Regulation of plant growth by MADS box organ identity genes

Objective

The development of organs in the plant body occurs post-embryonically and can be characterised by three distinct steps. Firstly, the position of future organ primordia must be specified. Subsequently the identity of organs is determined, followed by differentiation and growth of specialised cell types. Although substantial amount of data generated in the past resulted in identification of players involved in each step, the crucial question how organ identity determination is linked to organ growth and differentiation remains to be addressed. Several preliminary observations imply that genes essential for the specification of floral organ identity, namely MADS box transcription factors, might also play important roles in later steps of organ development and growth. Pilot experiments revealed that MADS box transcription factors are expressed during later steps of organ development and are able to interact with proteins involved in the regulation of organ growth, like TCP transcription factors. The main objective of my research will be to characterise the exact function of MADS box organ identity genes in the molecular and cellular processes underlying growth and establishment of final organ size. I intend to focus predominantly on the development of the floral organs sepals and petals in the model species Arabidopsis given their simple structure yet distinct size and identity. I will confirm and identify “late” interaction partners and targets of the MADS box proteins. Furthermore, the role of the identified genes and proteins in the growth process of floral organs will be analysed by achieving time and site specific activation/inactivation. The proposed research will not only substantially contribute to the knowledge about regulation of plant growth, but will also open new horizons in the field of plant development. Detailed characterisation of molecular mechanisms governing flower and hence fruit growth could provide tools for future agricultural applications.

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: The European Science Vocabulary.

• agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Arabidopsis
• MADS box
• TCP
• biomass
• floral organ identity
• flower development
• growth
• plant development
• transcription factors

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• 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)

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.

• PEOPLE-2007-2-1.IEF - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008
See other projects for this call

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.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator