Permanent staff

Date of birth: May 16, 1958

Education

1981      DEA (=MSc.) in Genetic resources & Crop improvement,

             Université Paris Sud, France

1992      Ph.D. in Genetic resources & Crop improvement, Université Paris Sud, France.

Career

Plant Geneticist, specialized in crop genetic resources.

Joined the IRD (Institut de recherche pour le développement, formerly ORSTOM) in 1982.

Lived and worked in various geographical and institutional environments.

1982-1989

• • Scientist, Laboratory of Genetics, Centre ORSTOM of Adiopodoumé, Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa

  • Genetic diversity of rice species Oryza sativa and O. glaberrima in Africa

  • Head of the lab, 1986-1988

1989-1995

• • Visiting scientist, Laboratory of Plant Genetics, INRA (National Institute of Agronomical Research), Gif sur Yvette, France

  • Dynamic conservation of wheat genetic resources

1995-2000

• • Seconded from IRD to the International Rice Research Institute, Philippine

  • Population geneticist, Genetic Resources Center

  • Project team leader “On-farm conservation of rice genetic resources”

  • Multidisciplinary research activities with NARS in the Philippines, India and Vietnam

2000-present

• • IRD Research Center, Montpellier, France

  • Research team leader "Human activities and dynamics of plant genetic diversity"

2009-present

• • Seconded from IRD to Agropolis Fondation

  • Agrobiodiversity, Programme leader

  • ARCAD (Agropolis Resource Center for Crop Conservation Adapatation and Diversity), Project leader

Research activities

Key words : Agrobiodiversity ; Diversity, conservation and use of crop genetic resources; Agroecosystems; Farmers’ practices ; Seed systems ; Global change ; Genetic erosion.

Skills : Plant genetics, population genetics, molecular markers, interaction with social sciences.

Field work : Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Philippines, Vietnam, India, Madagascar

Studied (1982-1992) the genetic diversity of rice germplasm in Africa (evaluation of germplasm collections, reproductive barriers, interspecific crosses, genetic mapping of isozyme loci, identification of QTLs).

Then developed a particular interest in the factors that affect crop genetic diversity and its dynamics (e.g. economical and agroecological changes). Developed research on the diversity and conservation of genetic resources in agroecosystems, seed systems and the complementarity between in situ and ex situ conservation. Worked on sexually- and vegetatively-reproduced crops.

Studied the dynamic conservation of winter wheat populations (1991-1995).

Designed, conducted and managed a multidisciplinary (genetics and anthroplogy) research project at IRRI (1995-2000) on the farmers’ management and the on-farm conservation of rice genetic resources in the Philippines, Vietnam and India, in partnership with NARS.

Designed, conducted and managed multidisciplinary research (2000-present) on the farmers’ management of yam diversity in Benin, the geneflows between wild and cultivated yams and the genetic structure of yam varieties.

Scientific coordination of several research projects (2000-present) on the diversity and evolution of wild and cultivated species (root and tuber crops : cassava, arracacha, yam ; cereals : rice, pearl millet, sorghum, corn, quinoa; Amazonian palm trees)

In 2009, joined Agropolis Fondation (http://www.agropolis-fondation.fr/) to lead the ARCAD project. ARCAD, short for Agropolis Resource Center for Crop Conservation, Adaptation and Diversity, is a Flagship Programme of Agropolis Fondation. Aimed at setting up a new open multi-function (conservation, research and training) platform devoted to the assessment and better use of plant agro biodiversity in Mediterranean and tropical regions, ARCAD will focus on the relationship between crop diversity and the processes of domestication and adaptation to the agricultural environment.

Miscellaneous

Refereeing of grant proposals for several agencies: International Science Foundation, United Nations University, Bureau of Genetic Resources (France), CIRAD (France), ANR (National Research Agency, France), FFEM (GEF)-AFD

Various teaching duties over the last ten years:

MSc. Methods in Plant Genetic Conservation, Univ. of the Philippines Los Banos

MSc. Plant Genetic Resources, National School of Agronomy, Montpellier

Contributed to training courses in plant genetics in Benin and Burkina Faso

Supervised PhD students in France, Vietnam, Ecuador and Madagascar

Organized an international training course on Agrobiodiversity (Montpellier, 2008)

Member of the Editorial Board of Genetic resources and Crop Evolution (Kluwer)

Selected publications

Peer-reviewed papers

Barry MB, Diagne A, Sogbossi MJ, Pham JL, Diawara S and Ahmadi (2008) Recent changes in varietal diversity of rice in Guinea. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization

Barry MB, Pham JL, Béavogui S, Ghesquière A, Ahmadi N(2008) Diachronic (1979-2003) analysis of rice genetic diversity in Guinea did not reveal genetic erosion. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution

Barry MB, Pham JL, Noyer JL, Billot C, Courtois B and Ahmadi N (2007) Genetic diversity of the two cultivated rice species (O. sativa & O. glaberrima) in Maritime Guinea. Evidence for interspecific recombination. Euphytica 154 :127-137

