Antoine CHAMPAGNE, PhD

PhD in Plant Biology and Physiology, University of Saint-Etienne/CIRAD-Vanuatu, France/Vanuatu.
Research director at L&J BioTech

Fascinated by plants for ever, I naturally choose Plant Biology at the University, focusing mainly on food and aromatic crops with food or pharmaco-cosmetic applications. My PhD thesis focused on the construction of tools for plant breeding and biofortification through the characterization of chemotypes of tropical root and tuber crops (cassava, sweet potato, yams and taros). These staple food crops play a key role in food security in developing countries and also constitutes a source of biomolecules for industrial uses. I then carried out a series of postdocs at the University of Louvain (UCL, Belgium), where I developed molecular analysis tools at the proteome level to help in understanding the biosynthetic pathways of plant defense molecules, the specialized metabolites. I have worked on Madagascar periwinkle, spearmint, tobacco, annual wormwood, hops and basil, which are known to accumulate large amounts of specialized metabolites of various interests to humans. At Stockholm University (SU, Sweden), I studied the biochemical mechanisms involved in the synthesis of lignins, polymers of specialized metabolites, which play key roles in the conduction of sap, allowing plants to stand upright, and also in defense mechanisms. International mobility, autonomy in the management of a wide variety of projects, and the ability to think freely, are all competencies that complement my largely multidisciplinary expertise. This put me in position to comprehensively consider Plant Physiology and interactions with the growing environment.

Alexis CARRERAS, PhD

PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Reims, France.
Research director at L&J BioTech

My curiosity led me to a combination of Animal and Plant Biology at the University, using a broad panel of approaches. I did my PhD thesis in Cellular and Molecular Biology, where I specialized in plants and their metabolites using biochemistry and microscopy tools (University of Rouen Normandy). I therefore carried out various extractions by physicochemical and/or enzymatic fractionation, as well as molecular analysis and practical application studies of these extracts in pharmaco-cosmetic business. During my postdoc in natural bioactive compounds research at the Institute of Organic and Analytical Chemistry (University of Orléans), I gained skills in chemistry, including the development of methods of biomolecules synthesis through enzymatic and/or chemical with cosmetic applications, as well as their pre-industrial scaling-up. During my positions, I studied organisms as diverse as fish, plants or mollusks, as well as cell cultures. This versatility of the models studied, coupled to a good knowledge of the industrial needs, is a strength that allow me to adapt to a wide range of themes and applications. I am also passionate with experimental design and data processing, and I am perfectly comfortable with the demanding rigor of statistics, which are essential in interpreting results.

With the breadth of our skills and know-how, we offer a wide range of services related to the production and conservation of plant material, the production of metabolites in in vitro culture, biochemical analysis for the sectors agrifood and pharmaco-cosmetics. This includes, but is not limited to: controlled tissue culture in vitro and conventional nursery production, rapid multiplication of plant material, in vitro rooting, conservation of plant genetic resources, virus-free culture , embryo rescue, in vitro germination, culture of meristems, adventitious regeneration, somatic embryogenesis, elicitation of the production of molecules of interest in a controlled environment, biochemical/enzymological assays or first-line tests for the pharmaco-cosmetic sectors, as well as the optimization of all these approaches in line with your plant.