The specialized metabolism of plants brings together a set of molecules with very different structures and functions whose synthesis, accumulation or emission allows the plant to interact with its environment. Since my thesis initiated in 2002 and my recruitment at INRA as a researcher in 2007 my attention is focused on the study of this metabolism through 5 main themes:

(i) Description and understanding of the biosynthetic pathways of phenolic compounds. This theme consists of identifying the function of genes and enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway of furocoumarins and phenolamides.

(ii) Regulation of the accumulation of specialized metabolites by the plant’s environment. On this topic, my model is the tomato plant, subject to various abiotic (nitrogen limitation, priming) and biotic (bacterial and herbivory) constraints.

(iii) Function of specialized metabolites in planta. The objective here is to identify the physiological functions of phenolamides in the tomato plant by an inverse genetic approach (CrispR mutants phenotyping).

(iv) Study of the cost of the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites. The synthesis of specialized metabolites mobilizes the same resources (carbon, mineral elements) that the plant needs for its growth. The aim is to better characterize the allocation costs and metabolic costs of defense activation (based on specialized metabolism) in the tomato plant.

(v) Valorising  specialized metabolism for Human purposes. This theme concerns the biological activity screening of new specialized metabolites and the evaluation of cultural practices based on an optimization of the natural defenses of plants for the development of technical routes that are more economical in inputs.