My research activities since my appointment are mainly divided into two main areas:
Axis 1: 2000-2004: Phytochemistry and pharmacognosy.
The objective of this work was to explore the chemical diversity of plants for conservation purposes and also with a particular interest in volatile oils and their applications as antibiotics or antioxidants.
Axis 2: 2004 - present: Ecophysiology-Plant Molecular Physiology
At IMBE, I first sought to understand how secondary metabolites affect plant-plant interactions. My current work focuses on the question of the impact of global changes on Mediterranean vegetation. Among the variables considered is the decline in rainfall predicted for the coming decades. In order to address this question, I am using several levers:
–  Biophysics: The fluorescence of chlorophyll a. This is the visible part of the functioning of the photosynthetic machinery. Through a PAM (Pulse Amplitude Modulation) type tool, I have been able to understand the dynamics of photosynthesis according to exogenous (environmental stresses) and endogenous (chlorophyll deficient mutants) constraints. Thus, our understanding of the mechanisms of large-scale photosynthesis is a prerequisite to assess the involvement of vegetation in the global carbon cycle and to accurately predict climate change at the end of the 21st century. The European Space Agency (ESA) is planning the launch in 2022 of a satellite for mapping global vegetation based on the chlorophyll fluorescence signal (FLEX mission; FLuorescence Explorer). I thus participated in the AtmoFLEX project (ESA) to try to understand the relationships between the measurements of the fluorescence signal at the leaf scale (Active Fluorescence) and those acquired by remote sensing (Passive Fluorescence).
–  Functional imagery. At the sub-cellular scale, I try to understand the oxidative pressure undergone by plants due to the lack of water. The tool used is confocal laser scanning microscopy (LSM) with fluorophores specific to reactive oxygen species (ROS).
–  Transcriptomics/Metabolomics. This molecular approach of the understanding of plant physiology was made possible thanks to the stay carried out in 2010 within the Research Chair in Forest Genomics (IBIS Institute) of Laval University (Canada) as a visiting professor. By coupling these two “omics” technics, my work aims at a better characterization of the metabolic pathways involved in plant resistance to climate aridification.
Ultimately, the understanding of the functional mechanisms involved will allow, on the one hand, to promote the selection of elite specimens assisted by molecular markers and, on the other hand, a better estimation of the dynamics of vegetation and its involvement in carbon sequestration on a global scale.
Project leader:
2016: TRANS-C3 - The pubescent Oak TRANScriptome in response to Climate Change. Eccorev project.
2018: SIG2 - Implementation of a GIS on the CLIMED site, an observatory of the Garrigue. Project Eccorev.