JAUBERT Stéphanie

Scientific Background and Academic Qualifications

•    2023-present: Research Director & Co-Director of the IPN Team

•    2020: Accreditation to supervise research, University of Nice Sophia Antipolis (UNSA)

•    2011-2020: Research Fellow in the Plant-Nematode Interactions team at UMR INRA-UNS-CNRS

•    2006-2011: INRAE Research Fellow at UMR BiO3P (INRAE in Rennes, France). Epigenetic mechanisms of reproductive polyphenism in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum.

•    2004: Postdoctoral fellowship at Imperial College (London), Fotis Kafatos team

•    2003: Doctorate in Biology, (UNSA)

Research topic: Epigenetic mechanisms and small non-coding RNAs during plant-gall nematode interactions

Root knot nematodes have developed unique and complex parasitism mechanisms. During susceptible interaction, root knot nematodes penetrate the root tips and migrate intercellularly to the central cylinder. Then, the nematodes inject effector molecules into five to seven cells of the vascular parenchyma. These molecules induce the reprogramming of gene expression in the target cells and their dedifferentiation into hypertrophied, multinucleated, hypermetabolic feeding cells called “giant cells.” These feeding cells result from a process of cellular redifferentiation in which successive mitoses occur without cell division. Mature giant feeding cells reach a final size more than 400 times that of the initial cells and contain up to a hundred nuclei. It is thanks to these structures that the nematode feeds and is able to complete its development cycle. The formation of giant feeding cells is accompanied by hyperplasia of the surrounding vascular cells, leading to the formation of a gall surrounding the giant cells and the nematode. This secondary reaction is the most characteristic symptom of gall nematode attack. The genetic determinism of the induction and maintenance of giant cells has not been elucidated.

Our group is interested in understanding the dialogue between root-knot nematodes (mainly M. incognita and M. enterolobii) and their host plants using Arabidopsis, Solanaceae (tomato, tobacco), and Medicago truncatula as model plants. We study both partners in the interaction to gain a more comprehensive view of the key plant cell functions and processes manipulated by these pathogens.

Ongoing projects.

My research projects focus on the role of small non-coding RNAs and epigenetic regulations in the establishment of feeding cells and, more generally, during infection.

We are currently developing several projects:

1/ The role of cross-kingdom RNA interference during plant-nematode interactions. (Collaborations with Arne Weiberg, University of Hamburg, Germany; Lionel Navarro, IBENS Paris ; COST exRNAPath).

2/ The study of the role of plant metal homeostasis during infection (Collaborations with Guilhem Reyt, LIPME Toulouse; Sébastien Thomine, I2BC Gif sur Yvette; Hendrik Kupper & Filis Morina, University of South Bohemia, Ceszke Budejovice, Czech Republic). ANR CROWN (2024-2027)

3/ Study of a pioneering transcription factor and small non-coding RNAs involved in bacterial symbiosis and infection by Meloidogyne (Collaboration with Andreas Niebel & Matthias Benoît LIPME Toulouse). ANR MELONOD (2024-2027)

Main fundings

• ANR project CROWN 2024-2027 (coordination)
• ANR project MELONOD 2024-2027 (coordination d’un WP)
• Synchrotron DESY Project 2025 (coordination)
•  Franco-Japanese Bilateral Collaboration Program PHC SAKURA 2019 (coordination Y. Kadota Riken, Yokohama, Japon et S Jaubert-, France) « Molecular analyses of recognition mechanisms during plant and plant-parasitic nematode interaction»
• Franco-China Bilateral Collaboration Program PHC XU GUANGQI 2020 #45478PF (co-coordination)
• Franco-Japanese Bilateral Collaboration Program PHC SAKURA 2016 #35891VD “Study of the molecular dialogue between plant-parasitic root-knot nematodes and their host plant”
• ANR AAPG 2020 SYMPA-PEP «SYMbiotic & PAthogenic PEPtides at the interface between plants and microorganisms»
• ANR AAPG 2021 MASH “Modulation of mRNA alternative splicing by root-knot nematode” 2022-2025

Publications

41 publications : 33 research articles, 4 review articles.

In the last 5 years …

1. Soulé S, Huang K, Mulet K, Mejias J, Bazin J, Truong NM, Kika JL, Jaubert S, Abad P, Zhao J, Favery B, Quentin M. The root-knot nematode effector MiEFF12 targets the host ER quality control system to suppress immune responses and allow parasitism. Mol Plant Pathol. 2024 Jul;25(7):e13491. doi: 10.1111/mpp.13491.PMID: 38961768 
2. Noureddine Y, da Rocha M, An J, Medina, C, Mejias J, Mulet K, Quentin M, Abad P, Zouine M, Favery B, Jaubert-Possamai S. miR167-ARF8, an auxin-responsive module involved in the formation of root-knot nematode-induced galls in tomato. J. Exp. Bot., 2023  74(18):5752-5766.   doi: 10.1101/2022.07.29.501986
3. Noureddine Y, Mejias J, da Rocha M, Thomine S, Quentin M, Abad P, Favery B, Jaubert-Possamai S. Copper microRNAs modulate the formation of giant feeding cells induced by the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita in Arabidopsis thaliana. New Phytol., 2022 236(1):283-295. doi: 10.1111/nph.18362.
4. Mejias J, Chen Y, Bazin J, Truong NM, Mulet K, Noureddine Y, Jaubert-Possamai S, Ranty-Roby S, Soulé S, Abad P, Crespi MD, Favery B, Quentin M. Silencing the conserved small nuclear ribonucleoprotein SmD1 target gene alters susceptibility to root-knot nematodes in plants. Plant Physiol. 2022 189(3):1741-1756. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiac155.
5. Mejias, J., Chen, Y.P., Bazin, J., Truong, N-M., Mulet, K., Y. Noureddine, Jaubert-Posamai, S., Ranty-Roby, S., Soulé S, Abad, P., Crespi, M., Favery, B.* and Quentin, M.* (2022) Silencing the conserved small nuclear ribonucleoprotein SmD1 target gene alters susceptibility to root-knot nematodes in plants. Published in BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.25.398149 and Plant Physiology in press. https://doi.org/ 10.1093/plphys/kiac155/6564232 
6. Mejias, J., Bazin, J., Truong, N-M., Marteu, N., Sawa, S., Crespi, M.D., Vaucheret, H., Abad, P., Favery, B.* and Quentin, M.* (2021) The Root-Knot Nematode Effector MiEFF18 Interacts with the Plant Core Spliceosomal Protein SmD1 Required for Giant Cell Formation. New Phytologist, https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.17089, 229, 3408-3423.
7. Truong, N-M., Chen, Y.P., Mejias, J., Soulé, S., Mulet, K., Jaouannet, M., Jaubert-Possamai, S., Sawa, S., Abad, P., Favery, B.* and Quentin, M.* (2021) The Meloidogyne incognita nuclear effector MiEFF1 interacts with Arabidopsis cytosolic glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenases to promote parasitism. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12:641480. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.641480