Erwan Chavonet: Plant Physiology First Author

Erwan Chavonet, first author of “Search for host defense markers uncovers an apple agglutination factor corresponding with fire blight resistance”

Current Position:

Postdoctoral researcher

Education:

2022: PhD in Agronomy, University of Angers, France ; 2018: MSc in sciences, technologies, and health, University of Angers, France ; 2016: BSc in sciences, technologies, and health, University of Rennes 1, France

Non-scientific interests:

Sports (Swimming, running, etc.), board games (chess, MTG, etc.), gardening and cooking.

Brief bio:

I have always been interested by sciences in general. I became more and more fascinated by plant sciences during my university education, in particular by phytopathology. Several internships confirmed my interest for plant-microbe interactions and led me to work on immunity induced by plant resistance inducers during my doctoral thesis. My PhD project focused on the defense mechanisms triggered by acibenzolar-s-methyl in apple against the fire blight bacterium Erwinia amylovora, as well as its combined impact to an abiotic stress, heat, on apple defenses. With the collaboration of great researchers, I demonstrated the original role of apple lectins able to promote bacterial agglutination and showed that specific features of bacterial exopolysaccharides protect the microbe from this agglutination.  These findings, and more, are described in my Plant Physiology paper. Now, I am excited to find opportunities to keep on contributing to agricultural sciences. I would be especially happy to share my knowledge and skills for this huge challenge: improve crop protection by properly eliciting plant immunity in a changing environment.