Eric Gontier | Université de Picardie Jules Verne (original) (raw)

Papers by Eric Gontier

Biotechnology Techniques, Jun 1, 1996

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2013

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2004

Canadian journal of botany, Oct 1, 2000

Common rue (Ruta graveolens L.) synthesizes furanocoumarins, which are used in dermatology. The p... more Common rue (Ruta graveolens L.) synthesizes furanocoumarins, which are used in dermatology. The production of these molecules requires the improvement of cultural techniques so as to provide plant material with a high content and (or) yield of furanocoumarins for the pharmaceutical extraction industry. Two experiments were set up, firstly, to improve our understanding of the production of these secondary metabolites by the plant and, secondly, to study the influence of successive cuts on their synthesis. The furanocoumarin content was dependent on the proportion of leaves and fruits on the plant. Conversely, it was independent of the biomass at a given age. The shoots harvested 3 months after sowing had a high furanocoumarin content, as did the fruits in the 2nd year (in both cases about 0.9% of the dry matter). However, the dry matter yield produced was low (0.2 and 1.6 tonnes·ha-1, respectively). The harvest of the shoots in the 2nd year gave a high yield (about 5 tonnes·ha-1) but had a lower furanocoumarin content (0.4%). A system of successive cuts (three cuts in the 2nd year) enabled harvesting to be spread out. The plant material then contained 0.5% furanocoumarins, for 3.3 tonnes of dry matter harvested. The proportion of different furanocoumarins varied according to year and plant parts.Key words: Ruta graveolens L., furanocoumarin, cultivation, cuts, secondary metabolite, Rutaceae.

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Jan 14, 2013

World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Medical and Health Sciences, Mar 29, 2017

Iranian Journal of Biotechnology, 2018

Advances in Botanical Research, 2013

The production of secondary metabolites, and more specifically alkaloids, from medicinal plants i... more The production of secondary metabolites, and more specifically alkaloids, from medicinal plants is still an important objective for many research programs. When natural lead compounds have been discovered and when chemical synthesis cannot be easily performed, the extraction and purification of biomolecules from entire plants is generally the preferred solution. However, it is now established that plant cells and tissue cultures in bioreactors can constitute an alternative solution to this agronomical approach. Our research programs devoted to the production of tropane alkaloids from Datura innoxia and furanocoumarins from Ruta graveolens have shown that hydroponics and aeroponics, techniques situated in-between field and fermentor scales, enable the entire plants to be used as efficient bioreactors. Revisiting scientific advances made in the past decades, the ethical, legal, biological and technological aspects are discussed in the light of the most recent literature, in order to establish a roadmap for further developments of plant secondary metabolite production systems.

Industrial Crops and Products, 2016

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Dec 1, 2010

ABSTRACT Seeds of oil flax (Linum usitatissimum) are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and thei... more ABSTRACT Seeds of oil flax (Linum usitatissimum) are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids and their composition is one of the major criteria for flax selection. Conventional breeding schemes take many years and need a lot of space in greenhouses and/or in fields to achieve genotypes with the desired traits. We have improved the half-seed method that allows flax line selection from their oil seed composition. Cotyledon tips were analysed by GC to determine their FAME profiles while the remaining seed was sown to regenerate flax plant. An optimisation of the GC enabled a sample to be analysed every 4 minutes. Such a technique could be applied without loss of germination rate for excised seeds. Further experiments showed that both seed parts had the same fatty acid profile as cotyledon tips. This non-destructive procedure based on the half-seed method and ultrafast GC analysis provides an efficient screening of flax genotypes according to their seed fatty acid composition over only one generation.

$Research paper thumbnail of Isoquinoline alkaloid fractions of Fumaria officinalis: Characterization and evaluation of their antioxidant and antibacterial activities$

Industrial Crops and Products, Dec 1, 2016

Industrial Crops and Products, Sep 1, 2021

Abstract Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with cold plasma, a reactive mixture of charged particles,... more Abstract Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with cold plasma, a reactive mixture of charged particles, is an emerging, environmentally friendly method, shown to improve water absorption, germination and seedling growth in many crop species. We studied how plasma affects different structural layers in flax seed coats, and focused on the effects on some of the earliest germination events, directly related to imbibition: solute leakage and mucilage extrusion. We characterized the ultrastructure of flax seed coats using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and observed mucilage extrusion in situ, using environmental SEM. Time-courses of water uptake and solute leakage during germination were recorded, respectively, by weighing the seeds and semi-quantitative metabolite profiling of the exudates using GC–MS, LC–MS and LC–UV. Plasma treatment perforated the cuticle of flax seeds but did not visibly etch the underlying mucilage secretory cell (MSC) walls. Plasma treated seeds took up more water than untreated seeds during imbibition. Mucilage expansion of untreated seeds detached the distal MSC walls from the radial walls and extrusion occurred, relatively slowly, via sparse cracks in the distal cell wall layer. In plasma treated seeds, mucilage extrusion occurred fast, via rupture of distal cell walls of almost every single MSC, and the junctions between distal and radial MSC walls remained intact. Initially, imbibitional solute leakage was higher in plasma treated seeds but the leakage had quasi stopped after one hour of imbibition. In untreated seeds, the leakage continued amply more than two hours after the start of imbibition. Fragments of the lignan macromolecule, stored in parenchymatous cells under the MCS, were released more abundantly in the spermosphere of plasma treated than untreated flax seeds. It is concluded that plasma treatment etches the cuticle of flax seeds and weakens the underlying MSC cell walls, and that such treatment leads to significantly faster recovery of membranes during imbibition, reducing leakage time in germinating seeds.

Planta Medica, Jun 1, 1995

The effects of tween 20 as permeabilizing agent on tropane alkaloids from Datura innoxia Mill, ha... more The effects of tween 20 as permeabilizing agent on tropane alkaloids from Datura innoxia Mill, hairy roots have been studied. For various tween 20 concentrations both hyoscyamine and scopolamine accumulated in the culture medium. Plant material viability could be preserved after a 24 hours-2% tween 20 concentration treatment. The time-course study of alkaloid release showed that the maximum of excretion occurred after a 20 hour contact with tween 20. At that time, a concentration of hyoscyamine superior to 25 mg/l was detected in the medium.