Objective
In animals, the formation and growth of new organs cease at the completion of development; in plants, the body is continuously built throughout the plant lifespan. In addition, in plants there is virtually no cell migration due to rigid cell walls: this provides a unique opportunity for dissecting the relations between pattern formation and final organ structure.
Plant post-embryonic development takes place in localized regions called meristems. In the root of Arabidopsis thaliana, stem cells in the apical region of the meristem self-renew and produce daughter cells that differentiate in the distal meristem transition zone. To ensure root growth, the rate of cell differentiation must equal the rate of generation of new cells. Recent work of the proponent has shown that maintenance of the Arabidopsis root meristem size - and consequently root growth - is controlled by the interaction between two hormones in the meristem transition zone: cytokinin, which promotes cell differentiation, and auxin, which promotes cell division, and has unveiled the regulatory circuit underlying this interaction.
Scope of this proposal is to clarify how the cytokinin/auxin interaction influences the activities of the entire root meristem, thus ensuring a balance between cell differentiation and cell division.
In particular, the work proposed aims to:
- Clarify how the cytokinin/auxin interaction is perceived in the transition zone to bring about synchronous differentiation of all cell files of the distal meristem.
- Understand how the cytokinin/auxin interaction maintains a balance between cell differentiation in the (distal) transition zone and cell division in the (apical) stem cell niche.
- Unveil other inputs and regulatory circuits that interact with the cytokinin/auxin regulatory circuit in controlling root growth.
These goals will be achieved via the identification of genes involved in these processes. Hypothesis-driven experiments will allow verifying the role of candidate genes, and genetic and genome-wide approaches will allow identifying new genes.
In these activities, we will take advantage of state-of-the-art techniques, including tissue- and cell-specific gene expression techniques, analysis of microarrays from cell lines isolated via cell sorter, light microscopy and confocal imaging techniques, as well as classic genetic, physiological and pharmacological approaches.
The experimental results of these research lines will be integrated into computational models with the ultimate goal of describing the mechanisms of root growth and its control
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- natural sciences physical sciences optics microscopy confocal microscopy
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2010-StG_20091118
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Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.