The role of specialized plant metabolism in biotic interactions has a profound influence on the functioning of ecosystems. During evolution, plants have developed an arsenal of chemical defenses based on the production of allelochemical compounds, i.e. metabolites carrying information from one organism to another. We are interested in the allelochemical processes involved in plant-plant and plant-insect communications.
In the context of plant-insect communications, we are studying the role of allelochemical compounds in the direct and indirect defenses of plants. First, many compounds produced in plant tissue directly reduce the development of herbivorous insects. Second, plants can “cry for help" by emitting volatile compounds to recruit "bodyguard" predators, thereby indirectly controlling herbivorous insects.
In plant-plant communications, a plant can activate its own defenses before it is even attacked by detecting the release of metabolites from a neighboring plant that is already infested. Our studies carried out under controlled conditions (phytotrons and greenhouses) and in the field aim to better understand (i) the chemical nature of these communications and (ii) the nature of the defenses activated in the receiving plant (induction and / or ‘priming’).
This research makes it possible to design crop protection strategies centered on the natural defenses of plants. While societal demands and public policies go in the same direction, that of the agroecological transition, we work with technical institutes, cooperatives and farmers to develop sustainable agriculture.
Lead researchers:
Link to: