Know more

The nature of our funding is diversified: EU, ANR, SEMAE-FSOV, INRAE Metaprogrammes. Since 2011 our team was involved in several European projects ("PlantFoodSec", "Whealbi", "Emphasis", "RustWatch", "WheatSecurity") and National Research Agency projects ("BreedWheat", "Gandalf", "Wheatamix",  "Mobidiv", "DEEP IMPACT", "COMBINE"). These projects demonstrate the close links between our academic research activities and the more applied expectations of stakeholders (ARVALIS-Institut du Végétal, GEVES, breeders). We maintain close collaborations with several research units of INRAE: EcoSys (Palaiseau) with several co-supervised PhD students, SADAPT (Palaiseau), BioSP (Avignon) and MaIAGE (Jouy), GDEC (Clermont-Ferrand), IaM (Nancy) and IGEPP (Rennes) on specific projects and networks. We also develop international collaborations, for example, with Aarhus University, Wageningen University, ETH Zürich, University of Neuchâtel, University of Reading, and Agroinnova-University of Torino.

International projects

PROFAS (France-Algeria, 2023-2024). Promotion of Saharan wheat and related knowledge. Thierry Marcel / Frédéric Suffert / Dominique Desclaux (INRAE DIASCOPE, Montpellier, FR)

MICROBIAL RENDEZ-VOUS (INRAE-CSIRO linkage proposal 2024). Crop residues are an unchecked meeting place for plant pathogens that offer opportunities for the development of novel strategies for sustainable disease management. Frédéric Suffert / Valérie Laval (BIOGER) / Simon Law (CSIRO).

EU-funded projects 

RUSTWATCH (H2020 EU, 2018-2022). A European early-warning system for wheat rust diseases. Henriette Goyeau, Kevin Meyer, Anne-Lise Boixel, Marc Leconte, Cécilia Fontyn, Tiphaine Vidal, Frédéric Suffert, Thierry Marcel / Mogens Hovmøller (Aarhus University, DK)

WHEATSECURITY (ERA-NET SusCrop 2023-2026). Identification and sustainable deployment of wheat genetic diversity to enhance the resilience and security of the European food supply. Thierry Marcel, Frédéric Suffert / Valérie Laval (BIOGER) / Fiona Doohan (University College Dublin, UE).

ANR grants

BREEDWHEAT (ANR Biotechnologies, 2011-2019). Developing new wheat varieties for sustainable agriculture: an integrated approach from genomics to breeding. Thierry Marcel / Catherine Feuillet, Jacques Le Gouis (GDEC, Clermont-Ferrand, FR).

MOBIDIV (PPR ANR, 2021-2026). Mobilizing and breeding Intra and inter-specific crop diversity for a systemic change towards pesticide-free agriculture. Tiphaine Vidal, Frédéric Suffert / Jérome Enjalbert (INRAE GQE, Le Moulon, FR), Sébastien Saint-Jean (INRAE-AgroParisTech EcoSys, Palaiseau, FR).

DEEP IMPACT (PPR ANR, 2021-2026). Deciphering plant-microbiota interactions to enhance crop defenses to pests. Frédéric Suffert / Christophe Mougel, Claudia Bartoli (INRAE IGEPP, Rennes, FR) / Valérie Laval (BIOGER). 

COMBINE (ANR, 2023-2027). Combining varieties to control plant pathogen populations: How to solve the efficiency / sustainability / technical- and cost-effectiveness trade-off? Frédéric Suffert / Thierry marcel / Elisabeth Fournier (INRAE PHIM, Montpellier, FR) / Frédéric Fabre (INRAE SAVE, Bordeaux) / Sébastien Saint-Jean (INRAE-AgroParisTech EcoSys, Palaiseau, FR)

OI BASC and GS BIOSPHERA projects

MYCORE (OI BASC, 2022-2023). Myco-control of wild buckwheat by a naturally occurring rust. Frédéric Suffert / Adrienne Ressayre (INRAE GDEC, Le Moulon, FR) / Pascal Frey (INRAE IAM, Nancy, FR).

