Armand Séguin

Natural Resources Canada
Canadian Forest Service
Laurentian Forestry Centre
1055 du P.E.P.S.
P.O. Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy
Quebec, Quebec G1V 4C7
Canada

Phone : (418) 648-5832
Fax : (418) 648-5849
E-mail : Click here to email Armand Séguin
Web page : Click here to access the Web page of Armand Séguin

Research Interests

Armand Séguin obtained his Ph.D. in 1990 from Univ. Laval; postdoctoral studies at the Salk Institute for Biological studies (California) in 1991-1992. Since then, he has become a well recognize researcher in tree biotechnology and molecular genetics. He is research scientist at the Laurentian Forestry Centre (since 1995).

The candidate's research program centres on increasing current understanding of the molecular mechanisms of stress responses in trees, tree genetic engineering and the potential impacts of transgenic trees on the environment. Identification of new avenues to improve forest pest resistance through genetic engineering has been a constant priority for our laboratory. In this respect many new genes have been characterized in a context of responses to biotic stress factors (microbes and insects) both in poplars and in spruce. This research will also provide the fundamental knowledge that is essential for a better understanding of tree response after the attack of a pest. This information could be useful in understanding how a biological control method influences the physiological status of a tree. Moreover, our approach should lead to the identification of genetic markers and genetic elements related to important sylvicultural traits that could be implemented by molecular breeding or genetic engineering.

