Dr. Solen Rocher

Research scientist

Molecular genetics of perenial forage crops

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
2560 Hochelaga Boulevard, Quebec, Quebec

Current research and/or projects

Development of molecular tools to uncover molecular basis of complex traits and accelerate breeding of perenial forage legumes.

Research and/or project statements

• increasing fall productivity of winter-hardy alfalfa,

• improving winter survival of forage legumes,

• increasing the digestibility and energy of Canadian forages fed to high producing dairy cows,

• explore the genetic diversity of QRDC rhizobium collection to identify cold-tolerant strains in association with for forage legumes growing in cold soils.

Professional activities / interests

• Application of next-generation sequencing techniques for high-throughput genotyping of breeding populations.

• Genome-wide identification of candidate genes using quantitative and population genetics.

• Functional characterization and diversity analysis of candidate genes.

• Genetic diversity analysis of forage crops and symbiotic microorganisms involved in nitrogen fixation.

Education and awards

Ph. D.    2012      Plant Integrative Biology        Université Montpellier 2 (France)

M. Sc.   2008      Biologie-Agronomie-Santé      Université de Rennes 1 (France)

Key publications

  1. A. Bertrand, A. Claessens, S. Rocher, V. Baron. Breeding alfalfa for cold tolerance and low dormancy. Présentation orale au 11th International Plant Growth Hardiness Conference (IPCHS), Wisconsin, USA

    2018 - View publication details

  2. Bertrand, A., Claessens, A., Thivierge, M.N., Rocher, S., Lajeunesse, J., Castonguay, Y., Seguin, P. (2018). Field assessment of alfalfa populations recurrently selected for stem cell wall digestibility. Crop Science, [online] 58(4), 1632-1643. http://dx.doi.org/10.2135/cropsci2018.02.0119

    2018 - View publication details

  3. Solen Rocher, Josée Michaud, Annie Claessens, Marie-Noëlle Thivierge, Annick Bertrand. 2018. Candidate genes associated with increased concentration of fermentable sugars in alfalfa. North American Alfalfa Improvement Conference, Logan, Utah 4-6 June 2018.

    2018 - View publication details

  4. A Bertrand, A Claessens, M-N Thivierge, S Rocher, J Lajeunesse, P Seguin. Field validation of the improvement of alfalfa stem cell wall digestibility by recurrent selection. NAAIC, Utah.

    2018 - View publication details

  5. Bertrand, A. Claessens, A., Rocher, S. 2018. An Indoor screening method for reduced dormancy in alfalfa, In : Brazauskas, G., Statkeviciute, G. Janaviciene, K. (eds) Breeding grasses and protein crops in the era of genomics. Springer International Publishing. pp.209-214

    2018 - View publication details

  6. Audy, P., Rocher, S., and Claessens, A. 2017.
    Aphanomyces and Phytophthora root rot tolerance in alfalfa: recurrent selection and marker development under stringent disease conditions.
    Can. J. Plant Pathol. 39: 544

    2017 - View publication details

  7. Bertrand, A., Bipfubusa, M., Claessens, A., Rocher, S., Castonguay, Y. (2017). Effect of photoperiod prior to cold acclimation on freezing tolerance and carbohydrate metabolism in alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.). Plant Science, [online] 264 122-128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plantsci.2017.09.003

    2017 - View publication details

  8. Claessens Annie, François Langevin, Annick Bertrand, and Solen Rocher. 2017. Development of an indoor freezing tolerance test for switchgrass. ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2017. Tampa, Oct 22-25 2017.

    2017 - View publication details

  9. Thivierge, M.-N., Audy, P., Bélanger, G., Claessens, A., Bertrand, A., Rocher, S., Tremblay, G., Jégo, G., and Lajeunesse, J. 2017. Systèmes racinaires: la force cachée! Congrès de l’Ordre des Agronomes du Québec (OAQ), Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, September 21, 2017

    2017 - View publication details

  10. Annick Bertrand, Annie Claessens and Solen Rocher. 2017. An indoor screening method for reduced fall dormancy in alfalfa. Eucarpia, Vilnius, Lithuania, 11-14 September 2017.

