Dr. Jeffrey LEUNG
Chargé de Recherche CNRS (CR1) Institut des Sciences du Végétal
HDR 1 avenue de la Terrasse, Gif-sur-Yvette, 91198
Email: Leung@isv.cnrs-gif.fr

Situation actuelle
Responsable du groupe "Signalisation par l'acide abscissique et l'adaptation des plantes à la sécheresse" depuis 2007. Membre du comité de direction à l'ISV; membre du comité scientifique à l'ISV. Encadrement de 4 post-doctorants et trois étudiants en thèse depuis 2002. Editorial Board de Plant Signaling and Behaviour.

Cursus
1997 Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches (Paris X1)
1988 Thèse en génétique de la Drosophile (Université Colombie Britannique, Canada)

Autres expériences professionnelles
Stagiaire post-doctoral à l'Institut Max-Planck à Cologne, Allemagne, dans l'équipe de Prof. Jeff SCHELL (1988 - 1990)
Stagiaire post-doctoral à l'Institut des Sciences Végétales, Gif-sur-Yvette, dans l'équipe de Jérôme GIRAUDAT (1990 - 1991)
Chargé de Recherche (CR2) à l'Institut des Sciences Végétales, Gif-sur-Yvette, dans l'équipe de Jérôme GIRAUDAT (1991 - 1994)
Chargé de Recherche (CR1) à l'Institut des Sciences Végétales, Gif-sur-Yvette, dans l'équipe de Jérôme GIRAUDAT (1995 - 2002)
Responsable de l'équipe émergente "Signalisation par l'acide abscissique et l'adaptation des plantes à la sécheresse" à l'Institut des Sciences du Végétal (2002-2006)

Distinction
Médaille de Bronze du CNRS 1995

Cinq publications les plus récentes
F Vlad, BE Turk, P Peynot, J Leung and S Merlot (2008). A versatile strategy to define the phosphorylation preferences of plant protein kinases and screen for putative substrates. Plant J. doi:10.1111/j.1365-313X.2008.03488.x
A Wasilewska, F Vlad, C Sirichandra, Y Redko, F Jammes, C Valon, N Frei dit Frey and J Leung (2008). An update in abscisic acid signaling in plants and more...Mol. Plant 1, 198-217.
S Merlot, N Leonhardt, F Fenzi, C Valon, M Costa, L Piette, A Vavasseur, B Genty, K Boivin, A Müller, J Giraudat and J. Leung (2007). Constitutive activation of a plasma membrane H+-ATPase prevents abscisic acid-mediated stomatal closure. EMBO J. 26, 3216-3226.
A Marion-Poll and J Leung (2006) Abscisic acid synthesis, metabolism and signal transduction. In Plant Hormone Signaling, Ann. Plant Rev. P. Hedden and SG Thomas eds. Blackwell Publishing. Oxford, UK, pp 1- 35.
Riera, M., Redko, Y. and Leung, J. (2006).Arabidopsis RNA-binding protein UBA2a relocalizes into nuclear speckles in response to abscisic acid. FEBS Lett. 580, 4160-4165.
Nombre total de publications dans les revues internationales: 21 [Science (2) PNAS, EMBO J. Plant Cell]; actes de congrès à comité de lecture: 5

Bourses et financements ( depuis 2003)
Génoplante II Ciblé. BiF2001038 (01/10/03 - 31/12/04)
Génoplante CDD AFF2001073 (01/07/04 -31/12/04). Rédacteur du dossier d'appel d'offre.
Génoplante II Générique GEN26 (01/01/05 - 28/08/07) Coordinateur et rédacteur du dossier d'appel d'offre
Bourse Post-doctorale du CNRS (01/11/04 - 31/10/06)
ANR Génoplante 2010 Génerique GNP05037G (01/03/06 - 30/04/08). Rédacteur du dossier d'appel d'offre
Marie-Curie Early Stage Training Network FP6. Deux bourses de thèse (01/09/06 - 31/08/09). Rédacteur du dossier d'appel d'offre

Expérience antérieure de coordination de projets (depuis 2003)
Rédacteur du dossier et coordinateur d'appel d'offre Génoplante GEN26 (deux partenaires)
Organisateur du réseau et rédacteur d'appel d'offre Marie-Curie Early Stage Training Network FP6 (un consortium de dix laboratoires Européens)
Rédacteur du dossier d'appel d'offre ANR Génoplante 2010 Générique GNP05037G (trois partenaires).
Rédacteur du dossier et coordinateur d'appel d'offre ANR Blanc édition 2008

Prof. Khaled MASMOUDI

Professor and Head of the Plant Molecular Genetics Laboratory. Centre of Biotechnology of Sfax (CBS); Route sidi Mansour km 6, B.P.'K' 3038 Sfax-Tunisia. Tel: (216) 74 440 816-ext.1092; mobile: (216)98 923 266;
Fax: (216) 74 440 818 ; Email: khaled.masmoudi@cbs.rnrt.tn

Ph.D., Plant Molecular Biology, University Pierre & Marie Curie Paris 6, France.
Research field:
* Transgenic potato plants resistant to potato virus Y (PVY), 1994-1998.

