Aline Janeau works at the Cell & Plant Physiology Laboratory (LPCV).

Her project: MADOF: Evolution of MADS Transcription Factors and the Origin of the Flower

Hello, my name is Aline Janeau and I come from France. I am a PhD student at laboratoire de Physiologie Cellulaire et Végétale since October 2022, under the supervision of Dr. Véronique Hugouvieux. Before my PhD, I obtained a degree in Biology at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and I had the opportunity to join the international double master programme Planta-International in plant sciences between the UGA and the University of Milan (Italy).

My thesis project is about the origin of flowering plants (angiosperms). Flowers are a powerful reproductive organ that allowed plant to rapidly colonise many environments and to compose 90% of current plant diversity. Their closest ancestors are the cone plants (gymnosperms), which have more primitive reproductive organs. In order to study the origin of flowers, I am investigating changes in the regulation of the development of female reproductive organs.

In angiosperms, the development of female reproductive organs is regulated by a heterotetrameric complex made of two MADS transcription factors: AGAMOUS (AG) and SEPALLATA (SEP). SEP is essential for tetramer formation and specific to angiosperms. However, in gymnosperms, AG homologs have been identified that control female organ development through homotetramer formation. In order to understand the modifications that lead to an obligatory heterotetramer in flowering plants, I characterise the AG-like complex in gymnosperms and study the protein-protein interaction surfaces using an integrated structural biology approach.

Grenoble is for me the ideal place to do research in plant biology because of its location and its large scientific campus.