Camille Puginier: Plant Physiology First Author

Camille Puginier, first author of “Plant – microbe interactions that have been consequential to plant terrestrializations”    

Current Position: PhD Student at the University of Toulouse, LRSV (Plant Science Research Laboratory, Toulouse France) supervised by Jean Keller and Pierre-Marc Delaux

Education: Bachelor of Biology and Ecology, Master of Plant Science in Toulouse (France)

Non-scientific Interests: football, hiking, gardening

Brief bio:

I started to enjoy plant science during my bachelor as I loved to learn about plants functioning, from ecosystems down to the molecular scale. I then decided to enrol in a master’s degree in plant sciences, with a focus on plant-microorganism interactions. Always fascinated about the understanding of how organisms evolved and interact with each other, I did my master thesis on comparative phylogenomics which consists in comparing whole plant genomes with trait repartition distribution on a phylogenetic tree. It can thus lead to the identification of genes associated with a trait, such as the ability to form symbioses. During my master thesis, I worked on two distinct mutualistic symbioses: the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and the lichen symbiosis. I carry on my master project during my PhD, where I aim at identifying the molecular bases of lichenization (i.e. the ability to form lichens) in chlorophytes algae. Through this research line, I hope to unravel the evolution of the ability to form lichens. On a technical point of view, I develop and use integrative multi-omics approaches combining phylogenomics, transcriptomics and molecular biology.