Sébastien’s focus is on plant development and RNA research, particularly in the field of reproductive biology studying the role and function of small RNAs (sRNA). He has authored first-author publications, covering diverse topics such as gametic embryogenesis and doubled haploid production, sRNA’s involvement in anther development, phylogenetics of protein families involved in sRNA pathways, as well as the evolution and function of sRNAs in other systems.
Before joining the Barley International Hub, Sébastien postdoctoral works focused on reproductive phased sRNA (phasiRNA) of developing anthers in wheat and barley. He discovered novel stage-specific 24-nt phasiRNAs crucial for male fertility that are only present in wheat, barley, and their close relatives, but not in rice or maize. Moreover, he identified that the dicer-like 5 mutant in wheat was depleted in 24-nt phasiRNA and showed a temperature-sensitive male-sterile phenotype. He is developing his lab with the primary focus to understand male reproductive development in barley and other crops in the Triticeae tribe, in order to control the production of pollen for hybrid seed production.
The direction of Sébastien research is gradually moving towards investigating the use of barley morphological diversity for flower developmental studies. The aim is to discover genes and traits to optimize the morphology of the inbreeding flower architecture toward an outbreeding flower for hybrid production in barley.
