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Characterization of specialized plant metabolisms by developing biotechnological and metabolic engineering processes aimed at producing metabolites of interest for pharmaceutical, cosmetic or agronomic applications
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L'équipe Biomolécules et Biotechnologies végétales de l'Université de Tours recrute un ingénieur en analyse chimique |
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The Plant Biomolecules and Biotechnology (BBV) laboratory is developing several research projects on the characterization of specialized plant metabolisms by developing biotechnological and metabolic engineering processes aimed at producing metabolites of interest for pharmaceutical, cosmetic or agronomic applications.These projects are based on molecular biology, cell biology, biochemistry and genomics and metabolomics approaches.
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Permanent Professors and associate Professors
Post-doc and PhD Students
Engineers and technical staff
Read our last articles
- Spatial localization of monoterpenoid indole alkaloids in Rauvolfia tetraphylla by high resolution mass spectrometry imaging21 février 2023In this study published in Phytochemistry, we explore how matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) and desorption electrospray ionization (DESI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) can be used in the investigation of a proposed biosynthetic pathway by localizing reserpine and the theoretical intermediates of it
- Convergent evolution for antibiotic biosynthesis in bacteria and animals21 février 2023A spotlight in Trends in genetics about the convergent evolution for antibiotic biosynthesis in bacteria and animals.
- Benzothiadiazole Affects Grape Polyphenol Metabolism and Wine Quality in Two Greek Cultivars: Effects during Ripening Period over Two Years10 février 2023A research performed in collaboration with Agricultural University of Athens on new pioneer practice to enrich polyphenols in grape by the application of biostimulants on grapevines
- Canopy management through crop forcing impacts grapevine cv. ‘Touriga Nacional’ performance, ripening and berry metabolomics profile9 janvier 2023Read our collaborative article with Pr Queiroz from the University of Porto and Pr Geros from the University of Minho, (Portugal). Climate changes are speeding up the maturation of grapes, but warmer temperatures often uncouple technical and phenolic maturity. We tested the efficacy of crop forcing in delaying the maturation of cv. ‘Touriga Nacional’ vines of the Douro Region, and their impacts on plant performance, berry quality attributes and metabolome
- An updated version of the Madagascar periwinkle genome21 décembre 2022This updated version should ease evolutionary studies leading to a better understanding of MIA biosynthetic pathway evolution.
- Single-cell RNA sequencing provides a high-resolution roadmap for understanding the multicellular compartmentation of specialized metabolism15 décembre 2022Read our new study with Pr Chao SUN’s group, on single-cell RNA sequencing of Catharanthus roseus leaf published in Nature plants!
- Cassia sieberiana root bark used in traditional medicine in Togo: Anthelmintic property against Haemonchus contortus and tannins composition14 décembre 2022A collaborative article with the laboratory Synthese et Isolement de Molecules Bioactives (SIMBA), Tours.We validated the traditional application of C. sieberiana root bark as a dewormer. We determined the metabolic composition of the extracts by UPLC-MS/MS.
- Emerging mechanistic insights into the regulation of specialized metabolism in plants23 décembre 2022Published in Nature Plants, this review focuses on translational, transcriptional, epigenetic and chromatin-based regulation and evolution of specialized metabolism genes, a new and forefront research filed. We extrapolate to medicinal plants that synthetize rare molecules and also discuss how this new knowledge could help in improving strategies to produce useful plant-derived pharmaceuticals.
- Boosting lignan-precursor synthesis in yeast cell factories through co-factor supply optimization2 décembre 2022Through this commentary article, we highlight the outstanding work of the Zhou’s group which recently describes a distinct approach relying on the efficient recycling of enzyme co-factors in yeast to fulfill the synthesis of caffeic acid (CaA) and ferulic acid (FA), two precursors of podophyllotoxin. We discuss how the cofactor recycling approach will undoubtedly pave the way for future high titer production of valuable natural products in yeast.
- Genome Assembly of the Medicinal Plant Voacanga thouarsii29 juillet 2022In our new article published in Genome Biology and Evolution, we provide the first annotated reference genome of a Voacanga species that, together with the previously published MIA-producing plant genomes, will help understand evolution and diversification of MIA in plants as well as identifying MIA biosynthetic genes to enrich the molecular MIA toolbox used for production of MIA in heterologous hosts.
- The Vinca minor genome highlights conserved evolutionary traits in monoterpene indole alkaloid synthesis18 octobre 2022The Vinca minor genome finally assembled! Our new publication in G3!The Vinca minor plant synthesizes monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs), which are a class of specialized metabolites displaying a wide range of bioactive- and pharmacologically important properties. V. minor mainly accumulates vincamine, which is commercially used as a nootropic. Using a combination of Oxford Nanopore Technologies long read- and Illumina short-read sequencing, a 679,098 Mb V. minor genome was assembled into 296 scaffolds with an N50 scaffold length of 6 Mb, and encoding 29,624 genes.
Read more articles from 2022 and 2021