Université de Fribourg

Contribution of hydrogen cyanide to the antagonistic activity of Pseudomonas strains against Phytophthora infestans

Anand, Abhishek ; Chinchilla, Delphine ; Tan, Christopher ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; L’Haridon, Floriane ; Weisskopf, Laure

In: Microorganisms, 2020, vol. 8, no. 8, p. 1144

Plants face many biotic and abiotic challenges in nature; one of them is attack by disease-causing microbes. Phytophthora infestans, the causal agent of late blight is one of the most prominent pathogens of the potato responsible for multi-billion-dollar losses every year. We have previously reported that potato-associated Pseudomonas strains inhibited P. infestans at various developmental...

Université de Fribourg

Embryonic photosynthesis affects post-germination plant growth

Sela, Ayala ; Piskurewicz, Urszula ; Megies, Christian ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Finazzi, Giovanni ; Lopez-Molina, Luis

In: Plant Physiology, 2020, vol. 182, no. 4, p. 2166–2181

Photosynthesis is the fundamental process fueling plant vegetative growth and development. The progeny of plants relies on maternal photosynthesis, via food reserves in the seed, to supply the necessary energy for seed germination and early seedling establishment. Intriguingly, before seed maturation, Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) embryos are also photosynthetically active, the...

Université de Fribourg

Valuable carcasses: postmortem preservation of fatty acid composition in heart tissue

Currie, Shannon E. ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Fasel, Nicolas J.

In: Conservation Physiology, 2019, vol. 7, no. 1, p. -

In order to effectively conserve species, we must understand the structure and function of integral mechanisms at all levels of organismal organisation, from intracellular biochemistry to whole animal ecophysiology. The accuracy of biochemical analyses depend on the quality and integrity of the samples analysed. It is believed that tissue samples collected immediately postmortem provide the...

Université de Fribourg

Vitamin E biosynthesis and its regulation in plants

Mène-Saffrané, Laurent

In: Antioxidants, 2017, vol. 7, no. 1, p. 2

Vitamin E is one of the 13 vitamins that are essential to animals that do not produce them. To date, six natural organic compounds belonging to the chemical family of tocochromanols—four tocopherols and two tocotrienols—have been demonstrated as exhibiting vitamin E activity in animals. Edible plant-derived products, notably seed oils, are the main sources of vitamin E in the human diet....

Université de Fribourg

Metabolic origins and transport of vitamin e biosynthetic precursors

Pellaud, Sébastien ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent

In: Frontiers in Plant Science, 2017, vol. 8, p. -

Tocochromanols are organic compounds mostly produced by photosynthetic organisms that exhibit vitamin E activity in animals. They result from the condensation of homogentisate with four different polyprenyl side chains derived all from geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate. The core tocochromanol biosynthesis has been investigated in several photosynthetic organisms and is now well characterized. In ...

Université de Fribourg

Current strategies for vitamin E biofortification of crops

Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Pellaud, Sébastien

In: Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 2017, vol. 44, p. 189–197

Vitamin E refers to four tocopherols and four tocotrienols that are exclusively synthesized by photosynthetic organisms. While α-tocopherol is the most potent vitamin E compound, it is not the main form consumed since the composition of most major crops is dominated by γ-tocopherol. Nutritional studies show that populations of developed countries do not consume enough vitamin E and that a...

Université de Fribourg

The pathogen-related yeast protein Pry1, a member of the CAP protein superfamily, is a fatty acid-binding protein

Darwiche, Rabih ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Gfeller, David ; Asojo, Oluwatoyin A. ; Schneiter, Roger

In: Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2017, p. -

Members of the CAP superfamily (cysteine-rich secretory proteins, antigen 5, and pathogenesis related 1 proteins), also known as SCP superfamily (sperm-coating proteins), have been implicated in many physiological processes, including immune defenses, venom toxicity, and sperm maturation. Their mode of action, however, remains poorly understood. Three proteins of the CAP superfamily, Pry1, 2, and...

Université de Fribourg

An endosperm-associated cuticle is required for Arabidopsis seed viability, dormancy and early control of germination

Giorgi, Julien De ; Piskurewicz, Urszula ; Loubery, Sylvain ; Utz-Pugin, Anne ; Bailly, Christophe ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Lopez-Molina, Luis

In: PLoS Genetics, 2015, vol. 11, no. 12, p. e1005708

Cuticular layers and seeds are prominent plant adaptations to terrestrial life that appeared early and late during plant evolution, respectively. The cuticle is a waterproof film covering plant aerial organs preventing excessive water loss and protecting against biotic and abiotic stresses. Cutin, consisting of crosslinked fatty acid monomers, is the most abundant and studied cuticular component....

Université de Fribourg

Induced jasmonate signaling leads to contrasting effects on root damage and herbivore performance

Lu, Jing ; Robert, Christelle Aurélie Maud ; Riemann, Michael ; Cosme, Marco ; Mène-Saffrané, Laurent ; Massana, Josep ; Stout, Michael Joseph ; Lou, Yonggen ; Gershenzon, Jonathan ; Erb, Matthias

In: Plant Physiology, 2015, vol. 167, no. 3, p. 1100–1116

Induced defenses play a key role in plant resistance against leaf feeders. However, very little is known about the signals that are involved in defending plants against root feeders and how they are influenced by abiotic factors. We investigated these aspects for the interaction between rice (Oryza sativa) and two root-feeding insects: the generalist cucumber beetle (Diabrotica balteata) and the...