Thomas Blein

CNRS research scientist

Institute of Plant Science Paris-Saclay

Biography

My research project aims to study the role played by long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the adaptation of the root of plants to the environment, via multiscale quantitative approaches. As a plant molecular biologist, I am interested in the regulation of genes expression by these lncRNAs, that will impact root system architecture (RSA).

Over the past decades, advances in RNA sequencing methods (RNA-Seq) have revealed that a large proportion of eukaryotic genomes are transcribed outside the coding regions. These non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have been shown to play an emerging role in the regulation of gene expression and could be then good candidates for the fine control of the adaptation to the environment.

Learn more about my research by browsing the projects I am involved in.

Interests

long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs)
root growth
quantitative regulations

Education

PhD in Plant Science, 2008

Université Paris-Sud, France
Master of Science, specialization in Plant Science, 2005

Université Paris-Sud, France
Agronomic ‘Engineer’ degree, 2005

INA P-G (today AgroParisTech), France

Projects

Project LncRNAs mode of action

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regulators of genome expression. However, their remains mostly unknown. We aim at better understand how they act.

Federico Ariel, Moussa Benhamed, Jérémie Bazin, Martin Crespi, Thomas Blein

Project Conservation and evolution of lncRNAs in plants

Functional insights in one species can often be transferred to another by exploiting evolutionary conservation, notably via sequence homology. A major difficulty to apply such approaches for lncRNAs is their poor sequence conservation.

Federico Ariel, Martin Crespi, Thomas Blein

Project High-throughput phenotyping of plant root system architecture

ChronoRoot is a system which combines 3D printed open-hardware with deep segmentation networks for high temporal resolution phenotyping of plant roots in agarized medium.

Federico Ariel, Enzo Ferrante, Thomas Blein

High-throughput phenotyping of plant root system architecture

Featured Publications

Browse all journal articles and preprints.

Publication The lncRNA MARS modulates the epigenetic reprogramming of the marneral cluster in response to ABA

Thomas Roulé, Aurélie Christ, Nosheen Hussain, Ying Huang, Caroline Hartmann, Moussa Benhamed, Jose Gutierrez-Marcos, Federico Ariel, Martin Crespi, Thomas Blein

Publication ChronoRoot: High-throughput phenotyping by deep segmentation networks reveals novel temporal parameters of plant root system architecture

Nicolás Gaggion, Federico Ariel, Vladimir Daric, Éric Lambert, Simon Legendre, Thomas Roulé, Alejandra Camoirano, Diego H Milone, Martin Crespi, Thomas Blein, Enzo Ferrante

ChronoRoot: High-throughput phenotyping by deep segmentation networks reveals novel temporal parameters of plant root system architecture

Publication Landscape of the Noncoding Transcriptome Response of Two Arabidopsis Ecotypes to Phosphate Starvation

Thomas Blein, Coline Balzergue, Thomas Roulé, Marc Gabriel, Laetitia Scalisi, Tracy François, Céline Sorin, Aurélie Christ, Christian Godon, Etienne Delannoy, Marie-Laure Martin-Magniette, Laurent Nussaume, Caroline Hartmann, Daniel Gautheret, Thierry Desnos, Martin Crespi

Publication Light dynamically regulates growth rate and cellular organisation of the Arabidopsis root meristem

Thomas Blein, Jasmin Duerr, Taras Pasternak, Thomas Haser, Thorsten Falk, Kun Liu, Franck A. Ditengou, Olaf Ronneberger, Klaus Palme

Experience

CNRS research scientist — group of Dr. Martin Crespi

Institute of Plant Science Paris-Saclay (IPS2)

Oct 2014 – Present Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Quantitative control of root architecture by non-coding RNAs.

Study of the role of long non-coding RNAs using multi-scale approaches (from the scale of the gene to the organ). In particular their role in the regulation of gene expression and their influence on the architecture of the root system.

Postdoctoral Fellow (ANR) — group of Dr. Martin Crespi

Institut des Sciences du Végétal (ISV)

Feb 2014 – Sep 2014 CNRS campus, Gif-sur-Yvette, France

Role of non-coding RNAs in adaptation to the environment.

Study of the importance of non-coding RNAs in the adaptation of Arabidopsis accessions to phosphate deficiency: sequence conservation, expression variation and control of root architecture.

Postdoctoral Fellow (ANR) — group of Dr. Patrick Laufs

Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin (IJPB)

Nov 2012 – Dec 2013 INRA Versailles, France

The growth of Arabidopsis leaf at the cellular level.

Reconstruction of a 3D model of leaf primordia at the cellular scale to identify cellular characteristics associated with tooth formation.

Postdoctoral Fellow (EMBO) — group of Pr. Dr. Klaus Palme

Institut für Biologie II - Botanik

Jan 2009 – Oct 2012 Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Germany

Modeling the growth of Arabidopsis root

Reconstruction of a 3D model of the root at the cellular level from confocal images. Characterization at the cellular level of the influence of light on root growth.

Ph.D. student — supervised by Dr Patrick Laufs

Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire

Jan 2006 – Dec 2008 INRA Versailles, France

The role of NAM / CUC genes in leaf development

Determination of the expression of NAM / CUC genes in different compound leaf species by in situ hybridization. Functional analysis of the role of these genes via mutants, transformants and silenced plants by VIGS. Characterization of the genetic interactions between the CUC2 / miR164A genes and other factors involved in Arabidopsis thaliana leaf serration.