* Improving salt and drought tolerance in cereals, 1998 - Present.
Oct. 2002-April 2003 University of Connecticut Storrs, CT-USA
Fulbright visiting Scientist: Functional analysis of two cation channels from Arabidopsis thaliana: AtCNGC12 and AtCNGC11/12.

Peer reviewed publications

- Masmoudi K., Stress abiotiques: vers des variétés de blé plus tolérantes à la salinité et à la sécheresse. Biologia (2004) 1 (2) : 80-84.
- Brini F., Gaxiola R., Berkowitz G., Masmoudi K. Cloning and characterization of a wheat vacuolar cation/proton antiporter and pyrophosphatase proton pump. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry (2005) 43: 347-354.
- Yoshioka K., Moeder W., Kang H.G., Kachroo P., Masmoudi K., Berkowitz G., Klessig D.F. The Chimeric Arabidopsis Cyclic Nucleotide-Gated Ion Channel 11/12 Activates Multiple Pathogen Resistance Responses. Plant Cell (2006) 18: 747-763.
- Masmoudi K., Rebaï A., Ellouz R. AFLP and SSR fingerprinting to evaluate genetic diversity among bread wheat cultivars in Tunisia. Cereal Research Communications (2006). 34: 871-878.
- Brini F., Hanin M., Lumbreras V., Irar S., Pages M., Masmoudi K. Functional Characterization of DHN-5, a dehydrin showing a differential phosphorylation pattern in two Tunisian durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) varieties with marked differences in salt and drought tolerance. Plant Science (2007) 172: 20-28.
- Brini F., Hanin M., Mezghanni I., Berkowitz G., Masmoudi K. Overexpression of wheat Na+/H+ antiporter TNHX1 and H+-pyrophosphatase TVP1 improve salt and drought stress tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana plants. Journal of Experimental Botany (2007) 58 (2): 301-308.
- BriniF., Hanin M., Lumbreras V., Amara I., Khoudi H., Hassairi A., Pagès M., Masmoudi K. Overexpression of wheat dehydrin DHN-5 enhances tolerance to salt and osmotic stress in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Cell Rep. (2007) 26: 2017-2026.
- Khoudi H., Nouri-Khemakhem A., Sayar R., Brini F., Masmoudi K. Methods of regeneration and genetic transformation of durum wheat genotypes adapted to North Africa and Middle East conditions. INNORPI (2007). Patent N° SN07060.
- Brini F., Amara I., Hanin M., Khoudi H., Masmoudi K. Physilogical analysis of two Tunisian durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum Desf.) varieties differing in their tolerance to salinity stress. Acta Physiologia Plantarum (2008, accepted).
- Irar S., Brini F., Masmoudi K., Pagès M. Complementary methodology for proteomic analysis, 2-DE and liquid-phase chromatography (proteome PF-2D)- A wider perspective of the proteome. Journal of Separation Science (2008, submitted).

Grant support:

1997-1999: New Biotechnological tools to select tolerance to salt and drought stresses in wheat. Source: National funds.
1999-2000: Improvement of wheat tolerance to abiotic stress using genetic engineering tools. Source: ALECSO.
1999-2002: Regeneration and genetic transformation of wheat using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Source: Tunisian-Indian commission.
2002-2004: Improving salt tolerance of winter wheat in Tunisia. Source: USDA.
2003-2006: Enhancing drought and salt tolerance in cereals. Source: National funds.
2003-2005: Study of the role of dehydrin in the response of plant to drought tolerance. Source: Spain agency of cooperation.
2004-2009: Utilisation of nuclear techniques (22Na and 14C) to screen for salt and drought tolerance of transgenic tomato plants over expressing the Na+/H+ antiporter (TNHX1) and the vacuolar H+ pyrophosphatase (TVP1) isolated from wheat. Source: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna, Austria.
2006-2008: Criblage d'une banque génomique de blé pour l'isolement de séquences promotrices de gènes candidats à la tolérance aux stress salin et hydrique. Source: Comité Mixte franco-tunisien pour la Coopération Universitaire (CMCU).
2007-2009 : Overexpression of genes encoding ion transport proteins (Na+/H+ antiporter and H+-PPase) as a strategy to improve salt-and drought tolerance in wheat. Source: ICGEB-TWAS Joint Plant Biotechnology Programme.
2007-2008: Functional characterization of a plasma membrane Na+/H+ transporter (SOS1) from wheat involved in salt tolerance. Source: Spain agency of cooperation.
2007-2008: Identification and characterization of interacting proteins with LEA and their regulation by phosphorylation. Source: Spain agency of cooperation.

