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The Sophia Agrobiotech Institute (ISA) is a joint research unit supported by INRAE and the Université Côte d'Azur. Situated at the interface between agriculture and the environment, the main research carried out at the ISA focuses on studying the functioning of interactions between plants, pests and symbiotic organisms, and their dynamics over time and space. The ISA’s ambition is to address some of the challenges facing agricultural research in the field of ecological agrosystem management by integrating the knowledge generated into the development of innovative strategies for plant health (biocontrol, biostimulation, plant resistance) that are more respectful of the environment and human health.

                Three thematic areas structure the ISA’s research on plant health. This work draws on the disciplinary expertise within the unit: cellular and molecular biology; biochemistry; genetics; ‘omics’ approaches; ecology and the biology of populations and communities; computational biology, modelling and simulation.

How plant-pest and plant-symbiotic interactions work

                The ISA investigates the molecular, cellular and physiological mechanisms underlying interactions between plants and various organisms, whether pests (oomycetes, nematodes, insects) or symbionts (nitrogen-fixing bacteria). The research focuses on the molecular basis of recognition and communication between organisms. It concentrates on the processes that contribute to establishing, maintaining or preventing relationships between plants and these organisms. The studies focus in particular on :

• The development of anatomical structures in the plant host or microorganism that enable interaction;
• Plant immunity and its manipulation during single or multiple interactions;
• The signals emitted by the plant during the different phases of the interaction;
• The signalling pathways and effectors involved in disease development;
• The mechanisms of genome evolution linked to the emergence and evolution of parasitism;
• Systems biology applied to the gene networks involved in the reprogramming of gene expression in plant cells during biotic interactions.

Insect response processes to environmental stimuli

    In modern times, insects are capable of responding to environmental conditions and to sudden, severe stressors, such as a change in host or the use of crop protection methods in agriculture. At ISA, the genetic and/or physiological determinants of these response processes are studied in pests and beneficial insects or through translational approaches using the model species Drosophila melanogaster. For example, ISA studies :

• Insect resistance to (bio)insecticides (e.g., chemical compounds, microorganisms, Bacillus thuringiensis toxins);
• Insect orientation in response to volatile compounds from plants or other organisms;
• Developmental changes in the sensory and neuroendocrine systems in response to abiotic factors (light, gravity);
• Cross-immune responses in insects during plant-insect interactions (plant-feeding insect–parasitoid insect) or insect-microorganism interactions (symbiotic or pathogenic).

Population ecology and evolution in agrosystems

                One of the ISA’s objectives is to understand how populations and communities of pests or beneficial organisms are impacted by biotic or abiotic environmental changes occurring in agrosystems. Among the approaches developed are :

• Behavioral ecology, particularly the study of the movement and dispersal of parasitoid insects;
• Functional ecology of populations and communities in the context of biological control (through conservation, acclimatization, or augmentation) using macroorganisms;
• Population genetics and genomics during the introduction of populations into a new environment, in interaction with other introduced and/or invasive species, or when confronted with the use of resistant varieties;
• Theoretical biology and modeling, in relation to the epidemiology of pests and/or plant diseases and the deployment of agroecological crop protection methods (biocontrol and plant resistance).