In rice, the team studies the formation and differentiation of the root cortex to improve water use efficiency through the formation of root aerenchyma, air cavities **(Figure 1)**. Water use efficiency in rice and cereals is related to the ability to extract and transfer water at the root level, which in turn is correlated with anatomical parameters such as the presence of aerenchyma and the ratio of cortex to vascular tissue surface area. In the field, these parameters are influenced by the presence of rhyzobacteria that are able, in symbiosis with cereals, to modulate the differentiation of the cortex and block or stimulate the formation of aerenchyma.

In sorghum, the team is studying the mechanisms involved in the storage of grain proteins and their digestibility to improve nutritional quality. Indeed, the low digestibility of grain proteins is an obstacle to the use of sorghum, a cereal species adapted to arid conditions, in human and animal nutrition. The impact of climate change, and in particular recurrent thermal stresses on the nutritional quality of grains, is also the subject of our studies.