Awards:

Distinction Order of the Cultural Merit (Sciences and Education) from Mr the President of the Republic of Tunisia in October 2005.
Fulbright scholar program, University of Connecticut, Oct 2002-Apr 2003
Fulbright Alumni Initiatives Awards Program (www.cies.org/aia/aia_directories)
European Community/ Incentive Fellowship, INRA-Versailles, 1990-1993
Italian Foreign Ministry/ Incentive Fellowship, CIHEAM-Bari, 1988-1989

Montserrat PAGES

Professor at the IBMB-CSIC Barcelona.Department Genètica Molecular, IBMB-CSIC, Jordi Girona, 18-26 . 08028-Barcelona. Spain. Phone: 34-93-4006131, Fax: 34-93-2045904; e-mail: mptgmm@cid.csic.es, web http://www.ibmb.csic.es

Professor Montserrat Pages has more than 20 years of experience in studying the mechanisms of drought/ABA signaling pathway in plants and specifically in the functional study of rab proteins and their transcriptional regulation.
From 1992 to 2000 she was Chair of the Departamento de Genética Molecular. She has received several awards and was elected EMBO member in 2000. She has served on the committees and councils of a number of scientific organizations in Spain and abroad such as the Advisor Committee of CNEAI (Comision Nacional Evaluadora de la Actividad Investigadora (2003-2005), CSIC Advisor Committee for Molecular and Cellular Biology (2004-2008) the Life Sciences Working Group of ESA (1998 -2001) Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) (1998-2001), EMBO world programme (2002-2004), and EMBO Long term Fellowships 2004-2008. She was President of the EUCARPIA :Maize and Sorghum (2003-2006) and is Vicepresident of the Spanish society for biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM) since 2006.
Member of the Editorial Board of PLANTA (1998-2002) and Mol.Plant (2007-2010)

10 main publications on ABA and water stress molecular responses in plants:
1-Gomez J Sanchez-Martinez D. Stiefel V. Rigau J. Puigdomenech P Pagès M. A gene induced by the plant hormone abscisic acid in response to water stress encodes a glycine-rich protein. Nature 334 (1988), 262-264.
2-Goday, A., Jensen. A., Culiañez-Macià. F.A., Albà, M.M., Figueras, M., Serratosa, J., Torrent, M., Pagès, M. The maize abscisic acid responsive protein rab17 is located in the nucleus and cytoplasm and interacts with nuclear localization signals. The Plant Cell 6, 351-360. 1994.
3-Alba, M. Culiañez-Macià F.A., Goday, A. Freire, M.A. Nadal, B. and Pagès, M. (1994) The maize RNA-binding protein, MA16, is a nucleolar protein located in the dense fibrillar component. Plant J. 6 (6), 825-834
4-Busk P.K., Jensen A.B., Pagès M. (1997). Regulatory elements in vivo in the promoter of the ABA-responsive gene rab17 from maize. Plant J. 11(6), 1285-1295.
5-Busk, P.K. and Pages, M. (1997). Protein binding to the abscisic acid responsive element is independent of viviparous 1 in vivo. The Plant Cell 9 December, 2261-2270
6-Riera, M., Peracchia, G., de Nadal, E., Ariño, J., Pagès, M. (2001) Maize protein kinase CK2: Regulation and functionality of three ? regulatory subunits. Plant J. 25 (4) 365-374.
7-Lumbreras, V., Albà, M.M.,Kleinow, T., Koncz,C.,Pagès, M. (2001) Domain fusion between SNF1-related kinase subunits during plant evolution EMBO reports vol2 Nº 1 pp 55-60.
8- Kizis D, Pagès, M. (2002) Maize DRE binding proteins DBF1 and DBF2 are involved in rab17 regulation through the drought responsive element in an ABA- dependent pathway . Plant J. 30 (6) 679-689.
9-Riera ,M. Figueras, M. Lopez,C. Godoy,A. Pagès,M. (2004)Protein kinase CK2 modulates developmental functions of the abscisic acid responsive protein RAB17 from Maize. Proc Natl Acad Sci.USA, vol 101, no 26, 9879-9884.
10- Saleh A, Lumbreras V, Lopez C, Domínguez E Pagès M. (2006)The maize DIP1 (DBF-interactor protein 1) containing an R3H domain is a potential regulator of DBF1 activity in stress responses. Plant J ,46,747-757.

