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Hyperspectral imaging and omic methods to characterize variability of plant responses to combined stresses. Application to wheat crop

Hello, my name is Héloïse Villessèche, and I'm a PhD student at Inrae's UMRs AGAP and ITAP. I have a master's degree in Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution (BEE) from the University of Rennes 1. My master's internship got me interested in imaging, and I wanted to continue in this field through hyperspectral imaging. I chose a subject applied to agriculture because of my master's degree and a personal interest in this field.

The hypothesis of my subject is that hyperspectral imaging can reveal very fine changes in plants, enough to allow genetic information to be supplemented or predicted. If this hypothesis is confirmed, it would be possible for a non-destructive method to enable stress diagnosis in wheat, or at least to complement it.

• Starting date: October 2019
• University: MUSE Montpellier Université d’Excellence / Institut Agro
• PhD school: GAIA
• Scientific field: Chimiometry and genetical analysis
• Thesis management: Ryad Bendoula (Inrae, ITAP)
• Thesis supervisors: Pierre Roumet (Inrae, AGAP), Martin Ecarnot (Inrae, AGAP), Nathalie Gorretta (Inrae, ITAP), Elsa Ballini (L'Institut Agro, BGPI)
• Funding: #DigitAg – Inrae
• #DigitAg: Cofunded PhD – Axe 3, Challenge 3

Keywords: durum wheat; hyperspectral imaging; temporal data; MWPCA; septoria; senescence

Abstract: The development of new agricultural practices based on principles of agroecology needs to analyze complex interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environments. Our ability to analyze and to decipher these multiple stresses requires, on the one hand, adopting a new conceptual framework such as phytobiome or extended phenotype, and on the other hand, coupling methodologies that make it possible to analyze the whole plant phenotype - or targeted organs - at different scales (metabolome, cell, composition and tissue structure). In this work, we propose to combine innovative approaches based on light-matter interactions with more classical 'omics' approaches to assess the variability of durum wheat response to multiple stresses: biotic (Septoria, Brown rust) and abiotic (water stress).

Jury compound:

• Vincent BAETEN, Rapporteur
• Jacques LE GOUIS, Rapporteur
• Cécile GOMEZ, Examinatrice
• Cyril RUCKEBUSCH, Examinateur
• Véronique BELLON-MAUREL, Examinatrice
• Ryad BENDOULA, Directeur de thèse
• Frédéric COINTAULT, Invité
• Pierre ROUMET, Co-encadrant