Cécile ThonarUniversité Libre de Bruxelles | ULB
Cécile Thonar
PhD
About
61
Publications
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Introduction
Cécile Thonar currently works at Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège. Cécile does research in Plant Fertilization, Agronomy and Agricultural Plant Science. Their most recent publication is 'Green manure and long-term fertilization effects on soil zinc and cadmium availability and uptake by wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) at different growth stages.'
Publications
Publications (61)
The use of plant biostimulants, also known as bioeffectors (BEs), has attracted increasing attention as an environmentally friendly strategy for more sustainable crop production. BEs are substances or microorganisms that are applied to plants or the surrounding soil to stimulate natural processes to enhance nutrient uptake, stress tolerance, and pl...
Ecotrons can materialize any meteorological condition for which sufficient data is available. Here, we used historical data of continuous climate observations from the Ernage meteorological station (Gembloux, Belgium, since 1980) and predicted future meteorological conditions using the Alaro-0 model (Giot et al., 2016). The model ran for the Repres...
BIOFAIR holistically determines soil biodiversity under different farming practices and environmental stressors to anticipate negative impacts of climate change on belowground processes and provide adaptation strategies. The BIOFAIR project comprehensively addresses the diversity of soil organisms, from microbes to mites, and how they link to soil...
Several plant species have been reported to inhibit nitrification via their root exudates, the so‐called biological nitrification inhibition (BNI). Given the potential of BNI‐producing plants to sustainably mitigate N losses in agrosystems, identification of BNI activity in existing germplasms is of paramount importance.
A hydroponic system was com...
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a vital crop in Rwanda where it ranks as the third most consumed staple. However, cassava productivity remains below its yield potential due to several constraints, including important viral diseases, such as cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). Because various factors can be addressed to mitigate the impact of...
Purpose
Green manuring can increase the plant available fraction of zinc (Zn) in soil, making it a potential approach to increase wheat Zn concentrations and fight human Zn deficiency. We tested whether green manure increases the ability of both the native soil bacteria and inoculated Zn solubilizing bacteria (ZSB) to mobilize Zn.
Methods
Wheat wa...
Purpose
Green manuring can increase the plant available fraction of zinc (Zn) in soil, making it a potential approach to increase wheat Zn concentrations and fight human Zn deficiency. We tested whether green manure increases the ability of both the native soil bacteria and inoculated Zn solubilizing bacteria (ZSB) to mobilize Zn.
Methods
Wheat was...
Wheat is a staple food crop and a major source of both the essential micronutrient zinc (Zn) and the toxic heavy metal cadmium (Cd) for humans. Since Zn and Cd are chemically similar, increasing Zn concentrations in wheat grains (biofortification), while preventing Cd accumulation, is an agronomic challenge. We used two Swiss agricultural long-term...
Cowpea N2 fixation and yield can be enhanced by selecting competitive and efficient indigenous rhizobia. Strains from contrasting agro-ecologies of Kilifi and Mbeere (Kenya) were screened. Two pot experiments were established consisting of 13 Bradyrhizobium strains; experiment 1 (11 Mbeere + CBA + BK1 from Burkina Faso), experiment 2 (12 Kilifi + C...
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.) is an important African food legume suitable for dry regions. It is the main legume in two contrasting agro-ecological regions of Kenya as an important component of crop rotations because of its relative tolerance to unpredictable drought events. This study was carried out in an effort to establish a collection o...
Zinc (Zn) deficiency in human populations depending on cereals as a main source of Zn is a global malnutrition problem. In this field study, we investigated the potential of green manure application to increase soil Zn availability and wheat grain Zn concentrations (biofortification) on a Luvisol with different long-term fertilizer management. We a...
Soil and plant inoculation with heterotrophic zinc-solubilizing bacteria (ZSB) is considered a promising approach for increasing zinc (Zn) phytoavailability and enhancing crop growth and nutritional quality. Nevertheless, it is necessary to understand the underlying bacterial solubilization processes to predict their repeatability in inoculation st...
Naranjilla (Solanum quitoense) is a perennial shrub plant mainly cultivated in Ecuador, Colombia, and Central America where it represents an important cash crop. Current cultivation practices not only cause deforestation and large-scale soil degradation but also make plants highly susceptible to pests and diseases. The use of arbuscular mycorrhizal...
Statistical data analysis files for fungal community profiling in R.
Background
Agricultural production is challenged by the limitation of non-renewable resources. Alternative fertilizers are promoted but they often have a lower availability of key macronutrients, especially phosphorus (P). Biological inoculants, the so-called bio-effectors (BEs), may be combined with these fertilizers to improve the nutrient use ef...