Bezançon G, Pham JL, Deu M, Vigouroux Y, Sagnard F, Mariac C, Kapran I, Mamadou A, Gérard B, Ndjeunga J, Chantereau J (2009) Changes in the diversity and geographic distribution of cultivated millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) varieties in Niger between 1976 and 2003. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 56:223-236

Couvreur TLP, Billotte N, Risterucci AM, Lara C, Vigouroux Y, Ludena B, Pham JL, Pintaud JC (2006) Close genetic proximity between cultivated and wild Bactris gasipaes Kunth revealed by microsatellite markers in Western Ecuador. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 53:1361-1373

David JL, Pham JL (1993) Rapid changes in pollen production in experimental populations of wheat with male sterility. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 6:659-676

Mariac C, Luong V, Kapran I, Mamadou A, Sagnard F, Deu M, Chantereau J, Gerard B, Ndjeunga J, Bezançon G, Pham JL, Vigouroux Y (2006) Diversity of wild and cultivated pearl millet accessions (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) in Niger assessed by microsatellite markers. Theor Appl Genet 114:49–58

Morin SR, M Calibo, M Garcia-Belen, Pham JL, Palis F (2002) Natural Hazards and Genetic Diversity in Rice. Agriculture and Human Values 19:133-149

Pham JL, Glaszmann JC, Sano R, Barbier P, Ghesquière A, Second G (1990) Isozyme markers in rice: genetic analysis and linkage relationships. Genome 33:348-359

Robert T, Mariac C, Allinne C, Remigereau MS, Luxereau A, Tidjani M, Seyni O, Bezançon G, Pham JL and Sarr A (2006) Genetic diversity and gene flow among pearl millet crop/weed complex: case study in Southwestern Niger. Theor Appl Genet 113:1003-1014

Scarcelli N, Daıïnou O, Agbangla C, Tostain S, Pham JL (2005) Segregation patterns of isozyme loci and microsatellite markers show the diploidy of African yam Dioscorea rotundata (2 n= 40). Theor Appl Genet 111:226–232

Scarcelli N, Tostain S, Vigouroux Y, Agbangla C, Daïnou O, Pham JL (2006) Farmers’ use of wild relatives and sexual reproduction in a vegetatively propagated crop. The case of yam in Benin. Molecular Ecology 15:2421-2432.

Tostain S, Agbangla C, Scarcelli N, Mariac C, Daïnou O, Berthaud J, Pham JL (2007) Genetic diversity analysis of yam cultivars (Dioscorea rotundata Poir.) in Benin using SSR markers. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization 5:71-81

Book/Chapters

Bellon MR, Pham JL, Jackson MT (1997) Genetic conservation: a role for rice farmers. In: N Maxted, BV Ford-Lloyd & JG Hawkes (eds), Plant Conservation: the In Situ Approach. Chapman & Hall, London. pp.263-289

Bellon MR, Pham JL, Sebastian LS, Francisco SR, Loresto GC, Erasga D, Sanchez P, Calibo M, Abrigo G, Quilloy S (1998) Farmers’ perceptions of varietal diversity: implications for on-farm conservation of rice. Pages 95-108. In S. Smale (ed), Farmers, Gene Banks and Crop Breeding. Kluwer Academic Publishing

Bezançon G, Pham JL, eds (2004) Ressources génétiques des mils en Afrique de l’Ouest. Diversité, conservation et valorisation. Editions de l’IRD, 2004

Jackson MT, Pham JL, Newbury HJ, Ford-Lloyd BV, Virk PS (1999) A core collection for rice - needs, opportunities and constraints. In: Core collections for today and tomorrow, ed. by RC Johnson and T Hodgkin, p.18-27, ill. Ref. Rome, Italy: IPGRI, 1999

Pham JL, Morin SR, Sebastian LS, Abrigo GA, Calibo MA, Quilloy SM, Hipolito L, Jackson MT (2002) Rice, farmers and genebanks: a case study in the Cagayan Valley, Philippines. In: J. Engels, Ramathan Rao, AHD Brown and MT Jackson (eds) Managing Plant genetic diversity. CABI-IPGRI. 149-160

Scarcelli N, Tostain S, Baco MN, Agbangla C, Daïnou O, Vigouroux Y, Pham JL (2008) Does agriculture conflict with in-situ conservation? A case study on the use of wild relatives by yam farmers in Benin. In: Maxted N, Ford-Lloyd BV, Kell SP, Iriondo JM, Dulloo ME et Turok J (eds) Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use. CAB International, UK, pp331-339

Thurston HD, Salik J, Smith M, Trutmann P, Pham JL, McDowell R (1999) Traditional management of agrobiodiversity. In: D. Wood and J.M. Lenné (eds) Agrobiodiversity: characterization, utilization and management. CABI. pp 211-244