Fermer

Emmanuel Defossez

Google Scholar

ORCiD: 0000-0002-3279-9190

Research group: Computational ecology

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Research interests

As a plant chemical ecologist and biostatistician, I am broadly interested in exploring the functional and quantitative aspects of the chemical diversity produced by the plant kingdom. By studying biotic interactions, characterizing chemistry across plant lineage and environment, and using machine learning tools, my research agenda strives to understand the factors driving phytochemical diversity across space and time and resolve the largely uncovered link between molecular diversity, its structure, and its ecological function. The output of my research spans several fields of research, from fundamental ecology, agronomy, drug discovery or conservation. My work is also in line with the principles of Open Research Data, and I firmly believe that openness and sharing are essential to unravelling the complex chemistry of life.

 

Main projects

Digital Botanical Gardens Initiative

Earth Metabolome Initiative

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Press

Avis d'experts

 

Publications

Walker, T. W., Schrodt, F., Allard, P. M., Defossez, E., Jassey, V. E., Schuman, M. C., ... & Peñuelas, J. 2023. Leaf metabolic traits reveal hidden dimensions of plant form and function. Science Advances 9(35), eadi4029.

Duthé, V., Odendaal, K., Van der Westhuizen, R., Church, B., Naylor, S., Boshoff, S., ... & Defossez, E. 2023. Reductions in home-range size and social interactions among dehorned black rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120(25), e2301727120.

Defossez, E., Bourquin, J., von Reuss, S., Rasmann, S., & Glauser, G. 2023. Eight key rules for successful data‐dependent acquisition in mass spectrometry‐based metabolomics. Mass Spectrometry Reviews 42(1), 131-143.  

Defossez, E., Pitteloud, C., Descombes, P., Glauser, G., Allard, PM., Walker, T. W. N.., Fernandez-Conradi, P., Wolfender, JL., Pellissier, L., &  Rasmann, S. 2021. Spatial and evolutionary predictability of phytochemical diversity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(3).

Descombes, P., Pitteloud, C., Glauser, G., Defossez, E., Kergunteuil, A., Allard, P. M., ... & Pellissier, L. 2020. Novel trophic interactions under climate change promote alpine plant coexistence. Science, 370 (6523), 1469-1473.

Bakhtiari, M., Glauser, G., Defossez, E., & Rasmann, S. 2020. Ecological convergence of secondary phytochemicals along elevational gradients. New Phytologist.

Duthé, V., Defossez, E., van der Westhuizen, R., Glauser, G., & Rasmann, S. 2020. Out of scale out of place: Black rhino forage preference across the hierarchical organization of the savanna ecosystem. Conservation Science and Practice, 2(5), e191.

M. Pardos, M. del Río, H. Pretzsch, H. Jactel, K. Bielak, F. Bravo, G. Brazaitis, E. Defossez, M. Engel, K. Godvod, K. Jacobs, L. Jansone, A. Jansons, X. Morin, A. Nothdurft, L. Oreti, Q. Ponette, M. Pach, J. Riofrío, R. Ruíz-Peinado, A. Tomao, E. Uhl, R. Calama, The greater resilience of mixed forests to drought mainly depends on their composition: Analysis along a climate gradient across Europe. Forest Ecology and Management, 481, 118687.

Jourdan, M., Piedallu, C., Baudry, J., Defossez, E., & Morin, X. 2020. Tree diversity and the temporal stability of mountain forest productivity: testing the effect of species composition, through asynchrony and overyielding. European Journal of Forest Research, 1-14.

Pilar, F. C., Loïc, M., Defossez, E., & Rasmann, S. 2020. Seasonal changes in arthropod diversity patterns along an Alpine elevation gradient. Ecological Entomology.

Robert, C. A., Pellissier, L., Moreira, X., Defossez, E., Pfander, M., Guyer, A., ... & Rasmann, S. 2019. Correlated Induction of Phytohormones and Glucosinolates Shapes Insect Herbivore Resistance of Cardamine Species Along Elevational Gradients. Journal of chemical ecology, 1-11.

Xiao, Z., Jiang, L., Chen, X., Zhang, Y., Defossez, E., Hu, F., ... & Rasmann, S. 2019. Earthworms suppress thrips attack on tomato plants by concomitantly modulating soil properties and plant chemistry. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 130, 23-32.

Defossez, E., Pellissier, L., & Rasmann, S. 2018. The unfolding of plant growth form‐defence syndromes along elevation gradients. Ecology letters, 21(5), 609-618.

Pellissier, L., Descombes, P., Hagen, O., Chalmandrier, L., Glauser, G., Kergunteuil, A., Defossez, E., & Rasmann, S. 2018. Growth‐competition‐herbivore resistance trade‐offs and the responses of alpine plant communities to climate change. Functional ecology, 32(7), 1693-1703.

Callis-Duehl, K., Vittoz, P., Defossez, E., & Rasmann, S. 2017. Community-level relaxation of plant defenses against herbivores at high elevation. Plant Ecology, 218(3), 291-304.

Kergunteuil, A., Bakhtiari, M., Formenti, L., Xiao, Z., Defossez, E., & Rasmann, S. (2016). Biological control beneath the Feet: A review of crop protection against insect root herbivores. Insects, 7(4), 70.

Defossez, E., Courbaud, B., Lasbouygues, O., Schiffers, K., & Kunstler, G. (2016). Are variations of direct and indirect plant interactions along a climatic gradient dependent on species’ strategies? An experiment on tree seedlings. Oikos, 125(5), 708-717.

Rasmann, S., Pellissier, L., Defossez, E., Jactel, H., & Kunstler, G. (2014). Climate‐driven change in plant–insect interactions along elevation gradients. Functional Ecology, 28(1), 46-54.

Coince, A., Cordier, T., Lengellé, J., Defossez, E., Vacher, C., Robin, C., ... & Marçais, B. (2014). Leaf and root-associated fungal assemblages do not follow similar elevational diversity patterns. PloS one, 9(6).

Defossez, E., Courbaud, B., Marcais, B., Thuiller, W., Granda, E., & Kunstler, G. (2011). Do interactions between plant and soil biota change with elevation? A study on Fagus sylvatica. Biology letters, 7(5), 699-701.

Defossez, E., Djiéto-Lordon, C., McKey, D., Selosse, M. A., & Blatrix, R. (2011). Plant-ants feed their host plant, but above all a fungal symbiont to recycle nitrogen. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 278(1710), 1419-1426.

Defossez, E., Selosse, M. A., Dubois, M. P., Mondolot, L., Faccio, A., Djieto‐Lordon, C., ... & Blatrix, R. (2009). Ant‐plants and fungi: a new threeway symbiosis. New Phytologist, 182(4), 942-949.    

˟ Defossez, E., ˟ Leotard, G., Debain, C., McKey, D., Kjellberg, F., & Blatrix, R. (2008). Local Genetic Co-Structuring of the Ant Petalomyrmex phylax and its Host Plant Leonardoxa a. africana: No Role for a Sixty Meter River Width in SeparatingSocial Forms. Sociobiology, 51(2), 363-372.
˟ both authors contributed equally work

Emmanuel Defossez

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emmanuel.defossez@unine.ch

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