Prof. Erwin GRILL

Head and Chair of Botany
Department Biowissenschaften
Technischen Universität München
Am Hochanger 4, 85350 Weihenstephan, Germany
E-mail: grill@wzw.tum.de

Honors and Awards
Young Investigator Award of Biology, Academy of Sciences, Göttingen
Young Investigator Award, European Society of Biochemistry
Investigator Award of Academy of Sciences, Munich, Bavaria

Selected Papers

Meinhard, M., Rodriguez, P., Grill, E. (2002) The sensitivity of ABI2 to hydrogen peroxide links the ABA response regulator to redox signalling. Planta 214, 775-782
Himmelbach, A, Hoffmann, T, Leube, M, Höhener, B, Grill, E. (2002) Homeodomain protein ATHB6 is a target of the protein phosphatase ABI1 and regulates hormone responses in Arabidopsis. EMBO J. 21, 3029-3038
Beck, A., Lendzian, K., Oven, M., Christmann, A., Grill, E. (2003) Phytochelatin synthase catalyzes key step in turnover of glutathione conjugates. Phytochem. 62, 423-431
Wu, Y., Sanchez, J.P., Lopez-Molina, L., Himmelbach, A., Grill, E., Chua, N.H. (2003) The abi1-1 mutation blocks ABA signaling downstream of cADPR action. Plant J. 34, 307-315
Himmelbach, A., Yang, Y., Grill, E. (2003) Relay and control of abscisic acid signaling. Curr Opin. Plant Biol. 6, 470-479
Christmann, A., Hoffmann, T., Teplova, I., Grill, E., Müller, A. (2005) Generation of active pools of abscisic acid revealed by in vivo imaging of water-stressed Arabidopsis. Plant Physiol. 137, 209-219
Young, J.J., Mehta, S., Israelsson, M., Godoski, J., Grill, E., Schroeder, J.I. (2006) Carbon dioxide signaling in guard cells via calcium response modulation and CO2 insensitivity of gca2 mutant. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103, 7506-7511.
Yang, Y., Sulpice, R., Himmelbach, A., Meinhard, M., Christmann, A., Grill, E. (2006) Fibrillin expression is regulated by abscisic acid response regulators and is involved in abscisic acid-mediated photoprotection. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 103, 6061-6066
Blum, R., Beck, A., Korte, A., Stengel, A., Letzel, T., Lendzian, K., Grill, E. (2006) Function of phytochelatin synthase in catabolism of glutathione-conjugates. Plant J., 49, 740-749
Wünschmann, J., Beck, A., Meyer, L., Letzel, T., Grill, E. Lendzian, KJ. (2007) Phytochelatins are synthesized by two vacuolar serine carboxypeptidases in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEBS Lett. 581, 1681-1687
Christmann, A., Weiler, E. W., Steudle, E. and Grill, E. (2007) A hydraulic signal in root-to-shoot signalling of water shortage. Plant J. 52, 167-174
Christmann, A., and Grill, E. (2007) A plant receptor with a big family. Science, 315, 1676-1677
Moes D, Himmelbach A, Korte A, Haberer G and Grill E (2008) Nuclear localisation of the mutant protein phosphatase abi1 is required for insensitivity towards ABA responses in Arabidopsis. Plant J. 54, 806-819.

Prof. Luigi CATTIVELLI

Agricultural Research Council of Italy

Cereal Research Centre, S.S. 16, km 675 I-71100 Foggia, Italy
and Genomic Research Centre
via S. Protaso, 302, I -29017 Fiorenzuola d'Arda PC, Italy
E-mails: luigi.cattivelli@entecra.it,
l.cattivelli@iol.it

