Here at the Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay imagine a hub of innovation. This institute seeks to understand plant growth. It explores the genetic and molecular mechanisms. These mechanisms are regulated by internal and external signals. These signals can be biotic like bacteria and fungi. Or abiotic like environmental stress.
The Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay or IPS2 emerged in 2015. It came from the consolidation of three plant biology institutes. These institutes were part of the Saclay Plant Sciences cluster. This allowed for a connection between teaching research and innovation.
IPS2 uses many approaches. These include genomics and molecular biology. Also bioinformatics and physiology. Current priorities include epigenomics and plant adaptation. Plant adaptation addresses climate change. Biocontrol is also a key focus.
The Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay has five external platforms. There is translational biology. Also transcriptomics and metabolomics. Interactomics and epigenomics are available. IPS2 focuses on fundamental and applied research. They have innovative translational biology projects. These projects involve cultivated plants. They partner with industrial partners. The goal is to improve agriculture. They want to improve agriculture for the future.
The Saclay Plant Sciences network includes around 60 research teams. These teams are plant science specialists. They belong to six institutes in Paris. This network represents over 750 people. It is coordinated by the Université Paris-Saclay.
At the Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay researchers study RNA regulation. They study it in root development. They analyze transcription factors. This analysis looks at cell proliferation and differentiation. It looks at it under normal and stress.
IPS2 has several scientific collaborations. They work with the Pierre Bourgin Institute in France. They also collaborate with the University of Nottingham UK. They have international collaborations as well. These include the Nobel Foundation in the USA. Also ARRIAM in St Petersburg Russia.
The Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay also has private collaborations. They have a project with Bayer Syngenta and Mondelez. They also work with small companies. These include BIOtransfer and BIOPHYTECH.
The institute has equipment open for collaboration. This includes a metabolomic platform. Also a transcriptomic platform. They have a translational platform. There is a culture chamber and an epifluorescence microscope. A confocal microscope is also available.
The Institut des Sciences des Plantes – Paris-Saclay aims to generate innovative projects. These projects involve industrial partners. They also work with technical institutes. They host start-ups to contribute to the future of agriculture.
The director of IPS2 is Martin Crespi. IPS2 wants to understand plant growth better. They study its regulation by environmental signals. These signals are of biotic and abiotic origins. This is especially important due to climate change. Analysis is integrated at cellular organ and whole plant levels.
IPS2 has two platforms with facilities. EPITRANS handles translational biology. It also manages TILLING collections. These collections include tomato melon and cucumber. EPITRANS also handles epigenomics. SPOMICS covers transcriptomics. It also covers interactomics. It also handles metabolomics.
The Institute of Plant Sciences Paris-Saclay contributes to the agriculture of tomorrow. It does this through innovative research and collaboration. It combines genomics molecular biology and more. They also study endogenous and exogenous signals. These signals originate from bacteria fungi environmental stress and nutrients.