CV

2007: Hability for Research leadership (HDR) from the University Victor Ségalen, Bordeaux 2
1990-1994: Ph.D. thesis with European label, prepared jointly at Paris XI Orsay (IBP) and Wageningen Agricultural University (The Netherlands). Mention: La plus haute distinction et félicitations du jury
1989-1990: Leuven University (Belgium), Master degree (DEA) in Molecular genetics. Mention: Très Bien.
1984-1988 : Institut Supérieur d'Agriculture (Lille, France). Engineer diploma.

Postdoctoral Fellow, CSIRO, Canberra, Australia. Department of Plant Industry on the topic ‘Genetic engineering in Eucalypts’. 1995- 1997.
Junior Scientist position at INRA, Division of Plant Breeding, U.R.E.F.V, Villenave d’Ornon, France. 1997 – 2002 then in the Division of Plant Pathology, UMR BFP (ex-GDPP). 2002 – 2008.
Senior scientist (Directeur de Recherches) position at INRA, UMR BFP. 2008 – current
OECD Sabbatical Fellowship (visiting scientist), Clemson University, Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, South Carolina (USA) on the topic ‘Assembly of the Peach repeat sequences and of the Apricot linkage group 1’. 6 months in 2007 and 4 months in 2010.

RESEARCH TOPICS

My research concerns the genetics of the interactions between fruit trees and their pathogens. We are using as a case study the Prunus-Plum Pox Virus (PPV) interactions. PPV is the causal agent of the sharka disease which affects Prunus species (stone fruit trees such as peach, apricot, almond, plum and cherry). My team seeks to:

1. determine the host factors controlling resistance to PPV in stone fruit trees as well as in Arabidopsis thaliana
2. Identify new sources of resistance to sharka in Prunus species
3. Develop molecular tools for future breeding programs, from Marker Assisted Selection to Genomic Selection applied to resistance to sharka
4. Test and implement new strategies (biotechnological, agronomical, genetic) that allow to control PPV spreading, decrease its impact and diversify the resistant ideotypes.

Lately, we travelled back in the areas of origin of the Prunus species, to retrieve unique plant materials, understand the diversity and the origin of domesticated stone fruit species (in particular apricot and almond), demonstrate the potential of this unique germplasm for its resistance to pathogens and pests, PPV included and by the end, improve our knowledge on the factors driving the outcomes of the plant-pathogen interactions.

PUBLICATIONS

list of publications the portail HAL-INRAE

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES

• Research director in charge of the interdisciplinary Virology team that comprises a staff of avrg. 30 permanent scientists and technicians working on virology, biochemistry, molecular biology, evolutionary and quantitative genetics, comparative genomics and bioinformatics.
• Member of the Scientific Committee of the INRAE’s division of Plant Biology and Breeding
• Member of the advisory board of the INRA’s SMaCH Metaprogram (Sustainable Management of Crop Health), recently renamed SuMCrop (https://www.inrae.fr/en/about-us/metaprogrammes).
• Member of the steering committee of the PNRI Sugarbeet, the national research and innovation plan which aims to identify alternative solutions to neonicotinoids (https://www.itbfr.org/en/french-national-plan-for-research-and-innovation/)
• Editor-in-chief of the Springer-Nature Tree Genetics & Genomes peer-reviewed journal