ADAAPT Project Annual Meeting

This is the aim of the ADAAPT project (Agroecology and Digital Agriculture via Animal and Plant Epigenetics), a successful applicant in the 2024 call for proposals under the PEPR Agroecology and Digital programme, which is now entering its second year.

By developing approaches and methods that combine genetic, epigenetic and microbiome data, the project aims to gain a better understanding of the adaptive capacities of farm animals and crops in the face of the challenges posed by the agroecological transition, against a backdrop of climate change.

From 9 to 11 June 2026, the project partners gathered in Orléans for their annual meeting.

These three days provided an opportunity to share progress on the various research strands and gain an overview of the research being carried out within the project. The presentations notably enabled PhD students and undergraduates funded by the project to present their work:

• Machine learning and epigenotyping: a new approach to improving the prediction of plant phenotypes in an agroecological context (PhD)
• Studies of associations between the bovine methylome and performance phenotypes and environmental factors (PhD)
• Epigenetic clocks for the functional longevity of dairy cows (M2)
• Simulation of epigenetic clocks in laying hens (M2)

Two new PhD theses will commence in September on the development of epigenetic clocks in cattle and poultry.