, A., Mezzetti, B., Minafra, A., Pancaldi, M., Pandolfini, T., Pascal, T., Savino, V. N., Scorza, R., Verde, I., Bassi, D. (2016). Fighting sharka in peach: current limitations and future perspectives. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2016.01290/full

Oliveira Lino, L., Pacheco, I., Mercier, V., Faoro, F., Bassi, D., Bornard, I., Quilot-Turion, B. (2016). Brown rot strikes Prunus fruit: an ancient fight almost always lost. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64 (20), 4029-4047. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jafc.6b00104