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Plant responses to high temperatures: analysis of genetic variability and interactions with the biotic and abiotic environment

by Denis VILE

Jury : Sylvain Delzon (INRA), Benoît Pujol (CNRS), Philippe Grieu (ENSAT), Fabrice Roux (CNRS), Erwin Dreyer (INRA), Bernard Amiaud (Univ. Lorraine)

Abstract : The ecological and agronomic context requires an improvement in our knowledge and predictive capacities of plant responses to their environment. In 2007, my recruitment at INRA (LEPSE), led to an inflection in my research in comparative ecology towards a fine analysis of plant ecophysiology. I approached this transition by adopting a conceptual framework of comparative ecophysiology applicable to ecology and agronomy that integrates the functional diversity of plants through a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach. My research project aims to understand and predict the consequences of morphological, physiological and ontogenic modifications on growth, survival and reproduction, and thus ultimately on the selective value and, from an agronomic point of view, on the productivity of agro-ecosystems, in response to stresses, in particular high temperatures. To study the genetic determinisms of these modifications, the model species Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh represents an asset, but a comparative analysis using other species, in particular cultivated species, is a complementary step. Four themes will be addressed: i) the response of plants to high temperatures and water deficit in interaction with other abiotic factors such as light and CO₂ or biotic factors such as beneficial soil bacteria for plants (PGPR), ii) the determinisms of growth, in particular apprehended by allometric and resource saving constraints, iii) the methods of data collection and analysis allowing the characterisation of the phenotype (phenotyping), and iv) the valorisation of this knowledge for the benefit of ecology and agronomy

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