Bénéjam Juliette

Functions - Research topics

“Development of tomato pre-breeding materials with enhanced nutritional or flavour composition in different conditions”

General objective:

The European project HARNESSTOM ("Harnessing the value of tomato genetic resources for now and the future", harnesstom.eu) aims at exploiting the available resources to develop breeding tools and new varieties resistant to biotic stresses, adapted to climate change and more qualitative (organoleptic and nutritional quality) in collaboration with public and private institutes from 7 European countries. GAFL contributes to the "quality" axis of this project.

In this context, my missions are :

-          Participating in the synthesis of genetic determinants of quality to enrich a database, which can be used as a source of alleles for future improvement projects.

-          Developping marker-assisted selection to introduce quality alleles from donor parents (for sugar, acid and aromatic volatile contents) into a variety with agronomic interest.

-          Creating a pre-selection MAGIC population enriched in quality alleles.

-          Optimizing genomic selection tool.

Field of expertise

Quantitative genetic and biostatistics

Plant physiology and pathology

Molecular biology (transcriptomics and metabolomics)

Training and Career

2021-2023 : Postdoctoral researcher in quantitative genetics applied to pre-breeding, GAFL unit (INRAE Avignon). Mathilde Causse.

“Development of tomato pre-breeding materials with enhanced nutritional or flavour composition in different conditions”.

2017-2021 : PhD in genetics and phytopathology, Université d’Angers – IRHS (INRAE Angers). Charles-Eric Durel.

“Mechanisms involved in the interaction between genetic resistances and resistances induced by plant resistance inducers in apple trees”, obtained on Februar 12, 2021.

2017 : Internship (M2) in epigenetics and molecular biology, IGEPP (INRAE Rennes). Mélanie Jubault.

“Fine mapping of epigenetic-QTL involved in partial resistance to clubroot in Arabidopsis and study of candidate genes”.

2016 : Internship (M1) in molecular biology and cytology, BFP (INRAE Bordeaux). Lucie Fernandez.

“Caracterization of a tomato mutant affected in fruit growth and link with endoreduplication”.

2015-2017 : Master Biology AgroSciences, Université de Bordeaux.

Pathway “Plant Breeding & Genetics”.

2014-2015 : Licence Biology, Université de Bordeaux.

                L3 Pathway « Biology of organisms and ecosystems ».

                L2 Pathway « Population genetics and ecology ».

2012-2013 : Advanced level preparatory courses for institutes of higher education (BCPST), Lycée Joffre in Montpellier.

Publications/chapitres/poster

“Mécanismes impliqués dans l’interaction entre les résistances génétiques et induites par les stimulateurs de défense des plantes”. Thesis script obtention 02/12/2021.

“Acibenzolar-S-methyl and resistance quantitative trait loci complement each other to control apple scab and fire blight”. J. Bénéjam, E. Ravon, M. Gaucher, M.-N. Brisset, C.-E. Durel, L. Perchepied. Article accepted in Plant Disease (2020/08).

“Interaction between PDS efficiency and genetic resistances in apple”. J. Bénéjam, M.-N. Brisset, C.-E. Durel, L. Perchepied. Poster Journées des doctorants (JDD) SFR QuaSaV 2019.

“Triangular relationships between constitutive defences, quantitative resistances and induced defences in apple”. J. Bénéjam. Poster JJC INRAE BAP 2018.

 “Natural Epiallelic Variation is Associated with Quantitative Resistance to the Pathogen Plasmodiophora Brassicae”. B. Liégard, A. Gravot, L. Quadrana, Y. Aigu, J. Bénéjam, C. Lariagon, J. Lemoine, V. Colot, M. J. Manzanares-Dauleux, M. Jubault. bioRxiv 776989; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/776989.