BioPlantProducts (BPP)   

a joint lab between the LRSV and the companies

DE SANGOSSE SAS and Agronutrition

Plants live with a large community of microbes (microbiota) which is essential for their nutrition and health. Intensive agriculture, based on a massive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, has greatly contributed to the breakdown of the microbiological quality of soils, and therefore to the root microbiota.

The research carried out in the BioPlantProducts laboratory aims at identifying new microbial species/associations that optimize the action of the plant microbiota.

The future of agriculture will necessarily involve identifying new agronomic strategies that respect the environment and consumers in an agro-ecological approach. Among these strategies, the optimization of the soil microbial flora that develops in contact with the roots is a major objective. It is estimated that several million species of bacteria and fungi are present in a gram of soil, and that these microorganisms play a major role in the acquisition of nutrients and the fight against diseases. More than a century of massive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides has depleted the microbiological balance of soils. One of the ways to optimize the functioning of soil microflora is to identify beneficial strains that stimulate plant nutrition and improve their resistance to disease. This is the objective pursued in the joint laboratory BioPlantProducts associating DE SANGOSSE group (the DE SANGOSSE SAS and Agronutrition affiliates), a successful company specialized in the development of formulations of plant protection and nutrition products and the LRSV, a recognized laboratory in plant sciences. BioPlantProducts brings to the company a strong scientific and technical expertise and offers to the LRSV the possibility to validate in the field concepts resulting from fundamental research on the mechanisms governing in particular the interactions between plants and microorganisms.

Collections of microoragnisms from selected genera are used in screening approaches to identify potential antimicrobial agents, plant defence stimulator or nutrient solubilizing strain. The efficacy of promising candidate is assessed in planta. We then combine genome mining, metabolomics and transcriptomics to study microbes of interests. These omics data help us to determine the taxonomic affiliations of microorganisms and identify key mechanisms underlying their effects on the plant. Such informations are important to foster technological transfer to agriculture by producing microbials based product used as innoculants,  facilitate the registration process of the stain to reach the market and improve potential protection of the intellectual property of these technologies.

The scientific projects carried out in this laboratory mainly concern the research themes of the team « Microbial Interactions in Rhizosphere and Roots » (RHIZO) directed by C. Roux, in particular on the study of the activity of microbial strains of the rhizosphere involved in the regulation of the microbiota (Streptomyces, Pythium, bacteria « helpers » of mycorrhizae…) or promoting plant growth and nutrition (mycorrhizal fungi…). This research is performed by a mixed team of researchers, research assistants, PhD candidates and undergraduate students from both stakeholder.

The LabCom BPP, is coordinated for the LRSV by Bernard DUMAS and Christophe ROUX , and for the DE SANGOSSE group by Isabelle RETY-GUITTON and Valérie ARNAL