A l'UM la science [S03-ep09]: Neighbor-modulated susceptibility in plants

This week on A l'UM la science, Jean-Benoit Morel, a researcher at the Montpellier Plant Health Institute (Phim), talks to us about plant immunity. Our report takes us to the Smel technical platform with Valentin Kempf. Finally, Nathan Roure, in charge of press relations at the UM, presents the program for the Sud de sciences science film festival. A program broadcast every Wednesday at 6pm on Divergence FM 93.9.

Ah, the neighbors! My mother always told me to get angry with whoever you want, but not with your neighbors. And yet... When you live in the city, it's hard to stay zen when the bass from the little girl upstairs is still rattling the bed frame at 5am, or when the gentleman downstairs has squatted in your parking space again because he's reserving his for his camper van. You might say that it's not much better in the country, between the lunatics who poison the cats and those who mow their lawns at 7am on Sundays... Yes, neighbors can be a pain.

And remember Covid. Our horrified glances in the elevator at a piece of nose escaping from the mask, or the atmosphere at meetings and family dinners when a simple sneeze became more threatening than a bomb in the subway. Depending on the context and the density of our spaces, our neighbors can become a living hell... But they can also be our best bulwarks against the vagaries of life, and here again I refer you to covid. Perhaps one of the finest contemporary demonstrations that collective strategy, be it a mask or a sting, can contribute to better resistance to disease.

What if plants did the same? What if, in a field of wheat, the neighborhood of each ear could have a good or bad impact on their resistance to disease? This is what Jean-Benoît Morel, researcher and director of the Phim laboratory for the plant health institute in Montpellier, sought to find out by testing the impact of proximity on the disease resistance of different wheat and rice varieties. The results have been published in the journal PLOS Biology.

In the second half of the program, we continue our exploration of the Mediterranean Coastal Environment Station in Sète with Valentin Kempf, and take a look at the analytical platform.

At UM la science you've got the program, here we go!

Coproduction: Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interviews: Aline Périault / Lucie Lecherbonnier
Reportage : Lucie Lecherbonnier
Production : Alice Rollet

Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9