Research Axes

The Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (IRHS), located in Beaucouzé (49070), enjoys a privileged working environment in a dynamic scientific and educational environment.

The IRHS brings together the main regional players in plant science research in Angers. The IRHS is a joint research unit (UMR 1345) under the aegis of the INRAE, the Institut Agro Rennes-Angers and the University of Angers. Currently employing more than 250 people, including 183 permanent staff, it integrates expertise in genetics, genomics and epigenomics, physiology and ecophysiology, biochemistry, phytopathology, microbiology, modeling, bioinformatics, biostatistics and biophysics in the service of the quality and health of horticultural crops and seed production.

The challenge of research at IRHS is to generate the knowledge needed for sustainable management of specialty plant health and seed quality in the current context of input reduction and climate change. We are working to develop high performance, healthy and sustainable production systems for both the food and ornamental sectors characterized by intensive production methods in rural, peri-urban and urban environments.

Since its inception, the unit has invested heavily in the development of new approaches such as genomics, metagenomics, epigenetics, bioinformatics and high-throughput phenotyping to move towards predictive biology and strengthen its capacity for innovation.

The work at the IRHS is organized around four main lines of research :

The Institute is organized into 14 research teams, each focused on its own scientific project within a framework of shared technological resources and expertise. It hosts a phenotyping collective infrastructure (ISC), PHENOTIC, and 3 Biological Resource Centers (BRCs) dedicated to the conservation and development of the genetic diversity of pome fruit trees and roses (RosePom BRC), carrots and other vegetable Apiaceae (CARPIA BRC), and plant-associated bacteria (CIRM-CFBP). It benefits from the Plateaux Techniques Mutualisés of the SFR QuaSaV (ANAN, iMAC, PHYTO, HIMIC) of which it is a supporting unit.

IRHS complete organization chart >>>

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Research at the IRHS in Angers is organized in four areas:

Mechanisms of plant response and adaptation to biotic and abiotic environments Mechanisms and strategies of biocontrol and other alternatives to chemical inputs Evolutionary history of plants and associated microorganisms Methodological research and development of innovative tools.