Publications 2004 2007

1. Francia E, Rizza F, Cattivelli L, Stanca A M, Galiba G, Tóth B, Hayes P M, Skinner J S, Pecchioni N, 2004. Two loci on chromosome 5H determine low temperature tolerance in the new 'winter' x 'spring' ('Nure' x 'Tremois') barley map. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 108: 670-680.
2. Caffarri S, Croce R, Cattivelli L, Bassi R, 2004. A look within LHCII: differential analysis of the Lhcb 1-3 complexes building the major trimeric antenna complex of higher plant photosynthesis. Biochemistry, 43: 9467-9476.
3. Atienza S G, Faccioli P, Perrotta G, Dalfino G, Zschiesche W, Humbeck K, Stanca A M, Cattivelli L, 2004. Large scale analysis of transcripts abundance in barley subjected to several single and combined abiotic stress conditions. Plant Science, 167: 1359-1365.
4. Marè C, Mazzucotelli E, Crosatti C, Francia E, Stanca A M, Cattivelli L, 2004. Hv-WRKY38: a new transcription factor involved in cold- and drought-response in barley. Plant Molecular Biology, 55: 399-416.
5. Rizza F, Badeck F W, Cattivelli L, Lidestri O, Di Fonzo N, Stanca A M, 2004. Use of a water stress index to identify barley genotypes adapted to rainfed and irrigated conditions. Crop Science, 44: 2127-2137.
6. Mastrangelo A M, Belloni S, Barilli S, Ruperti B, Di Fonzo N, Stanca A M, Cattivelli L, 2005. Low temperature promotes intron retention in two e-cor genes of durum wheat. Planta, 221: 705-715.
7. Vágújfalvi A, Aprile A, Miller A, Dubcovsky J, Delogu G, Galiba G, Cattivelli L, 2005. The expression of several Cbf genes at the Fr-A2 locus is linked to frost resistance in wheat. Molecular Genetics and Genomics, 274: 506-514.
8. Svensson J T, Crosatti C, Campoli C, Bassi R, Stanca AM, Close T J, Cattivelli L, 2006. Transcriptome analysis of cold acclimation in barley albina and xantha mutants. Plant Physiology, 141: 257-270.
9. De Vita P, Riefolo C, Codianni P, Cattivelli L, Fares C, 2006. Agronomical and qualitative traits evaluation of T. turgidum ssp. dicoccum Schubler genotypes cultivated in Italy. Euphytica, 150: 195-205.
10. Mazzucotelli E, Tartari A, Cattivelli L, Forlani G, 2006. Metabolism of -aminobutyric acid during cold acclimation and freezing and its relationship to frost tolerance in barley and wheat. Journal of Experimental Botany, 57: 3755-3766.
11. Mazzucotelli E, Belloni S, Marone D, De Leonardis A M, Guerra D, Di Fonzo N, Cattivelli L, Mastrangelo A M, 2006. The E3 ubiquitin ligase gene family in plants: regulation by degradation. Current Genomics, 7: 509-522.
12. De Vita P, Li Destri Nicosia O, Nigro F, Platani C, Riefolo C, Di Fonzo N, Cattivelli L, 2007. Breeding progress in morpho-physiological, agronomical and qualitative traits of durum wheat cultivars released in Italy during the 20th century. European Journal of Agronomy, 26: 39-53.
13. De Leonardis A M, Marone D, Mazzucotelli E, Neffar F, Rizza F, Di Fonzo N, Cattivelli L, Mastrangelo A M. 2007. Durum wheat genes up-regulated in the early phases of cold stress are modulated by drought in a developmental and genotype depended manner. Plant Science, 72, 1005-1016.
14. Crosatti C, Pagani D, Cattivelli L, Stanca A M, Rizza F, 2007. Effects of the growth stage and hardening conditions on the association between frost resistance and the expression of the cold induced protein COR14b in barley. Environmental and Experimental Botany, in press.
15. Atienza S G, Martín A, Pecchioni, N, Platani C, Cattivelli L, 2007. The nuclear-cytoplasm interaction controls carotenoid content in wheat. Euphytica, in press.
16. Cattivelli L, Rizza F, Badeck F, Mazzucotelli E, Mastrangelo A M, Francia E, Marè C, Tondelli A, Stanca A M, 2007. Drought tolerance improvement in crop plants: an integrated view from breeding to genomics. Field Crop Research, in press.
17. Frigerio S, Campoli C, Zorzan S, Fantoni L, Crosatti C, Drepper F, Haehnel W, Cattivelli L, Morosinotto T Bassi R, 2007. Photosynthetic antenna size in higher plants is controlled by plastoquinone redox state at post-transcriptional rather than transcriptional level. Journal of Biological Chemistry, in press.

Dr. Martin Dario CRESPI

Institut des Sciences du Végétal - CNRS 1 Avenue de la terrasse, 91190 Gif sur Yvette, France.
TEL : 33 1 69823703 / FAX 33 1 69823695 / e-mail:crespi@isv.cnrs-gif.fr

Professional situation
1999, Directeur de Recherche DR2, Institut des Sciences du Végétal-CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France.

Positions held
1983, Ph. D. student . National Research Council, IBYME, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1985, Visiting fellow of the James Graham Brown Cancer Foundation. March-April. Hormone Receptor Laboratory, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, Kentucky, USA.
1987, Postdoctoral fellow. Center for Investigations and Advanced Studies CINVESTAV and Foundation for Applied Biological Research, Irapuato, Mexico and Mar del Plata, Argentina.
1989, Postdoctoral fellow. Laboratorium voor Genetika, Rijksuniversiteit Gent, Belgium.
1992, Postdoctoral fellow EEC. Institut des Sciences Vegetales-CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France.
1994, Chargé de Recherche de première classe CR1 from CNRS, ISV, France.

Seminars and invited activities to international meetings
Since 2000, invitations to 18 Conferences in International meetings, 14 seminars at different Research Institutions in Europe, Canada, USA and Japan and 5 sessions as chairman in International Congresses (nitrogen fixation, plant development, root biology, plant-microbe interactions). Participation in 18 Book chapters (7 as first author).

Teaching Experience: Responsible for "Symbioses" module in Master M2, Plant-Microbe Interactions, University Paris XI, Orsay. Participation in DEA, M2 courses on Symbiosis and Plant Development at different Universities from France (University of Versailles, Paris VII - Jussieu). Visiting Professor in post-graduated courses on Plant-microbe Interactions in Latin America and of the Free University of Brussels (2002). Responsible for the "Cell Biology" module in the EMBO COURSE ON "Medicago truncatula", Gif sur Yvette, France.
Direction of 5 Ph. D thesis and 2 Ph.Ds students are currently in the laboratory. Direction of 14 post-docs for different times (3 months up to 2 years) and 6 master students (DEA). Participation in 17 Thesis Jury, 4 HDR (Habilitation to Direct Research) Committees and Member of the "Commission de Spécialistes" (Sections 66-69) for nomination of "Maîtres de Conférences" (Assistant Professors) and Full-Professors at Orsay University (Paris XI).

