Prof. Dr. Alain HEHN

Specialized metabolites are bioactive compounds produced in small amounts by plants to help them adapt to changing environments. Each plant species produces a unique set of these complex molecules, making biodiversity a rich source of chemical diversity. These metabolites are difficult to synthesize chemically but have significant potential, especially in pharmaceuticals. Understanding how plants synthesize them might be helpfull for developing new drugs. However, identifying the responsible genes and functionally characterizing the enzymes involved remains a major challenge, particularly due to difficulties in expressing plant enzymes in non-native systems. Over the past decades, we focused on the biosynthesis of polyphenols using evolving approaches. This has led to the identification of key enzymes, including cytochrome P450s, 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, prenyltransferases, methyltransferases, and GDSL lipase-like enzymes, which are involved in synthesizing furanocoumarins and dicaffeoylquinic acid derivatives. These discoveries offer both scientific insights and opportunities for producing high-value bioactive compounds.

Presentation: Functional characterization of enzymes involved in the synthesis of specialized metabolites in plants.

Specialized metabolites represent a diverse arsenal of molecules that have emerged in plants throughout their evolutionary history. While these active compounds are essential for plant adaptation to their environment, they are also widely exploited by humans, particularly in the fields of healthcare, cosmetics, and even agronomy. My research, conducted at the Agronomy and Environment Laboratory of the University of Lorraine, focuses primarily on the molecular and functional characterization of genes involved in the synthesis of these plant compounds.

As a model, I focus on polyphenols, and more specifically on furanocoumarins, which serve as an excellent example of a “chemical arms race” within the context of plant-pest co-evolution. These molecules are found predominantly in four different plant families that are phylogenetically distant. The hypothesis we proposed, which has been increasingly validated through multiple studies, is that this biosynthetic pathway arose independently in these plant species via a process of convergent evolution. We successfully identified the first enzyme in plants capable of performing O-prenylation of polyphenols.

More recently, we discovered a cytochrome P450 enzyme responsible for converting demethylsuberosin into marmesin, a key reaction in polyphenol biosynthesis. This discovery, supported by phylogenetic analyses and molecular modeling, reveals the presence of this enzyme in certain Moraceae species while being absent in others, offering new insights into plant adaptation and the evolution of cytochrome P450 enzymes.

These fundamental research findings support applied research projects, particularly in the production of high-value-added molecules using metabolic engineering approaches. For instance, we identified and produced an enzyme capable of synthesizing dicaffeoylquinic acid through the bioconversion of chlorogenic acid.

Prof.Dr. Nathalie GUIVAR'H

Specialized metabolites represent a diverse arsenal of molecules that have emerged in plants throughout their evolutionary history. While these active compounds are essential for plant adaptation to their environment, they are also widely exploited by humans, particularly in the fields of healthcare, cosmetics, and even agronomy. My research, conducted at the Agronomy and Environment Laboratory of the University of Lorraine, focuses primarily on the molecular and functional characterization of genes involved in the synthesis of these plant compounds.

As a model, I focus on polyphenols, and more specifically on furanocoumarins, which serve as an excellent example of a “chemical arms race” within the context of plant-pest co-evolution. These molecules are found predominantly in four different plant families that are phylogenetically distant. The hypothesis we proposed, which has been increasingly validated through multiple studies, is that this biosynthetic pathway arose independently in these plant species via a process of convergent evolution. We successfully identified the first enzyme in plants capable of performing O-prenylation of polyphenols.

More recently, we discovered a cytochrome P450 enzyme responsible for converting demethylsuberosin into marmesin, a key reaction in polyphenol biosynthesis. This discovery, supported by phylogenetic analyses and molecular modeling, reveals the presence of this enzyme in certain Moraceae species while being absent in others, offering new insights into plant adaptation and the evolution of cytochrome P450 enzymes.

These fundamental research findings support applied research projects, particularly in the production of high-value-added molecules using metabolic engineering approaches. For instance, we identified and produced an enzyme capable of synthesizing dicaffeoylquinic acid through the bioconversion of chlorogenic acid.

