GELIFES Seminars - Marie Simonin

Marie Simonin (​INRAE-IRHS)

Towards plant microbiome engineering

Exploring seed microbial diversity and its impact on plant fitness in synthetic communities

Seeds are central to food production and the maintenance of plant biodiversity. Still, seed microbiomes are understudied compared to other plant compartments. Here, we will present a meta-analysis on available seed microbiome studies (n=63) to synthesize the current knowledge on the composition and diversity of this habitat across 50 plant species. Based on this meta-analysis, we identified clear diversity and composition patterns that can help guide the construction of synthetic communities (SynComs) and seed microbiome engineering. We present several SynCom studies that provide new insights on the transmission of microorganisms from seeds to seedlings and the impact of seed microbiota on plant phenotypes. In particular, we investigated the effects of bacterial synthetic communities on seedling emergence and metabolism in bean. We observed that SynCom inoculation on seeds can effectively modulate seedling emergence and growth (positively or negatively) depending on bacterial composition. This approach represents a promising avenue to decipher the role of seed microbiota for plant fitness and promote seed vigour in agriculture.

Biosketch:
Marie Simonin is an INRAE researcher working on plant-microbiome interactions and synthetic ecology approaches to develop a more sustainable agriculture at the Research institute in Horticulture and Seeds (Angers, France). Her research is based on community and functional ecology, using both experimental approaches (inoculation of synthetic microbiota) and large scale meta-analysis of existing microbiome data. Her current projects focus on the role of seed microbiota for plant health and the assembly processes driving the transmission of microbiota from mother plants to seeds and then to seedlings.