Omics approaches of plant metabolism

Coordinators

Mathieu Jossier; Sophie Filleur

Goals

By the end of this teaching unit, students will be able to:

- Understand the fundamental principles and applications of omics technologies (transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and interactomics) in plant research.

- Explain how the integration of multi-omics data contributes to a systems-level understanding of plant physiology and metabolism.

- Perform basic omic data analyses using appropriate bioinformatics tools and interpret the biological significance of the results.

- Critically assess how omics approaches are used to study plant responses to environmental conditions and improve crop performance.

- Design and discuss a research project integrating omic techniques to address a specific question in plant physiology.

Skills

The student will be able to :

- Recognize and compare the different ‘omics’ approaches to study plant physiology and metabolism.

- Describe and analyse the different results obtained by the different methods studied.

- Reason on choice of the different ‘omics’ approaches to resolve a physiological question.

- Organize themselves in managing laboratory experiments in an allocating time.

- Synthesise the results obtained during the practical and develop a project from them.

- Analyses omic results by Bio-informatic tools

Content

Omics technologies, including transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic and interactomic, have revolutionized plant research by providing a comprehensive understanding of plant function at multiple biological levels. In plant physiology, these approaches allow scientists to move beyond single-gene or single-pathway analyses and instead explore complex regulatory networks that govern growth, development, and responses to environmental cues. Integrating omics data helps uncover how molecular changes translate into physiological processes such as photosynthesis, nutrient uptake, and stress tolerance. The view provided by omics approaches contributes to a systems-level understanding of plant physiology and supports the development of crops with improved resilience and performance under changing environmental conditions.

The main objective of the teaching unit is to understand omic analysis technologies through practice and on a current research topic, then to analyse the results using bioinformatics tools. Seminars on the use of these omic approaches applied to plant physiology will be given by researchers and research lecturers specialising in the field.

Format

The teaching unit last two weeks and includes:

- Lectures introducing the application of omics approaches to plant metabolism,

- A three-day workshop conducted on one of the specialized platforms — transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, or interactomics,

- Practical sessions focused on the bioinformatic analysis of the data generated during the workshop.

The final grade is based on the writing of a research project developed from the results obtained throughout the workshop.

Special teaching methods

3 days workshop on an omic platform and bioinformatic analysis of the data.

Language : English

Mandatory TU

ECTS : 5

Lectures : 19 ;  Directed Study : 8 ; Practical Study : 18