Séminaire IBIP – Les séminaires ont lieu sur le Campus Montpellier SupAgro/INRA de La Gaillarde (2, place P. Viala Montpellier)

  Jeudi 21 mars à 14h00 – Amphi 208 Cœur d’Ecole

 Bénédicte Wenden

INRAE de Bordeaux- Adaptation du Cerisier au Changement Climatique (A3C)

New perspectives for molecular-based phenological modelling: the example of sweet cherry

In temperate trees, optimal timing and quality of flowering directly depend on adequate winter dormancy progression, regulated by a combination of chilling and warm temperatures. In the current context of climate change, fruit trees are impacted by the increasing temperatures during the dormancy period and shifts in phenological phases are observed, including earlier flowering and budbreak dates, leading to dramatic damages due to late frosts. Consequently, it becomes urgent to acquire a better understanding of bud responses to temperature stimuli in the context of climate change in order to tackle fruit losses and anticipate future production changes.

Recent work highlighted some physiological and molecular events happening during bud dormancy in trees. However, we still lack a global understanding of transcriptional changes happening during bud dormancy. By combining physiological, transcriptional analyses and phytohormone quantification  on flower buds of different sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars, we explored the molecular pathways involved in the regulation of dormancy and flowering. Results allowed us to identify the signalling pathways specifically activated during the different phases of dormancy, and to differentiate the endogenous cues from the signals regulated specifically by environmental conditions. Such integrative approaches are extremely useful for a better comprehension of how complex processes control phenology in other perennial species and open up new perspectives for the development of future molecular-based phenology models.

Contact : sandra.cortijo@cnrs.fr