TomGEM Team

TomGEM is a global research alliance bringing together 18 partner institutions from three continents comprising expert academic researchers, private actors and tomato producers. Together, they will translate scientific insights into practical strategies for a better understanding and handling of interactions between genotypes, environmental conditions and breeding practices.


Mondher Bouzayen
Prof. Mondher Bouzayen
Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT)

As the coordinator of TomGEM I am responsible for the overall project management and scientific coordination of the project. TomGEM addresses the issue of yield stability of tomatoes under harsh temperature conditions. Our aim is it to decode heat tolerance and create superior genotypes that are better adapted to high temperature.


Mohamed Zouine
Dr Mohamed Zouine
Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (INPT)

As an expert on genomics, bioinformatics and fruit-set biology, within TomGEM I’m responsible for the generation resources, bioinformatics tools and databases necessary for the project needs.


Cathie Martin
Prof. Cathie Martin
John Innes Centre (JIC)

Within the scope of the TomGEM project, my team and I address the issues regarding the production of fruit with longer post-harvest shelf life associated with heat tolerance. Achieving this is essential to the sustainability of horticultural crops in the face of global warming.


Alisdair Fernie
Dr Alisdair Fernie
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology (MPI-MP)

As an expert on primary metabolomics at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology my main work within TomGEM resolves around the generation of knowledge concerning the impact of environmental and management strategies on primary metabolism in tomato.


Paul Fraser
Prof. Paul Fraser
Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (RHUL)

I am the Head of the Plant Molecular Sciences Department and together with my team we will provide experimental expertise for the assessment of fruit quality following heat stress. Analytical and physiology tests within our laboratory will provide high-throughput screening of quality attributes associated with diverse tomato genotypes.


Antonio Granell
Prof. Antonio Granell
Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)

I am a research professor at CSIC in Spain and within TomGEM my team and I are involved in the screening of large collection of germplasm for fruit and pollen traits in high temperature conditions and the identification of the underlying mechanisms for heat tolerance in tomato.


Luigi Frusciante
Prof. Luigi Frusciante
Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II (UNINA)

Our main tasks in TomGEM are related to germplasm evaluation and selection for heat tolerance. We are also identifying molecular markers for targeting favourable alleles in genes controlling the response to heat stress.


Amalia Barone
Prof. Amalia Barone
Università degli studi di Napoli Federico II (UNINA)

Our main tasks in TomGEM are related to germplasm evaluation and selection for heat tolerance. We are also identifying molecular markers for targeting favourable alleles in genes controlling the response to heat stress.


Peter Hanson
Dr Peter Hanson
The World Vegetable Center (AVRDC)

I am a Vegetable Breeder and Senior Scientist at the World Vegetable Center in Taiwan. Within TomGEM, my role is to provide seeds of heat tolerant tomato accessions and create new crosses designed to help the TomGem team pinpoint and characterize heat tolerance genes. The World Vegetable Center has bred many heat tolerant lines over the years but our vision is to design strategies to boost heat tolerance beyond present levels.


Fernando Carrari
Dr Fernando Carrari
Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA)

I am leading the TomGEM team at the University of Buenos Aires and we conduct germplasm evaluation for heat tolerance under field conditions in Andean valleys of Argentina. Additionally, we assess the impact of high temperatures on the nutritional quality of tomato fruits.


Michel Hernould
Prof. Michel Hernould
Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)

As experts on early fruit organogenesis and development, my colleagues and I participate in the work on determinants of pollen fertility and stability under high temperature conditions.


Galina Pevicharova
Prof. Galina Pevicharova
Maritsa Vegetable Crops Research Institute (MVCRI)

My main tasks in TomGEM are connected to the growth and phenotyping of germplasm collections in the fieldsat Plovdiv (Bulgaria) under elevated temperature conditions and reduced irrigation as well as to undertake hybridization with the most promising lines.


Carlo Schettini
Dr Carlo Schettini
Alma Seges Soc. Coop. (ALMA SEGES)

I am an agronomist and at Alma Seges my team and I are conducting field trials in different areas of Southern Italy in order to evaluate germplasm collections grown at high temperatures. We will also test different management practices to select those that contribute to the improvement of yield performance.


David Gil
Dr David Gil
Enza Zaden España S.L. (ENZA)

I am Biotech Breeder at Enza Zaden, an international seed company. My main tasks in TomGEM are related to phenotyping and evaluating the identified heat tolerant plant material and populations. My team will also be involved in the screening of the tomato population for the selected candidate genes.


Angelo Santino
Dr Angelo Santino
Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA-CNR)

As a scientist at the Institute of Sciences of Food Production (ISPA-CNR) and scientific consultant of Biotecgen s.r.l., I have extensive experience in plant biology, stress response, plant secondary metabolites and their impact on the nutritional value of plant food. Hence, our main tasks in TomGEM resolve around analysing the nutritional value of new heat tolerant tomato varieties.


Verena Gluschak
Dr Verena Gluschak
Eurice GmbH

Within the TomGEM project, we support the coordinator in all aspects of project management, including administrative, legal and financial matters, to ensure a smooth project implementation. Eurice also supports innovation-related activities such as dissemination and exploitation of results to maximise the impact of the project.


Anne Kopka
Anne Kopka
Eurice GmbH

Within the TomGEM project, we support the coordinator in all aspects of project management, including administrative, legal and financial matters, to ensure a smooth project implementation. Eurice also supports innovation-related activities such as dissemination and exploitation of results to maximise the impact of the project.


Carlos Baixauli
Dr Carlos Baixauli
Fundación Cajamar Comunidad Valenciana (FCValenciana)

Within TomGEM we are mainly involved in the cultivation and management of selected tomato lines in greenhouses at high temperature conditions. We then select the plant material bearing fruit under elevated temperature and will characterize and evaluate the agronomical behaviour of different tomato lines.


Kai-Yi Chen
Prof. Kai-Yi Chen
National Taiwan University, Department of Agronomy (NTW)

My main task within TomGEM is to evaluate gene expression profiles at the floral developmental stages under elevated temperatures, in order to identify candidate genes which attribute to pollen viability and traits inducing fruit set under high temperature conditions.


Gilles Bertrandias
Dr Gilles Bertrandias
SAS Rougeline

Based on the expertise of Rougeline in tomato fruit production, we deliver flower buds and fruits at different developmental stages of different genotypes to the other TomGEM partners. We also provide them with the corresponding data on the climatic and yield recordings all through the tomato production period.


Jonathan Jones
Prof. Jonathan Jones
Norfolk Plant Sciences Ltd. (NPS)

Within the TomGEM project, NPS develops nutritionally-enriched and regular rodent diets for preclinical intervention studies, to provide standards against which to compare heat tolerant tomato varieties that will be developed within TomGEM.