MYCOMIX (SPE project, 2024-2026, and GS BIOSPHERA transverse, 2024-2025). Do varietal mixtures influence the composition and structure of fungal communities in the phyllosphere and residuesphere? Frédéric Suffert /  Valérie Laval (BIOGER) / Julie Aubert (INRAE MIA Paris-Saclay).

Casdar and FSOV projects

ENDURO (CTPS-Casdar, 2020-2022). Aid for the selection of disease-resistant durum wheat varieties for conventional and organic agriculture. Thierry Marcel, Roula Shamsi, Emmie Dzialo / GIE Blé dur / Romain Valade (ARVALIS, Boigneville, FR).

PERSIST (SEMAE-FSOV, 2018-2022). Preserve and improve the efficacy of septoria leaf blotch resistance genes: the case of the Stb16q gene. Frédéric Suffert, Carolina Orellana-Torrejon / Cyrille Saintenac (INRAE GDEC, Clermont-Ferrand, FR), Gert Kema (WUR, Wageningen, NL) / Anne Génissel, Marc-Henri Lebrun (BIOGER).

DIVR (SEMAE-FSOV, 2018-2022). Molecular tools for the selection of diversified and effective resistance against wheat septoria leaf blotch. Thierry Marcel, Gwilherm Gazeau / Daniel Croll (Université de Neuchâtel, CHE), Cyrille Saintenac (INRAE GDEC, Clermont-Ferrand, FR).

DURABLE (SEMAE-FSOV, 2020-2023). Specificity of durum wheat resistances to wheat diseases: cartography, markers and genes. Thierry Marcel, Roula Shamsi / Cyrille Saintenac (INRAE GDEC, Clermont-Ferrand, FR) / GIE Blé dur / Romain Valade (ARVALIS-Institut du Végétal, Boigneville, FR).

ROUILLENOIRE_2.0 (SEMAE-FSOV, 2024-2026). Anticipating the re-emergence of wheat stem rust in France by combining epidemiosurveillance and characterisation of plant material. Frédéric Suffert / Mogens Hovmøller (Aarhus University, DK), Fabio Mascher (HAFL, CH).

Other national grants

PHECOLLPHYT I et PHECOLLPHYT II (Department Aviv, MNHN, SATT Lutech 2021-2023). Use of springtail pheromones to control phytopathogenic fungi in wheat crops. Frédéric Suffert / Sandrine Salmon, Thomas Bourgeois (MNHN, Paris, FR).

INRAE grants

BLADE2025 (IVD4, 2021-2025). Wheats for sustainable and ecological agriculture. Thierry Marcel, Frédéric Suffert / Jacques Le Gouis (GDEC, Clermont-Ferrand, FR).

DICCOM (MP SuMCrop, 2020-2021). Crop intraspecific diversification and disease control. Thierry Marcel, Frédéric Suffert / Elisabeth Fournier (INRAE-CIRAD PHIM, Montpellier, FR).

SEED (MP SuMCrop, 2021-2022). Impact of the management of durum wheat seeds by Tunisian farmers on the sustainability of disease control. Thierry Marcel, Frédéric Suffert / Mourad Hannachi (INRAE ACT, Palaiseau, FR) / Ines Shili-Touzi (ISTOM, Angers, FR).

BASTAFUN (SPE project, 2023-2025). The genomic basis of multi-stress adaptation in a phytopathogenic fungus. Thierry Marcel, Amezrou Reda, Frédéric Suffert / Lapalu Nicolas, Simon Adeline (BIOGER).

TREMÄ (MP SuMCrop, 2024-2025). Tunisian-French consortium and seminar on disease resistance in field crops. Thierry Marcel, Frédéric Suffert / Mourad Hannachi (INRAE ACT, Palaiseau, FR) / Ines Shili-Touzi (ISTOM, Angers, FR).

Private grants

VISA (BASF project, 2019-2022). What is the link between resistance to fungicides and cultivars linked aggressiveness in Zymoseptoria tritici? Thierry Marcel, Reda Amezrou, Frédéric Suffert / Anne-Sophie Walker, Gwilherm Gazeau, Sabine Fillinger (BIOGER AMAR)