Plant associated soil microbes are known to play an important role in the expression and stability of certain plant traits such as nutrient use efficiency and disease resistance. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) form one of the primary mutualistic plant-microbe symbioses. Besides known benefits such as improved nutrient mobilisation (mainly phosp...
Identification of biomarkers capable of distinguishing organic and conventional products would be highly welcome to improve the strength of food quality assurance. Metabolite profiling was used for biomarker search in organic and conventional wheat grain (Triticum aestivum L.) of 11 different old and new bread wheat cultivars grown in the DOK-syste...
The growing human population and urbanization result in greater phosphorus (P) fluxes from agro-ecosystems to consumers and finally into waste water. Field application of sewage sludge is prohibited in Switzerland since 2006. Sewage sludge is currently mono-incinerated and deposited in landfills. Various technologies are available to recover the es...
Interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) species co-colonizing the same host plant are still little understood in spite of major ecological significance of mycorrhizal symbiosis and widespread occurrence of these fungi in communities rather than alone. Furthermore, shifting the composition of AMF communities has demonstrated consequ...
Profiling methods facilitate the analysis of a wide range of substances in biological samples. Data analysis using bioinformatic evaluation tools enables a fast and easy comparison of large data sets. In combination, these techniques are useful in the search for biomarkers, as in plant extracts.
A steadily increasing popularity of organic food, gl...
In Central Europe low temperature is limiting soybean growth and biological nitrogen fixation (BNF). The BNF efficiency was shown to increase with bradyrhizobia strains selected for their cold tolerance. Significant bradyrhizobia x soybean variety interactions were reported. Co-inoculation with arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi (AMF) may promote bradyrhi...
Background
In recent years soybean (Glycine max L.) has gained significant attention in Europe due to its ability to produce high quality protein for human and animal consumption. Under the climatic conditions prevalent in Central Europe, low temperature is the major factor limiting soybean growth and symbiotic nitrogen fixation.
Quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) is slowly becoming established as a tool to quantify abundance of different arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) taxa in roots and in soil. Here, we describe the development and field validation of qPCR markers (i.e. primers with associated hydrolysis probes), targeting taxon-specific motifs in the nuclear large rib...
Many studies have scrutinized the nutritional benefits of arbuscular mycorrhizal associations to their host plants, while the carbon (C) balance of the symbiosis has often been neglected. Here, we present quantification of both the C costs and the phosphorus (P) uptake benefits of mycorrhizal association between barrel medic (Medicago truncatula) a...
Diversity in phosphorus (P) acquisition strategies was assessed among three species of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF)
isolated from a single field in Switzerland. Medicago truncatula was used as a test plant. It was grown in a compartmented system with root and root-free zones separated by a fine mesh.
Dual radioisotope labeling (32P and 33P) w...
Pectins are major components of the primary plant cell wall. They can be both methylesterified and acetylesterified and de-esterification
occurs by specific esterases. Proteins extracted by NaCl treatment from root cell walls of two chicory varieties (Cichorium intybus L. cv. Nausica and Arancha) sampled in an experimental field every 2 weeks betwe...
Questions
Questions (6)
Hi there, is it possible to accurately determine mineral N (ammonium and nitrate) from a soil sample that has been stored for several months at -20°C? What are your recommendations? Thank you
Hello, I am looking for a protocol to transform monocot plants with A. rhizogenese. If not existing, what would you change from the protocol used for dicot transformation? Thanks for your advise, C.
Dear all working in Europe,
I am trying to find a company selling pots that are narrow and high at the same time. I cant find any in Europe. It should look like the picture attached. Please send me a message with ideas. I only found providers in the US and we need these pots urgently for a plant experiment. Thanks in advance. Best regards, Cecile
Hi there. I m looking for the optimal composition of an inert substrate (could be mix of sands, vermiculite, perlite... but no soil) where I intend to grow winter wheat in growth chamber or greenhouse conditions. The nutrients will be provided by a liquid nutritive solution (dripping system). Thanks for your thoughts and feedback. Best regards. Cecile
Can you easily assess the colonization rate of an inoculated strain (bacteria living in the rhizosphere) by doing a microbiome analysis (NGS of 16S)?
We want to assess the colonization rate of several inoculated bacterial strains(noculated to wheat plants) but we dont have enough time to design strain specific primers (for a qPCR assay). Instead, we want to do a microbiome analysis of the rhizosphere and we wondered if the results given will be good enough to get a quantitative assessment of the strain survival in the rhizosphere. I am afraid that with the microbiome analysis the resolution of taxa identification will not be good enough and that it will be too semi quantitative. We will sequence in advance the target regions (likely the 16S) of the strains to be traced.
Thanks in advance for your answer
Kind regards, Cecile
Macrodetection of gfp modified strain in the rhizosphere (Rhizobox system)?
