I am interested the study of seed specialized metabolite diversity in Brassicaceae and other species. While it is important to characterize seed SM landscapes in different plant genotypes, we highlighted distinct patterns of SMs and their related pathways, showing significant contrasts in seed composition and spatial distribution for the defense-related and antinutritional glucosinolate (GSL) compounds among camelina, Arabidopsis thaliana, and Brassica napus, three closely related Brassicaceae species (Barreda et al., 2025a). In addition, our team characterize the diversity and role of SM decorations, or modifications, (mainly hydroxylation, glycosylation, acylation and methylation) (Barreda et al., 2024). We notably showed that they are strongly regulated by the environmental conditions (Boutet et al., 2022; Alberghini et al., 2022) and that some metabolic pathways can be induced by biotic and abiotic stresses (Barreda et al., 2025b) and/or priming treatments.
Hence, besides the study of seed SM landscapes, I become interested in the characterization of SM plasticity, i.e. the diversity and regulation of SM in response to different and contrasting environmental conditions, and in the induction of plant and seed specialized metabolome in Brassicaceae species such as Arabidopsis, Camelina and Brassica.
In other works on camelina, rapeseed, common bean, wheat and tomato seeds, a major interest is the characterization of SM regulation by the (a)biotic environments, and their possible use for biocontrol or as biostimulants for the agroecology.
In collaboration with colleagues from other French and European institutes, I am also studying the impact of SMs on seed quality as food/feed, in relation with protein availability, and their nutritional activities, mainly with camelina and legume species (pea, faba-bean, lentil, chickpea) in different projects.

Full list of publications: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Massimiliano-Corso 



Funding and ongoing grants

• 2025 – 2028. PROSPER - Promoting Resilient Orphan Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. Funding source: HORIZON (EU). Amount: 240K€. Role: collaborator, main contact for INRAE.
• 2025 – 2028. Project: FORECAST - Fostering Resilient Agroforestry Systems with climate-ready Tree and Herbaceous Germplasm. Funding source: PRIMA (EU). Amount: 281K€. Role: collaborator, main contact for INRAE.
• 2025 – 2026. Project GERMOLEOPRO - Modification de la valeur nutritionnelle des protéines de cameline par les conditions de culture et la germination, recherche de bioactifs d’intérêt. Funding source: Carnot Plant2Pro and Qualiment (FR). Amount: 135K€. Role: Coordinator for Plant2Pro.
• 2024 – 2026. Project SeedNapic - Characterizing sinapic acid pathways in seeds and their role against pathogens and oxidative stress. Funding source: SPS research Open Call 2024, Saclay Plant Science - SPS (FR). Amount: 39K€. Role: Coordinator.
• 2024 – 2029. Project ValoN - Nitrogen valorization from field to consumer: case of lentil and chickpea. Funding source: France 2030, ANR (FR). Amount: 368K€. Role: Collaborator.
• 2024 – 2028. Project OLEOPROTID - Interest of oilseeds in the diversification of food proteins - The case of Camelina. Funding source: France 2030, ANR (FR). Amount: 390K€. Role: WP leader, coordinator for INRAE-Versailles.
• 2023 – 2026. Project: Diversity, plasticity and genetic determinism of the specialized metabolome of pea (Pisum sativum) seeds. Funding source: BAP department – INRAE and LETSPROSEED Project. Amount: PhD scholarship. Role: thesis director (co-direction with Vanessa Vernoud, AG, INRAE-Dijon, FR).
• 2023 – 2028. Project LETSPROSEED - Pushing back the limit to the use of legume proteins in human nutrition by improving seed quality and processing without compromising stress resistance. Funding source: PIA-4 (now France 2030), ANR (FR). Amount: 270K€. Role: collaborator, coordinator for INRAE-Versailles.
• 2023 – 2026. Project: DYNAFER - Dynamics of coumarin uptake by plant roots to improve iron nutrition. Funding: ANR Agence Nationale de la Recherche / French Research Agency. Amount: 190K€. Role: collaborator.
• 2022 – 2026. Project: DREAM - Diversified orchards for REsilient and sustAinable Mediterranean farming systems. Funding source: EU-PRIMA. Amount: 200K€. Role: collaborator, coordinator for INRAE.
• 2022 – 2025. Project: SeedBioProtect - Protection des semences par des solutions de biocontrôle. Funding source: PlantAlliance and Consortum Biocontrôle. Amount: 83K€. Role: collaborator.
• 2021 – 2027. Project: SUCSEED - Stop the Use of pestiCides on Seeds by proposing alternatives. Funding source: PPR, ANR (FR). Amount: 700K€ (for INRAE-Versailles, several teams involved). Role: collaborator.
• 2019 – 2025. Project: Seed MetaSpe. Funding source: SPS LabEx (FR). Amount: 300 K€ (100 K€ for the section on seed SMs). Role: collaborator