Publications

Nicole, M.-C., G. Zeneli R. Lavallée, D. Rioux, É. Bauce, M.-J. Morency, T.M. Fenning and A. Séguin. (2006) White pine weevil (Pissodes strobi) biological performance is unaffected by the jasmonic acid or wound induced defense response in Norway spruce (Picea abies) Tree Physiology (in press)
Hamel L.-P., Nicole M.-C., Sritubtim S., Morency M.-J., Ellis M., Ehlting J., Beaudoin N., Barbazuk B., Klessig D., Lee J., Martin G., Mundy J., Ohashi Y., Scheel D., Sheen J., Xing T., Zhang S., Séguin A. and Ellis B. E. (2006) Ancient signals: Comparative genomics of plant MAPK and MAPKK gene families Trends Plant Sci. (in press)
N. Pavy, C. Paule, L. Parsons, J.A. Crow, M.-J. Morency, J. Cooke, J.E. Johnson, E. Noumen, C. Guillet-Claude, Y. Butterfield, S. Barber, G. Yang, J. Liu, J. Stott, R. Kirkpatrick, A. Siddiqui, R. Holt, M. Marra, A. Séguin, E. Retzel, J. Bousquet and J. MacKay (2005) Generation, annotation, analysis and database integration of 16,500 white spruce EST clusters. BMC Genomics 6: 144-178.
Noël, A., Levasseur, C., Le, V-Q. and Séguin, A. (2005) Enhance resistance to fungal pathogens in forest trees by genetic transformation of black spruce and hybrid poplar with a Trichoderma harzianum endochitinase gene. Physiol. Mol. Plant Pathol. 67: 92-99
Cloutier, M., Vigneault, F., Lachance, D. and Séguin, A. (2005) Characterization of a poplar NIMA-related kinase PNek1 and its potential role in meristematic activity. FEBS Letters 579: 4659-4665.
Sibout, R., Eudes, A, Mouille, A. Pollet, B., Lapierre, C., Jouanin, L. and Séguin, A. (2005) Cinnamyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase-C and D Are the Primary Genes Involved in Lignin Biosynthesis in the Floral Stem of Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 17: 2059-2076.
Fofana, B., Benhamou, N., McNally, D. J. Labbé, C. Séguin, A. and Bélanger R. R. (2005) Suppression of induced resistance in cucumber through disruption of the flavonoid pathway. Phytopathology 95: 114-123.
Boyle, B., Hamelin, R.C, and Séguin, A. (2005) In vivo monitoring of obligate biotrophic pathogen growth by Kpcr Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 1546-1552.
Hamel, L-P., Miles, G.P., Samuel, M.A., Ellis, B.E., Séguin, A. and Beaudoin, N. (2005) Activation of Stress-Responsive Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathways in Hybrid Poplar (Populus trichocarpa X Populus deltoides). Tree Physiol. 25: 277-288.
Powell, W.A., Maynard, C.A., Boyle, B. and Séguin, A. (2005) Fungal and Bacterial Resistance in Transgenic Trees. In Transgenic Trees. Fladung, M. and Ditrich, E. Editors. Springer, Heidelberg.
Pervieux, I, Bourassa, M., Laurans, F., Hamelin, R. and Séguin, A. (2004) A spruce defensin showing strong antifungal activity and increased transcript accumulation after wounding and jasmonate treatments. Physiol. Mol. Plant Pathol. 64: 331-341.
Tian, L, and Séguin, A. (2004) Microprojectile particle effect on stable transformation of black spruce via bombardment. Plant Mol. Biol. Rep. 22: 199.
K. Klimaszewska, R.G. Rutledge and A. Séguin (2004) Genetic transformation of conifers utilizing somatic embryogenesis. In: Transgenic Plants: Methods and Protocols, vol. 286 L. Peña Ed. Humana Press. pp. 151-163.
MacKay, J., Bérubé, H., Regan, S., Séguin, A. (2004) Functional genomics in forest trees: application to the investigation of defense mechanisms and wood formation. In; Plantation Forest Biotechnology for the 21^st Century, C Walter and Mike Carson Eds. Research Signpost, Kerala, India. pp. 163-180.
Mentang, R. and Séguin, A. (2004) Transgenic approaches to increased pathogen disease resistance in forest trees: a case study with poplar. In Integrating scales of forest pathology. J.E. Lundquist, R.C. Hamelin Editors. The American Phytopathological Society.
Sibout, R., Goujon, T., Eudes, A, Pollet, B., Mila, I., Granier, F., Lapierre, C., Séguin, A. and L. Jouanin. (2003) Mutations in two CAD genes paralogues have different impacts on lignin constitution in Arabidopsis thaliana. Plant Physiol. 132: 848-860.
Mentag, R., Luckevich, M., Morency, M-J., and Séguin, A. (2003) Bacterial disease resistance of transgenic hybrid poplar expressing a synthetic antimicrobial peptide (D4E1). Tree Physiol. 23: 405-411.
Tian, L., Wu, K., Levasseur, C., Ouellet, T., Foster, L. Latoszek-Green, M., Sibbald, S., Miki, B., Séguin, A. and Brown, D.C. (2003) Activity of elements from the tobacco cryptic promoter, tCUP, in conifers. In vitro Cell Dev. Biol.-Plant 39: 193-202.
Fofana, B., McNally, D.J., Labbé, C., Boulanger, R., Benhamou, N., Séguin, A. and Bélanger, R.R. (2002) Milsana-induced resistance in powdery mildew-infected cucumber plants correlates with the induction of chalcone synthase and chalcone isomerase. Physiol. Mol. Plant Pathol. 61: 121-132.
Hay, I., Morency, M-J. and Séguin, A. (2002) Assessing the persistence of DNA in decomposing leaves of genetically modified poplar trees. Can. J. For. Res. 32: 977-982
Peña, L. and Séguin, A. (2001) Recent advances in genetic transformation of trees. Trends Biotechnol. 19: 500-506.
Klimaszewska K, Lachance D, Pelletier G, Lelu M-A, Séguin, A. (2001) Regeneration of transgenic Picea glauca, P. mariana, and P. abies after cocultivation of embryogenic tissue with Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In Vitro Cell Dev Biol-Plant 37: 748-755.
Levée, V. and Séguin, A. (2001) Inducible expression of the heterologous PAL2 promoter from bean in white pine (Pinus strobus) transgenic cells. Tree Physiol. 21: 665-672.
Lapointe, G., Luckevich, M., and Séguin, A. (2001) 14-3-3 gene family in hybrid poplar and its possible implication in tree defense against pathogens. J. Exp. Bot. 52:1331-1338.
Lapointe, G., Luckevich, M., and Séguin, A. (2001) Investigation on the induction of 14-3-3 in white spruce. Plant Cell Rep. 20: 79-84.
L’Homme, Y., Séguin, A. and Tremblay, F. M. (2000) Different classes of retrotransposons in coniferous spruce species Genome. 43: 1884-1889.
Richard, S., Lapointe, G., Rutledge, R.G., and Séguin, A. (2000) Induction of chalcone synthase expression in white spruce by wounding and jasmonate. Plant Cell. Physiol. 41: 982-987.
Richard, S., Morency, M.-J., Drevet, C., Jouanin, L. and Séguin, A. (2000) Isolation and characterization of a putative dehydrin gene from white spruce induced upon wounding, drought and cold stresses. Plant Mol. Biol. 43: 1-10.