    2017 - View publication details

  11. Bertrand, A., Claessens, A., Thivierge, M.-N., and Rocher, S. 2017. Breeding for cell wall characteristics linked to improved saccharification efficiency in alfalfa. Plant Biology 2017, Honolulu, June 24-28 2017.

    2017 - View publication details

  12. Audy, P., Rocher, S., & Claessens, A. (2017, 7-9 Juin). Amélioration de la résistance à deux oomycètes pathogènes des racines chez la luzerne: sélection récurrente et assistée par marqueurs moléculaires. Papier présenté au 107e Congrès annuel de la Société de Protection des Plantes du Québec, Sainte-Anne de Bellevue, Quebec (Canada).

    2017 - View publication details

  13. Annick Bertrand, Gilles Bélanger, Annie Claessens, Gaëtan Tremblay, Guillaume Jégo, Patrice Audy, Marie-Noëlle Thivierge, Solen Rocher et Julie Lajeunesse. Forage crop persistence. Journée portes ouvertes-Agropur-Field day. CRD de Sherbrooke. 7 juin 2017

    2017 - View publication details

  14. Gaëtan Tremblay, Gilles Bélanger, Annie Claessens, Annick Bertrand, Guillaume Jégo, Marie-Noëlle Thivierge, Solen Rocher et Julie Lajeunesse. 2017. Nutritive value of forage crops. Valeur nutritive des plantes fourragères. Journée portes ouvertes-Agropur-Field day. CRD de Sherbrooke. 7 juin 2017

    2017 - View publication details

  15. Annick Bertrand, Annie Claessens, Solen Rocher, Julie Lajeunesse, Philippe Seguin. 2017. Amélioration génétique de la digestibilité et du contenu en énergie chez la luzerne. Tournée plantes fourragères du CRAAQ. 31 mai 2017

    2017 - View publication details

  16. Claessens, A, Langevin, F, Bertrand, A, Rocher, S. 2017. Amélioration de la compétitivité économique et de la durabilité de la production de bioénergie à l’aide de culture fourragères pérennes. Tournée plantes fourragères du CRAAQ. St-Augustin, 31 mai 2017.

    2017 - View publication details

  17. Rocher, S., Michaud, J., Castonguay, Y., Bertrand, A. and Claessens, A. 2017.Identification of transcript-derived sequences that vary in abundance during cold acclimation in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) by SRAP-cDNA.XXV Plant and Animal Genome Conference San Diego 2017/01/14 - 2017/01/18

    2017 - View publication details

  18. Bipfubusa, M., Rocher, S., Bertrand, A., Castonguay, Y., Renaut, J. (2016). Dataset of protein changes induced by cold acclimation in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) populations recurrently selected for improved freezing tolerance, 8 570-574. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2016.06.003

    2016 - View publication details

  19. Bertrand, A., Bipfubusa, M., Castonguay, Y., Rocher, S., Szopinska-Morawska, A., Papadopoulos, Y. et Renaut, J. 2016. A proteome analysis of freezing tolerance in red clover (Trifolium pratense L.). BMC Plant Biology.

    2016 - View publication details

  20. Bertrand, A., Claessens, A., Rocher, S., Audy, P. and Castonguay, Y. 2016. New breeding approaches for forage crops improvement. Scientific workshop of the joint laboratory in agriculture science between AAFC and Yangzhou Univeristy Yangzhou 2016/03/24 - 2016/03/24

    2016 - View publication details

Contact

Research facility

Quebec Research and Development Centre
2560 Hochelaga Boulevard
Québec, QC G1V 2J3
Canada

Expertise

Agriculture›Genetics›Forage plants

Affiliations

Membre du comité Plantes fourragères du CRAAQ.

Member of “Centre SEVE”, interinstitutionnal vegetal science research center.

Language

English
French