Plant biology

This research area encompasses genomics, genetics, ecophysiology, physics, chemistry, biotechnologies, metrology, modelling, and plant improvement engineering.
Its aim is to describe and understand the functioning of individual plants in their biotic and abiotic environments and to identify the determinants of this functioning at different scales (molecule, cell, tissues, organs, whole plant) and in the integration of these scales.
It focuses in particular on the determinants of the development of biomass and organs (seed, fruit, etc.) of significance in agriculture. Its goal is also to describe and understand the agro-biodiversity of cultivated plants (species, varieties), their phylogeny, their adaptation to the environment and the role played by human selection.
Finally, it aims to develop methods for plant improvement, selection, and the enhancement of agro-biodiversity. The plant biology community works on model plants (Arabidopsis, rice, etc.) and on a wide range of temperate, Mediterranean and tropical cultivated plants.