Research Administration: Responsible for the elaboration of 18 Projects. Three are currently underway: EEC Grain Legume, ANR-GMOs and ANR-RIBOROOT (Coordinator).
Actual Member of the Scientific Commission CSS2 from the Institut of Research and Development IRD and of the Genoplante Committee on "Generic Projects". Participation in evaluation Committees for 12 Instituts in France (once as president). Participation on 2 Genoplante Comittees ("Pea" and "New tools"; 4 years each).
Peer reviewer of the National Science Foundation, NSF, USA (twice); ANEP (Biotechnological Spanish Agency), Spain and ACI Projects (French Minister of Research, 3 times), France, as well as for the following journals: "EMBO J., The Plant Cell, The Plant Journal, Plant Physiology, Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions, Molecular and General Genetics, Nucleic Acids Research, Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Cell and Environment, J. of Plant Growth Reg., Functional Plant Biol.". External reviewer of the Agency for the Scientific and Technological Promotion of Sciences of Argentina.

PUBLICATIONS IN REFEREED JOURNALS (2002-2008; TOTAL: 55)
2008
- Boualem A., Laporte P., Jovanovic M., Laffont C., Plet J., Combier J.P., Niebel A., Crespi M., and Frugier F. microRNA166 controls root and nodule development in Medicago truncatula Plant Journal (in press)
- Florian Frugier, Sonja Kosuta, Jeremy D. Murray, Martin Crespi* and Krzysztof Szczyglowski* Cytokinin: secret agent of symbiosis (*co-corresponding authors) Trends in Plant Sciences (in press)
- Chinchilla D. Frugier F., Raices M, Merchan F., Giammaria V., Gargantini P., Gonzalez-Rizzo S., Crespi M. and Ulloa R. A mutant ankyrin protein kinase from Medicago sativa affects Arabidopsis adventitious roots. Functional Plant biology (2008) in press
2007
- de Lorenzo L., Merchan F., Blanchet S., Megías M., Frugier F., Crespi* M. and Sousa C. Differential expression of the TFIIIA regulatory pathway in response to salt stress between Medicago truncatula genotypes. Plant Physiol. (2007) 145(4):1521-32
- Merchan F, de Lorenzo L, Gonzalez Rizzo S, Niebel A, Manyani H, Frugier F, Sousa C and Crespi M. Identification of regulatory pathways involved in the reacquisition of root growth after salt stress in Medicago truncatula Plant J (2007), 51, 1-17
- Jovanovic M., Lefebvre V., Laporte P., Gonzalez-Rizzo S., Lelandais-Brière C., Frugier F., Hartmann C. and Crespi M. How the environment regulates root architecture in dicots. Advances in Bot. Res. (2007) 46, 35-74.
2006
- Combier J, Frugier F, de Billy F, Boualem A, El-Yahyaoui F, Moreau S, Vernié T, Ott T, Gamas P, Crespi M and Niebel, A. (2007) MtHAP2-1 is a key transcriptional regulator of symbiotic nodule development regulated by microRNA169 in Medicago truncatula. Genes and Dev. 20: 3084-3088 (selected for an editorial comment on the Leading Edge Select series of Cell)
- Gonzalez-Rizzo S, Crespi M and Frugier F. (2006) The M. truncatula Mt CRE1 cytokinin receptor regulates lateral root development and early symbiotic interaction with S. meliloti. Plant Cell 18: 2680-2693
- Gargantini P, Gonzalez-Rizzo S, Chinchilla D, Raices M, Giammaria V, Ulloa R, Frugier F and Crespi M. A CDPK isoform participates in the regulation of nodule number in M. truncatula. Plant J., 48: 843-856
- Manavella P., Arce A., Dezar C., Bitton F., Renou J., Crespi M. and Chan R. Cross-talk between ethylene and drought signalling pathways is mediated by the sunflower Hahb-4 transcription factor. Plant J. (2006) 48(1): 125-37.
- Hirsch J, Lefort V, Vankersschaver M, Boualen A, Lucas A, Thermes C, d'Aubenton-Carafa and Crespi M. (2006) Characterization of 43 non-protein coding mRNA genes in Arabidopsis including the miR 162a- derived transcripts. Plant Physiology, 140: 1192-1204.
2005
- Collavino M., Riccillo P., Grasso D., Crespi M. and Aguilar M. (2005) GuaB activity is required in Rhizobium tropici during the early stages of nodulation of determinate nodules but dispensable for the Sinorhizobium meliloti-alfalfa symbiotic interaction. Mol. Plant Microbe Interact. 18 (7): 742-750.
2004
- Campalans A, Kondorosi A and Crespi M. (2004) enod40, a short ORF containing-mRNA, induces cytoplasmic localization of a nuclear RNA-binding protein in Medicago truncatula. The Plant Cell, 16: 1047-1059.
- Complainville A. and Crespi M. (2004) The role of plasmodesmata regulation in plant development, Advances In Botanical Research, 41: 195-243.
- Dey M, Complainville A., Charon C., Torrizo L., Kondorosi A., Crespi M. and Datta S.K. (2004) Phytohormonal responses of enod40-overexpressing plants in Medicago truncatula and rice, Physiol. Plant., 120:132-139.
- Raíces M, Ulloa RM, Mac Intosh GC, Crespi M, Téllez-Iñón MT. (2004) StCDPK1 is expressed in potato stolon tips and is induced by high sucrose concentration, J. of Exp. Botany, 54: 2589-2591.
2003
- Complainville A, Brocard L, Roberts I, Dax E, Sever N, Sauer N, Kondorosi A, Wolf S, Oparka K and Crespi M. (2003) Nodule initiation involves the creation of a new symplasmic field in specific root cells of Medicago ssp., The Plant Cell, 15: 2778-2791.
- Raices M, Gargantini P, Chinchilla D, Crespi M., Tellez Inon MT and Ulloa R. (2003) Regulation of CDPK isoforms during tuber development, Plant Mol. Biol. 52:1011-1024.
- Francisco Merchan, Colette Breda, Javier Perez Hormaeche, Carolina Sousa, Adam Kondorosi, O. Mario Aguilar, Manolo Megias and Martin Crespi. (2003) A Krüppel-like transcription factor gene is involved in salt stress responses in Medicago spp. Plant and Soil, 257:1-9.
- D. Chinchilla, F. Merchan, M. Megias, A. Kondorosi, C. Sousa and M. Crespi (2003) Ankyrin protein kinases: A novel type of plant kinase genes whose expression is induced by osmotic stress in alfalfa. Plant Mol. Biol. 51, 555-566.
2002
- B. Favery, A. Complainville, J.M. Vinardell, P. Lecomte, D. Vaubert, P. Mergaert, A. Kondorosi, E. Kondorosi, M. Crespi and P. Abad. (2002) The endosymbiosis-induced genes ENOD40 and CCS52a are involved in endoparasitic-nematode interactions in Medicago truncatula, Mol. Plant-Microbe Interact., 15 (10), 1008-1013.
- Staehelin C., Charon C., Boller T., Crespi M. and Kondorosi A. (2002) Medicago truncatula plants overexpressing the early nodulin gene enod40 exhibit accelerated mycorrhizal colonization and enhanced formation of arbuscules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98 (2), 15366-15371.