Presentation: Functional characterization of enzymes involved in the synthesis of specialized metabolites in plants.

Specialized metabolites are bioactive compounds produced in small amounts by plants to help them adapt to changing environments. Each plant species produces a unique set of these complex molecules, making biodiversity a rich source of chemical diversity. These metabolites are difficult to synthesize chemically but have significant potential, especially in pharmaceuticals. Understanding how plants synthesize them might be helpfull for developing new drugs. However, identifying the responsible genes and functionally characterizing the enzymes involved remains a major challenge, particularly due to difficulties in expressing plant enzymes in non-native systems. Over the past decades, we focused on the biosynthesis of polyphenols using evolving approaches. This has led to the identification of key enzymes, including cytochrome P450s, 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases, prenyltransferases, methyltransferases, and GDSL lipase-like enzymes, which are involved in synthesizing furanocoumarins and dicaffeoylquinic acid derivatives. These discoveries offer both scientific insights and opportunities for producing high-value bioactive compounds.

Prof. Dr. Frédéric Bourgaud 

Full Professor in Plant Biotechnologies at Université de Lorraine (UL) – 1999-2017 and 2024-present. From 2027 to 2024 he worked in the industry, more precisely for startups he created. 

Professor Frederic Bourgaud graduated from the National Polytechnical Institute of Lorraine (INPL). In 1990, he got a PhD degree in Agronomy. His thesis, supported by a pharmaceutical group, was focused on high-added value secondary metabolites found in wild Australian plants.

From 2009 to 2017, he led a joint research unit between INRAE (National Institute of Agronomical and Environmental Research) and the University of Lorraine, where he developed a research group working on secondary metabolites of plants, mainly focused on coumarins.

Back at the University of Lorraine, he is director of the botanical gardens of Nancy and works on bryophytes to better characterize certain natural compounds and develop new technologies.

In parallel with his academic position, he founded in 2005 a company, Plant Advanced Technology (up to 65 employees, Paris stock exchange). PAT develops innovative technologies to produce high added value active ingredients from plants, mainly intended for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic markets. Among these new technologies, the so-called "plant milking" technology is now exploited by PAT on an industrial scale to produce kilograms of active compounds, often from rare or endangered plants. In 2020, he founded Cellengo, a subsidiary of PAT, dedicated to the metabolic engineering of natural plant compounds produced in microorganisms.

Presentation: Plant Factories in 2025 and Beyond: Balancing Human Wellness, Resource Preservation, and Climate Realities

Plants have historically played a fundamental role in the development of therapeutic agents and cosmetic formulations, with their use dating back to ancient times. The pharmaceutical industry experienced a significant growth in the discovery of plant-derived drug discovery between the 1960s and 1990s, marked by the development of landmark compounds such as paclitaxel, vincristine, topotecan, and artemisinin. At the same time, the emergence of prion diseases in the 1990s, notably bovine spongiform encephalopathy, catalyzed a paradigm shift in the cosmetics sector, making plant extracts preferred alternatives to animal-derived ingredients.

In the early 2000s, plant in vitro culture technologies—including plant cell suspensions, hairy root cultures, and other controlled systems—were considered highly promising platforms for the pharmaceutical sector, due to their scalability, reproducibility, and biosynthetic potential. However, despite their technical advantages, such platforms have been largely underutilized by the pharmaceutical industry in recent decades. In contrast, the cosmetics industry has embraced these technologies, particularly over the past decade, with an increasing number of companies leveraging plant cell cultures in bioreactors for the sustainable production of active cosmetic ingredients.

Given the current frameworks guiding pharmaceutical development and biomanufacturing strategies, a renewed interest in plant-based biotechnologies remains plausible. Moreover, in the context of projected global temperature increases of +2 to +3 °C, it is imperative to reevaluate production models for bioactive compounds. This includes integrating considerations of carbon footprint, the accelerating loss of biodiversity, and the strategic prioritization of arable land for food production. Given these constraints, controlled-environment systems such as plant factories can represent a viable and sustainable alternative to produce high-value, plant-derived compounds.