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Zoé LE BIHAN

Team Plant Virology

Under the direction of Prof. Valérie SCHURDI-LEVRAUD and Prof. Dominique ROLIN

Visioconference Zoom

Abstract :

The rejection of synthetic sweeteners by consumers has led to an increase in the use of natural sweeteners such as steviol glycosides. These molecules are accumulated in the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni, a perennial plant from Paraguay, which is now cultivated on all continents. Oviatis is developing the local production sector in organic agriculture in southwestern France. The objectives of this PhD project under CIFRE contract are to finely characterize the genetic resources cultivated in temperate conditions on the traits of interest and to develop a genetic tools and knowledges on this crop. This work has made it possible to (1) the adaptation of BBCH phenological scale to stevia and its skill transfer to the stevia sector, (2) the phenotyping of stéviol glycosides yield on 15 genetic resources of Stevia rebaudiana for 4-years of production, (3) evaluate response variability of the same genetic resources to septoria infection and the development of a leaf-disk inoculation test, (4) to estimate genetic parameters for SG yield traits on four populations cultivated in field trial for three years, and finally (5) to build stevia idéotypes for the local production context. These results are contributing to the development of stevia in southwestern France, and will be used to set up a stevia breeding program for local organic agriculture.

Jury members :