Angers Seed Research

Objective: Improving the Sanitary and Germinative Quality of Seeds

Angers Seed Research (ASR) is a cross-disciplinary working group of the IRHS in Angers. It brings together 64 scientists and over 30 PhD students from several IRHS teams: Bidefi, EmerSys, FungiSem, ImHorPhen, QuarVeg, SEED, and SMS.

Its goal is to improve the sanitary and germinative quality of seeds in the context of climate change. The collective’s research focuses on seed development, conservation, germination, and seedling establishment, while integrating their interactions with microorganisms and environmental constraints.

Shared Scientific and Agronomic Challenges

The work of Angers Seed Research revolves around seven complementary objectives:

1. Understanding how suboptimal production conditions affect seed germinative quality and storage capacity.
2. Identifying factors that limit germination and seedling emergence under climatic constraints and pathogen pressure.
3. Reducing the transmission of pathogens via seeds.
4. Developing alternatives to pesticides for seed protection.
5. Designing automated phenotyping tools for germination and seedling emergence.
6. Elucidating the mechanisms of action of biocontrol and biostimulant products applied to seeds.
7. Characterizing the ecology of microbial communities associated with seeds.

Key Scientific Advances

Seed Development and Quality Acquisition

The collective’s research has highlighted the role of epigenetic regulation in acquiring desiccation tolerance and seed longevity (Sano et al., 2022). It has also revealed the involvement of the transcription factor ABI4 in the transformation of chloroplasts into elaioplasts, a process contributing to longevity acquisition (Zinsmeister et al., 2023).

Germination and Stress Response

Studies have shown that DNA methylation contributes to a memory of stress experienced during maturation, with effects manifesting during germination (Malabarba et al., 2021). Several studies have also identified genes involved in germination plasticity, improving our understanding of how seeds adjust their germination to environmental conditions (Ben Hdech et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2021; Bizouerne et al., 2022).

Seed Immunity and Interactions with Pathogens

Seeds are not merely passive vectors of pathogens; they possess specific defense mechanisms, including non-canonical responses and an arsenal of defense peptides (Ortega et al., 2022; Darrasse et al., 2024; Tarkowski et al., 2025).

Key findings include:

• A weakening of defenses during germination, facilitating the transmission of pathogenic bacteria from seed to seedling (Darrasse et al., 2024).
• Nitrogen nutrition modulates the response of Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings to Alternaria brassicicola, linked to metabolic changes (Barrit et al., 2024).
• Identification of new families of defense peptides (Guillou et al., 2022; ongoing complementary work).
• Development of seed microbiome engineering approaches for biostimulation and biocontrol during germination and emergence (Arnault et al., 2024; Guschinskaya et al., 2026; Suteau et al., 2026).

Diversity and Transmission of Seed Microbiomes

The collective has described the diversity of bacterial and fungal communities associated with seeds from 50 plant species (Simonin et al., 2022, 2026), identifying a shared "core microbiome." It also aims to characterize the transmission of seed microbiomes across generations (Chadelaud et al., 2026; INHERSEED project), contributing to a better understanding of plant-microorganism association stability. Our work also focuses on interactions between microorganisms during germination and emergence, revealing mechanisms of antibiosis and competition for resources (Garin et al., 2024; Chesneau et al., 2026).

Angers Seed Research: A Dynamic Local Ecosystem

At the heart of innovation in seed research, Angers Seed Research relies on a collaborative ecosystem. This network brings together seed companies (such as Bayer, Vilmorin-Mikado, Sakata Seed, Terrena, etc.), sector stakeholders (GEVES, FNAMS, SEMAE Ouest, Vegepolys Valley), and academic partners like the University of Angers and Institut Agro.

Supported by cutting-edge technological platforms: Phenotyping (PHENOTIC), Genomics (ANAN), Culturomics (HiMic), Microscopy (iMAC), and Metabolomics (PLI), this ecosystem fosters innovative research. National and international collaborations strengthen its global impact, while the Seed Biology Training Program ensures knowledge sharing and skill development.