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Partners : LBLGC, UMR BioForA, UMR BioGeCo, UMR GDEC, UMR LaMME, CEA

BioForA staff involved : L. Sanchez-Rodriguez, V. Jorge, F. Laurans, O. Rogier, V. Guérin, C. Buret

Other staff involved : V. Segura, C. Bastien, JP. Charpentier, MC Lesage-Descauses, V Lainé-Prade, K. Ader

Funding : ANR

Budget :

Summary :

There is an urgent need to improve our understanding of adaptation mechanisms in trees, to facilitate the design of new genetic material through breeding and/or biotechnological approaches, to improve the management of genetic resources, and also to prevent forest loss and ensure that these ecosystems continue to play their economic and ecological roles. The EPITREE project aims to address one of the main research questions raised in the scientific roadmap of the EU FoResTTraC project, which focuses on the adaptation of forest trees to climate change: "Estimation of the effects and rates of adaptive processes in forest ecosystems by focusing on tree plasticity, local adaptation and potential epigenetic responses". This project aims to study the impact of epigenetics (DNA methylation), gene expression and allelic variation in the mechanisms of adaptation of trees to the local environment and their phenotypic plasticity. Two species will be analysed: the oak and the poplar. It is in line with the themes of the impact of climate change on ecosystems, particularly forests and trees. In this context, we plan to decipher variations in DNA methylation, gene expression and genome structure in natural populations and controlled experiments to improve our understanding of the potential contribution of natural epigenetic variation to genetic adaptation and phenotypic plasticity in trees.