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Our team investigates the adaptive and epidemiological processes in wheat-fungal pathogen interactions. We characterize the determinants and the consequences of these processes at different scales. Our applied goal to strengthen wheat immunity and control inoculum sources, thereby enhancing the efficiency and the durability of disease management strategies, in the context of climate change and agroecological transition. Our case study is Zymoseptoria tritici (Septoria leaf blotch) and, most recently, Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici (stem rust) as re-emerging pathogen.

The interactions between pathogen populations and host plant populations are determined by the biology and life style of the pathogen, by the selective pressure exerted by the host (species and variety) and abiotic factors (climatic conditions). The processes involved in adaptive dynamics are often specific to temporal scales (intra- and inter-epidemic periods) and spatial scales (gene, plant, field). All these considerations pave the research strategy of our team, which is based on four interdependent objectives:

1. Characterize the processes responsible for adaptive dynamics in populations of Z. tritici

2. Understand the genetic and genomic determinism of Z. tritici adaptation and decipher molecular mechanisms of infection

3. Explore the determinism and epidemiological consequences of sexual reproduction in Z. tritici

4. Assess the impact of interactions between cultivated and wild plants on the benefit-risk balance of crop diversification in cereal systems

Our team is composed of three scientists and two technicians, one of whom shares her molecular biology activities with two other teams. We benefit from the support of contract collaborators (engineers, postdoctoral researchers) and scientists in training (PhD students and interns at the master's level M1 or M2). We are attached to the LabEx SPS / OI C-BASC and affiliated to the SEVE and ABIES doctoral schools.