Plant-microorganism interactions

Plants form the basis of our food chain, both directly and indirectly. In their natural environment, plants are constantly interacting with microorganisms that make up their microbiome. Some of these microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc.) cause serious damage to crops, while others generally improve plant health (nutrition, growth, or disease resistance). Consequently, a strategy for addressing the challenges of both production and animal and human food safety is to understand how plants react to, adapt to, and potentially benefit from the presence of microorganisms in their environment.

Objectives

Through a balanced combination of academic and practical training (10 months of laboratory internships spread across the first and second years of the master’s program), the IPM track aims to train students to describe and understand the molecular mechanisms underlying plant interactions with their biotic environment. This program draws on the extensive scientific expertise in this field within the I-Site MUSE network (University of Montpellier, CIRAD, IRD, INRAE, CNRS, Institut Agro Montpellier).