The SUCSEED project in the spotlight

The SUCSEED project
It is founded on the necessity to identify and develop novel solutions adapted to seed protection and seed enhancement using biological and environmentally-friendly alternatives to pesticides. This project intends to establish the seed as a central player in next-generation crop health management in favor of a more sustainable agriculture. It focuses on two major phytosanitary problems: seed-transmitted pathogens and damping-off (i.e. absence of germination/establishment due to seed- or soil-borne pathogens) of four different crop species (i.e. wheat, tomato, common bean and rapeseed) and their most commonly associated soil pathogens.To identify these alternative solutions, SUCSEED proposes to investigate three cuttingedge research directions: (i) enhancing seed defenses, (ii) engineering seed microbiota and (iii) unraveling the local molecular environment of germinating seeds, to design bio-innovative seed treatments.
The IJPB team "Physiology of germination" PHYGERM is largely involved in the project with Loïc Rajjou in charge of WP4 "Seed local environment analysis" and Helen North co-leader of WP5 "Formulation".

Major advances in the SUCSEED project
The PHYGERM and SEEDEV "Seed Development and Quality" teams have characterized the metabolic diversity of the spermosphere of the germinating seed in bean, tomato and rapeseed (2000 to 3000 metabolites for each species), thanks to the platform of The Plant Observatory - Chemistry/Metabolism PO-Chem and the work of Céline Brosse, Stéphanie Boutet, Massimiliano Corso (SEEDEV), Boris Collet, Tracy François and Chandrodhay Saccaram.
Another major result is the identification of 3 antimicrobial peptides in bean seed exudates during germination.

The SUCSEED project at the Paris International Agricultural Show 2023
It was honored thanks to some members of the IJPB PHYGERM team who presented it on the AgroParisTech booth. The following people took part in this event: Nathalie Feignier (assistant-engineer), Shuang Peng (PhD student), Francois Perreau (research engineer), Loïc Rajjou (professor), Chandrodhay Saccaram (PhD student), Anna Sadaoui (intern 2nd year A AgroParisTech) and Julia Zinsmeister (lecturer).

The 2023 SUCSEED Summer School
In the framework of the Project, a Summer School "Seeds as a keystone for the transition to agroecology" will take place at INRAE Versailles from June 25 to July 1, 2023. It is co-organized by the Saclay Plant Sciences network SPS and the PHYGERM team. It will gather 18 young scientists (Masters 2, PhD and post-doctoral students). To know more,



The PHYGERM team at the SIA