Marc Libault

Marc Libault

Website:

·Plant Single Cell Genomics Laboratory
·Single Cell Genomics Core Facility

Marc Libault

Associate Professor

Area of Expertise: Plant Breeding and Genetics

B.S., CELLULAR BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY, PARIS 7 DENIS DIDEROT UNIVERSITY, FRANCE, 1999

M.S., MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, PARIS 6 PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE UNIVERSITY, FRANCE, 2000

PHD., MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR PLANT PHYSIOLOGY, PARIS SUD-ORSAY UNIVERSITY, FRANCE, 2004

Area of Focus

  • Plant root response to biotic and abiotic stresses
  • Plant single cell biology
  • Comparative genomics

Research Interests

My long-term objective is to understand the regulatory mechanisms controlling gene expression and to use this knowledge to improve agronomically important traits (e.g., yield, quality, sustainability, and acclimation to environmental stresses). To reach this objective, the lab characterizes with unprecedented accuracy the activity of plant genes and their associated regulatory mechanisms. Applying very innovative single-cell methods, we functionally characterize the transcriptome and chromatin accessibility profiles of each cell composing the plant. In addition to developing a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms controlling plant gene expression, our research at the single-cell level will reveal the unique role of plant genes in controlling plant development and acclimation to environmental stresses.

Major Project Activities

  • Exploring the transcriptional regulatory networks controlling plant root development, and the early stages of legume nodulation by applying integrative single-cell multi-omics technologies.
  • Establishment of the soybean transcriptome atlas at a single cell level resolution.
  • Evaluating the impact of gene activity on wheat heterosis for yield at the single-cell level.
  • Comparative analysis of the transcriptional regulation of crop root genes.
  • Enable single-cell level omics studies in plant biology

Publications

(Selected from 50 publications 2010-2021)

  • Farmer A, Thibivilliers S, Ryu KH, Schiefelbein J, Libault M, (2021) Single-nucleus RNA and ATAC sequencing reveals the impact of chromatin accessibility on gene expression in Arabidopsis roots at the single-cell level. Molecular Plant; DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2021.01.001).
  • Thibivilliers S, Anderson D, Libault M, (2020) Isolation of Plant Root Nuclei for Single Cell RNA Sequencing. Current Protocol in Plant Biology. 5(4):e20120. DOI: 10.1002/cppb.20120
  • Libault M, (2018) Transcriptional reprogramming of legume genomes: perspective and challenges associated to single cell and single cell-type approaches during nodule development. Frontiers in Plant Science. 9:1600.
  • Libault M, Pingault L, Zogli P, and Schiefelbein J, (2017) Plant Systems Biology at the Single-Cell Level. Trends in Plant Science
  • Qiao Z, Pingault L, Zogli P, Langevin M, Rech N, Farmer A, and Libault M, (2017) Comprehensive analysis of the divergence and the conservation of the expression of plant genes: insights at the level of one single plant cell type, the root hair cell. Plant Molecular Biology. 94(6):641-655.
  • Qiao Z, Brechenmacher L, Smith B, Strout GW, Mangin W, Taylor T, Russell SD, Stacey G, and Libault M, (2017) The GmFWL1 (FW2-2-like) nodulation gene encodes a plasma membrane microdomain-associated protein. Plant, Cell & Environment. 40:1442-1455.
  • Qiao Z, Pingault L, Nourbakhsh-Rey M, and Libault M, (2016) Comprehensive comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses of the legume genes controlling the nodulation process. Frontiers in Plant Science. 7:34. 
  • Kim KD, El Baidouri M, Abernathy B, Iwata-Otsubo A, Chavarro C, Gonzales M, Libault M, Grimwood J, and Jackson SA, (2015). A Comparative Epigenomic Analysis of Polyploidy-Derived Genes in Soybean and Common Bean. Plant Physiology. 2015 Aug;168(4):1433-47
  • Qiao Z, and Libault M, (2013) Unleashing the potential of the root hair cell as a single plant cell type model in root systems biology. Frontiers in Plant Science. 4:484.
  • Libault M, Brechenmacher L, Cheng J, Xu D, and Stacey G. (2010) Root hair systems biology. Trends in Plant Science. 11: 641-50.
  • Libault M, Farmer A, Joshi T, Takahashi K, Langley RJ, Levi FD, He J, Xu D, May GD, and Stacey G. (2010) An integrated transcriptome atlas of the crop model Glycine max and its use in comparative analyses in plants. The Plant Journal. 63(1):86-99.
  • Libault M, Zhang XC, Govindarajulu M, Ong YT, Brechenmacher L, Berg H, Hurley-Sommer A, Qiu J, Taylor CG, and Stacey G. (2010) A member of the highly conserved FWL (tomato FW2.2-like) gene family is essential for soybean nodule organogenesis. The Plant Journal. 62(5):852-64.
  • Libault M, Farmer A, Brechenmacher L, Drnevich J, Langley RJ, Bilgin DD, Radman O, Neece DJ, Clough SJ, May GD, and Stacey G. (2010) Complete transcriptome of soybean root hair cell, a single cell model, and its alteration in response to Bradyrhizobium japonicum infection. Plant Physiology. 152(2):541-52. Plant Systems Biology Special Issue 2010.