Functional Genomics of Plant Pathosystems

Hugo Germain
Functionnal genomic of plant pathosystems

Main subjects studied in our lab

Host pathogen
interaction

Virulence
factor

Resistance
protein

Rust

Plant Pathology: Taking you further than you ever imagined.

Here is an inspiring video of the different jobs and research opportunities that can be offered to you if you choose to embrace career in phytopathology.

Arabidopsis roots. All false colors of course. Left: Root tip. Center: Col-0 root. Right: Col-0 roots stained with the lipophilic dye FM4-64. The circles visible in green are vesicles.

Focus

One of the things I found most fascinating when I studied biology as an undergradraduate student was our immune system. More precisely the process by which we make specific antibodies that can recognize a seemingly endless number of epitopes. This system seemed so perfect that I did not imagine how an organism could survive without it. It turns out that plants do not have antibodies to defend themselves. This is most remarkable since plants are sessile organisms and therefore cannot escape from pathogens or adverse conditions and yet, many plants can outlive humans, and must therefore fight pathogens as we do.

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