Objective Under stress bacteria accumulate the potent chemical messenger (p)ppGpp, which drives global changes in transcription that allow the bacteria to adapt and persist. Remarkably the ability to synthesise (p)ppGpp is conserved in plant chloroplasts, organelles that are descended from an ancient prokaryotic endosymbiont. However, very little is known about the role (p)ppGpp plays in plants. We propose to (a) artificially manipulate (p)ppGpp levels and analyse the downstream responses of the plant, and (b) examine how (p)ppGpp synthesis is controlled and how these control mechanisms are wired into known stress and developmental signalling pathways. Discovery of the role of (p)ppGpp in plants will allow us to better understand how plants adapt to stress, how chloroplast development and photosynthesis are regulated, and how an ancient endosymbiont became integrated into a eukaryotic cell. This knowledge will be important for improving crops to face the challenges of a changing climate and uncertain energy supplies. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologyagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturenatural sciencesbiological sciencesbotany Keywords Arabidopsis Molecular biology Plant growth Signalling Stress Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator COMMISSARIAT A L ENERGIE ATOMIQUE ET AUX ENERGIES ALTERNATIVES EU contribution € 173 968,74 Address RUE LEBLANC 25 75015 PARIS 15 France See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Christophe Robaglia (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