Prof. Abdelaziz HMYENE

Professor at the university of Hassan II-Mohammedia Morocco. University Hassan II of Mohammedia, Faculty of Sciences and Techniques, Laboratory of Biochemistry
" Tel. : (212)61 10.07.31 Fax : (212)23.31.53.53 e-mail : hmyeneaziz2002@yahoo.fr

PhD Thesis in Physiology cellular and molecular, University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris 6) Paris France. Doctorat d'Etat in Plant Biochemistry, at Cadi ayad University, Marrakech Morocco.

PhD Thesis Work
(key words : Maize, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol synthase, LTP, endoplasmique reticulum, plasmalemma)

Phosphatidylinositol (PI) Accounts for 4-16 of plant membrane lipids.PI Is synthetized from CDP-DAG diacylglycerol and myo-inositol by phosphatidylinositol synthase. Wich has not been purified from plant tissue. PI is then converted by sequential phosphorylation into phosphatidylinositol 4,5 bisphosphate (PIP2) via phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate (PIP). These compounds are significantly involved in the intracellular transduction of external signals. One of the aim of our work was to purify PI synthase.
The purification procedure included the solubilization of microsomal membranes from Maize coleoptiles with a zwetterionic detergent (CHAPS), an affinity chromatography with CDP-DAG Sepharose and MonoQ (FPLC). PI synthase was solubilized with a detergent/protein ratio of 3. Affinity chromatography was followed by a MonoQ step, resulting in 800-fold purification of the enzyme. The molecular mass of the purified enzyme synthesizes preferentially two species of PI (PI C16:0/C18:2 and C16:0/18:3).
Another part of my work was devoted to the study of the transfer of PI between membranes. It is accepted that the turnover and biogenesis of biological membranes require intracellular movements of lipids. Among the mechanism suggested for these movements, the transfer facilited by carrier proteins, in addition to movement of membrane vesicles, could be important for membrane assembly. We have studied in vitro transfer of PI from endoplasmic reticulum (which is he site of PI synthesis) to plasmalemma by using a novel technique of transfer assay. We have showed that the transfer is highly stimulated by the addition of lipid transfer protein purified from Maize seedlings.

