Final Report Summary - PLANTSURVIVOR (ATR7, a novel player of oxidative stress tolerance in plants: interrogation of its mode of action through an integrative omics approach) The first goal of PlantSurvivor was to unravel the biological role of ATR7, a gene encoding a previously uncharacterized protein with a key role in plant oxidative stress tolerance. The atr7 mutant from Arabidopsis thaliana, previously isolated by the MC fellow, displays a remarkable tolerance to oxidative stress-inducing agents such as paraquat or the catalase inhibitor aminotriazole. The ATR7 gene has been cloned recently. The PlantSurvivor team, including the MC fellow, confirmed the role of ATR7 in oxidative stress-induced cell death by preparing and analyzing knockouts (KO), RNAi lines, and overexpressor lines. Global transcriptional profiling by RNA-seq supported by qRT-PCR data revealed that transcript levels of a number of genes encoding for abiotic and oxidative stress-related transcription factors (RRTF, DREB19, HSFA2, ANAC042, ZAT10, ZAT12), chromatin remodelers (CHR34), and many genes encoding for proteins with unknown functions (ANAC085, At5G59390, AT1G30170, AT1G21520, and others), are constantly elevated in the atr7 mutant relative to its original genetic background. Next to that, the atr7 mutant exhibits enhanced tolerance to drought stress. Studies on other abiotic stresses indicate that the atr7 mutant is less sensitive to heavy metals (CdCl2) than the control line and may also be less sensitive to heat shock in vitro. Thus, the results of the MC fellow show a major role of ATR7 in abiotic and oxidative stress responses. In addition to this work, the MC fellow participated in the analysis of the Arabidopsis leaf- and tissue-specific translatomes using a set of transgenic A. thaliana lines expressing a FLAG-tagged ribosomal protein to immunopurify polysome-bound mRNAs before and after oxidative stress. This analysis revealed insights into the translational regulation of ROS-responsive genes, which is important for understanding cell-specific responses and functions during oxidative stress.The second goal of PlantSurvivor was to train the MC fellow in modern genomics and metabolomics methods on state-of-the-art instruments available at the University of Potsdam. The training was achieved through research (executing the scheduled research program), through a series of lectures delivered by scientists of the host institute and visiting scholars, by on-hands training in transcriptional analysis and metabolomics, and by attending practical courses. Another aspect of the training program was the involvement in scientific writing and project preparation. The MC fellow together with his scientific supervisor Prof. B. Mueller-Roeber has written and submitted 6 project proposals, three of them have already been successful and the others are pending decisions. This has been important not only for the development of the MC fellow but also for the long-term cooperation between the host institution and the MC fellow’s home institute. The project results will have diverse scientific and socioeconomic impacts. The scientific results are of particular interest to plant biologists working in the fields of reactive oxygen species biology and abiotic stress physiology. Some of these results may have practical applications. For example, the large vegetable breeding company Enza Zaden from the Netherlands has expressed interest in these results and set up a collaborative project with the host. Creating fundamental knowledge for practical applications in vegetable plant breeding can have a wide impact not only on science but also on the agricultural industry. On the other hand, the societal implications of PlantSurvivor are exemplified by substantiating the cooperation between the host and the MC fellow’s home institute and attracting additional EU partners into a wider research network that will function in the years beyond the end of the project.
