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The Prairies and Fodder Plants Pluridisciplinary Research Unit (UR P3F) of INRAE in Lusignan includes 11 permanent researchers and engineers in plant genetics and improvement and plant ecophysiology and 24 permanent technical and administrative staff.
The unit conducts research combining these two disciplinary fields in order to improve the ecosystem services provided by sown grasslands and their resilience to climate change. More specifically, the work developed seeks to (i) determine the characteristics of plants, varieties and mixtures of species (grasses and legumes) that make it possible to achieve the objectives set: which species diversity and genetics of these species, on which genomic traits/regions; (ii) model the complex interactions between individuals in a heterogeneous stand in a variable environment, (iii) search for and recombine original genetic resources, and (iv) design new breeding methods to create innovative varietal mixtures.
Your mission will be to determine how the genetic variability of the main species of sown grasslands contributes to their adaptation to pedo-climatic constraints and to the provision of ecosystem services of complex grassland stands (fodder production, reduction in the use of chemical inputs, carbon sequestration, biodiversity...). This questioning will be addressed at the level of phenotypic variability and associated genomic diversity. You will use the collections of genetic resources available at INRAE and in partner research institutes as the object of study, which can be supplemented if necessary. The work developed will involve intensive phenotyping and high-throughput genotyping operations complemented by precise documentation of the origin of the genetic resources studied. The analysis methods implemented will be based on signature detection methods, association genetics and genomic prediction and will be completed by an analysis of phenotypic variability integrating plant ecophysiology and functional ecology concepts.
In the long term, the aim will be to develop a valorization of the results obtained for the selection of innovative genetic material (introgression, pre-breeding). This valorization will be implemented in collaboration with other researchers of the Unit and/or socio-economic partners.
This recruitment is part of a major research axis of the P3F Unit for which its leadership is recognized with the coordination in recent years of projects of international scope.