Doctorat d'Etat Thesis Work

This is thesis investigates the physiological function of certain class of chemically active lipids, the inositol phospholipids, in plants. The work has been directed along two lines: the mechanism of transfer of inositol phospholipids between various cell membranes, and a critical examination of the proposed role of inositol phospholipids in signal transduction processes. Since most lipids, including phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns), are synthesised only in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), they rely on transport to reach other parts of the cell. This transport is usually assumed to be catalysed by specialised vesicles which require ATP for their formation. We demonstrate in this study that the in vitro transfer is different from the vesicular transport observed, for example, between endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus, the transfer is independent of cytosolic proteins, however, inclusions of a non specific lipid transporting-protein has a stimulating effect on the overall in vitro transfer of PtdIns.

Publications

- B. S. Maataoui, A. Hmyene and S. Hillali
Activites Anti-Radicalaires d'extraits de Jus de Fruits du Figuier de Barbarie (Opuntia ficus indica). Lebanese Science Journal, Vol 7, N 1, 2006
- W. Zerrad, S. Hillali, S. Maataoui Belabbes, S. El Antri, A. Hmyene.
Etude comparative des mécanismes biochimiques et moléculaires de résistance au stress hydrique de deux variétés de blé dur. Proceedings of the SMB. 2006, 371-376.
-- H. Labbardi, A. Donval, O. Ettahiri, S. Lazar, A. Berraho, A. Hymene, S. El Antri.
Etude de l'activité alimentaire chez la palourde européenne Ruditapes decussatus (Linné, 1758) (Mollusca, Bivalvia) dans une lagune côtière du NW africain : Moulay Bousselham, Maroc. Haliotis 2005, 34, 33-48.

- Maataoui Belabbes S. Hmyene A. Hillali S.
Activité antiulcereuse du mucilage extrait des raquettes du Figuier de Barbarie (Opuntia Ficus Indica) Cahier de Symposium Doctoral National, Biologie Santé et Environnement 2004 1, 117-120.
- B. S. Maataoui, A. Hmyene, M. Khalid, S. Hilali.
Séparation, caractérisation et Stabilité des pigments des fruits de figuier de Barbarie (Opuntia ficus-indica). Proceedings of the SMB 2004, 59-61.
- A. M. Justin, A. Hmyene, J.C. Kader, P. Mazilak.
Compared selectivity of the phosphatidylinositol-synthase from Etiolated Maize coleoptile either in microsomal membranes or after solubilization.Biochimica Biophysica Acta 1995, 1255, 161-166.

Responsibilities
- Director of the federation of research units on Plant Biology in South France, Montpellier-Avignon-Perpignan (IFR Daphné)
- Editor in the Journal of Experimental Botany.
- PI of an international projects of the "Generation Challenge Programme"(until 2008)
- Head of the INRA national programme of Ecophysiology (2002 - 2006)
- Director of LEPSE (1993-2003)

Other information
82 papers in international journals, ISI H-index : 27
14 PhD theses supervised
Research fellow in CIP (1979-1981) and in the University of Lancaster (1991)
Award of the Soil Science Society of America for work on roots and water transfer (2001)

My main work deals with the modelling of plant responses to environmental conditions, especially water deficit : stomatal control, leaf growth, root growth in relation with hydraulic and chemical signalling. Since 1998, I have developed an approach combining ecophysiological modelling and genetic analysis. This involves analyses of transgenic plants transformed on key genes involved in the signalling of water deficit, and quantitative genetics of the parameters of response curves, allowing one to insert calculated genetic coefficients in plant models.

Some invitated communications in congresses
2008 Invited speaker, EPSO conference in Toulon and Gordon confererence on Drought
2007 Invited speaker, "Drought and cereals", ACPFG, Adelaide Australie
2006 Congress Crop Gene Phenotype, Wageningen
2005 Interdrought, Rome
2005 XII Botanical Congress. Session "Genomic of Abiotic Stress". Vienna

Five recent and relevant references
Tardieu F (2003). Virtual Plants : modelling as a tool for the genomics of tolerance to water deficit. Trends in Plant Science, 8, 9-14
Sadok W, Naudin Ph, Boussuge B, Muller B, Welcker C, Tardieu F (2007) Leaf growth rate per unit thermal time follows QTL-dependent daily patterns in hundreds of maize lines under naturally fluctuating conditions. Plant Cell and Environment 30, 135-146
Welcker C, Boussuge B, Benciveni C, Ribaut JM, Tardieu F. 2007. Are source and sinks strengths genetically linked in maize plants subjected to water deficit ? A QTL study of the responses of leaf growth and Anthesis-Silking Interval to water deficit. Journal of Experimental Botany, 58, 339 - 349
Chenu, K, Chapman SC Hammer GL, McLean G, Ben Haj Salah H, Tardieu F (2008) Short-term responses of leaf growth rate to water deficit scale up to whole-plant and crop levels: an integrated modelling approach in maize. Plant Cell Environment 31, 378-391
Collins NC, Tardieu F, Tuberosa R (2008) QTLs and Crop Performance under Abiotic Stress: Where Do We Stand? Plant Physiology in press (June 2008) 9