Group leader: Enric Zelazny /Alexandre Martiniere

 

Key words: nanodomains, signaling, environment, membrane, abiotic, biotic, reactive oxygen species (ROS), Arabidopsis, cell biology, super resolution microscopy.

 

Presentation

 

Biological membranes contain a myriad of diverse domains with a nanometer scale size that correspond to the functional assemblies of specific proteins and lipids. The formation and maintenance of these nanodomains remain enigmatic, however it appears that these processes are dependent on the plasma membrane lipid composition, protein oligomerization and interactions with cytoskeletal and cell wall components. Although the function of nanodomains remains largely unknown, they emerge as signaling/regulation hubs that spatially and temporally coordinate critical cellular functions, notably through the establishment of protein-protein interactions. Thus, cell functioning relies on a ‘biochemical activity architecture’ through the specific arrangement of active molecules and their regulatory partners.

 

In this emerging scientific context, the objective of NANOPS is to study how membrane nanodomains can shape cell signaling processes, leading to appropriate plant responses to their environment, especially osmotic and immune stimuli, at various scales (cell, tissue, organism). To answer this question, we integrate interdisciplinary approaches including super resolution microscopy, biosensors imaging, transport assays, interactomic and lipidomic analyses, and modeling of protein and lipid organization.

 

Our current research axes are:

 

  • Rho of Plant (ROP) nanodomains and establishment of cell signaling specificity during early plant osmotic signaling.
  • Role of plasma membrane nanodomains containing Hypersensitive Induced Reaction (HIR) proteins in plant immunity.
  •  H2O2 nano environment formation and local decoding of ROS signaling.

 

 

Team members

Significant publications

 

Gorgues L, Smokvarska M, Mercier C, Igisch CP, Crabos A, Dongois A, Bayle V, Fiche J-B, Nacry P, Nollmann M, Jaillais Y, Martinière A (2025) GEF14 acts as a specific activator of the plant osmotic signaling pathway by controlling ROP6 nanodomain formation. EMBO Rep., 26(8):2146-216

Hdedeh O*, Mercier C*, Poitout A*, Martinière A, Zelazny E (2025) Membrane nanodomains to shape plant cellular functions and signaling. New Phytol., 245(4):1369-1385

Jaillais Y, Bayer EMF, Bergmann DC, Botella MA, Boutté Y, Bozkurt TO, Caillaud M-C, Germain V, Grossmann G, Heilmann I, Hemsley PA, Kirchhelle C, Martinière A, Miao Y, Mongrand S, Müller S, Noack LC, Oda Y, Ott T, Pan X, Pleskot R, Potocky M, Robert S, Sanchez Rodriguez C, Simon-Plas F, Russinova E, Van Damme D, Jaimie M. Van Norman, Weijers D, Yalovsky S, Yang Z, Zelazny E, Gronnier J (2024) Guidelines for naming and studying plasma membrane domains in plants. Nat. Plants, 10(8):1172-1183

Smokvarska M, Bayle V, Maneta-Peyret L, Fouillen L, Poitout A, Dongois A, Fiche J-B, Gronnier J, Garcia J, Höfte H, Nolmann M, Zipfel C, Maurel C, Moreau P, Jaillais Y, Martinière A (2023) The receptor kinase FERONIA regulates phosphatidylserine localization at the cell surface to modulate ROP signaling. Sci. Adv., 9(14):eadd4791

Martinière A, Zelazny E (2021) Membrane nanodomains and transport functions in plant. Plant Physiol., 187(4):1839-1855

Ugalde JM, Schlößer M, Dongois A, Martinière A, Meyer AJ (2021) The latest HyPe(r) in plant H2O2 biosensing. Plant Physiol., 187(2):480-484

Bayle V*, Fiche J-B*, Burny C, Platre MP, Nollmann M, Martinière A, Jaillais Y (2021) Single-particle tracking photoactivated localization microscopy of membrane proteins in living plant tissues. Nat. Protoc., 16(3):1600-1628

Martín Barranco A, Spielmann J, Dubeaux G, Vert G, Zelazny E (2020) Dynamic control of the high-affinity iron uptake complex in root epidermal cells. Plant Physiol., 184(3):1236-1250

Smokvarska M*, Charbel F*, Platre MP*, Fiche J-B, Alcon C, Dumont X, Nacry P, Bayle V, Nollmann M, Maurel C, Jaillais Y, Martinière A (2020) A plasma membrane nanodomain ensures signal specificity during osmotic signaling in plants. Curr. Biol., 30(23):4654-4664.e4

Platre MP, Bayle V, Armengot L, Bareille J, Marquès-Bueno MdM, Creff A, Maneta-Peyret L, Fiche J-B, Nollmann M, Miège C, Moreau P, Martinière A, Jaillais Y (2019) Developmental control of plant Rho GTPase nano-organization by the lipid phosphatidylserine. Science, 364(6435):57-62

Martinière A*, Fiche J-B*, Smokvarska M, Mari S, Alcon C, Dumont X, Hematy K, Jaillais Y, Nollmann M, Maurel C (2019) Osmotic stress activates two reactive oxygen species pathways with distinct effects on protein nanodomains and diffusion. Plant Physiol., 179(4):1581-1593

Preprint

Danek M*, Hdedeh O*, Boutet J, Safi H, Abuzeineh A, Martín-Barranco A, Fiche J-B, Mercier C, Nollmann M, Boutté Y, Santoni V, Mongrand S, Martinière A, Zelazny E (2025) Mechanisms controlling the plasma membrane targeting and the nanodomain organization of the plant SPFH protein HIR2. bioRxiv,

 

 

Collaborations

 

Lipid signaling

Marie-Cécile Caillaux (RDP-Lyon, France)

Yvon Jaillais (RDP-Lyon, France)

Yohann Boutté (LBM-Bordeaux, France)

Sébastien Mongrand (LBM-Bordeaux, France)

 

ROS biology

Andreas Meyer (Bonn University Germany)

Jean-Philippe Reichheld (LGDP, Perpignan, France)

 

Plant pathology

Laurent Noël (LIPME, Toulouse, France)

Corinne Audran (LIPME, Toulouse, France)

Thomas Kroj (PHIM, Montpellier, France)

 

Super resolution microscopy

Marcelo Nollmann (CBS, Montpellier, France)

 

 

Funding

 

ANR Nano-ROS (2025-2027, 559 k€)

ANR HIRAQIM (2024-2027, 547 k€)

I-Site HIROS (2024-2025, 15 k€)

ANR CellOsmo (2020-2024, 280 k€)

I-Site OptoSens (2023-2024, 99 k€)

ANR NUTRIR (2019-2023, 253 k€)

 

Former team members

 

Noah Didier, BTS, 2025

Omar Hdedeh, PhD, 2022-2024 

Michal Danek, Post-doc, 2022-2023 

Lucille Gorgues, PhD, 2021-2023

Héla Safi, ATER, 2021-2022

Armelle Dongois, Engineer, 2020-2021 

Jessica Boutet, Engineer, 2021-2022

Anas Abuzeineh, Post-doc, 2020-2022

Marija Smokvarska, PhD, 2017-2020