Laboratory of developmental plant biology - expertise and equipment
Model
We’ve adopted a small plant (Arabidopsis) as our model model to study root development in response to phosphate starvation. Over the last 20 years, this small plant from the Brassica family has become a plant model. Its minute size, high seed yield and short life cycle are ideally suited for genetic studies. In addition, the small size of its genome allowed the complete sequencing 10 years ago greatly helping the identification of numerous genes and their functions. Several thousands of Arabidopsis mutants have been described and are available through large seed libraries. Every year, an international research meeting dedicated to this model plant takes place.
Arabidopsis root
The Arabidopsis root presents many advantages: it possesses a simple anatomy (small number of cells and cell layers), it is transparent, which facilitates cell biology techniques (confocal and optical microscopy). It is also growing rapidly (1cm/day in our in vitro culture conditions). Several teams around the world study various aspects of root growth, which allows us to be part of a very stimulating and dynamic field of research.
Cell Biology
Our lab hosts state-of-the-art fluorescence and luminescence microscopes grouped in the Zone of Observation in Microscopy (ZoOM), which allow us to study plant ultrastructures and cell markers. We can analyse protein interactions using very sensitive techniques based on fluorescence confocal microscopy (FRET, FRAP, FLIM).
Molecular biology
The analysis of the function of new genes discovered in our lab benefits from the very good expertise in molecular biology of several members of the team. We routinely apply classical techniques (cloning, transgenics, Southern, Nothern…) as well as the most recent ones (quantitative PCR, microarrays…). Our lab or the department owns all the required equipments to carry on these experiments.
Biochemistry
Genetics
Genetics offer powerful tools to study plants. At the LBDP, we use the wide range of tools of forward (form phenotype to gene) and reverse (from gene to phenotype) genetics available with Arabidopsis: natural variation to identify Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL), chemical or gamma ray mutagenesis, T-DNA knock-outs, RNAi knock-down, gene mapping….
These tools allow us to identify important genes for a given function, to analyse their role, to test interactions between genes and to dissect developmental and physiological processes.
IIn addition, various screenings of mutant populations created at INRA by random insertions of reporter genes resulted in the selection of a thousand lines in which the activity of the reporter gene was triggered by its insertion next to a promoter. These lines reflect the activity of many promoters, which gives a large range of markers to follow cell development and differentiation in roots.