Descrizione del progetto
Longevità ingegnerizzata nel raccolto di cereali perenni
Gli attuali sforzi per produrre cereali perenni vengono contrastati dagli ostacoli di ibridazione tra raccolti annuali e parenti selvaggi perenni e dal compromesso tra longevità e resa delle sementi. Il progetto PERLIFE, finanziato dall’UE, affronterà questa sfida ingegnerizzando tratti perenni nei raccolti annuali, servendosi dell’orzo come sistema modello. I ricercatori si avvarranno del sequenziamento del genoma ad alto rendimento per individuare le varianti genetiche e la tecnologia di editing genetico Crispr/CAS9, al fine di giungere al trasferimento genico tra le specie. Gli scienziati, utilizzando incroci interspecifici, risolveranno il rapporto tra longevità e resa delle sementi e identificheranno la codifica collegata e la variazione regolatoria. I risultati orienteranno progettazioni e strategie per modificare la longevità dell’orzo, che sarà introdotto in camere di simulazione ambientali per la sperimentazione al fine di selezionare l’approccio ingegneristico di maggior successo per la creazione di cereali perenni.
Obiettivo
Today, annual crops account for more than 85% of the worldwide calorie consumption. Annual crops are sown and harvested within one growing season and therefore require annual tillage, and application of herbicides and fertilizers that cause land and water degradation. In contrast, perennial crops grow over many seasons, require low agricultural input and thereby hold great potential for sustainable production systems and climate change adaptation. However, current efforts to breed perennial cereals are hindered by hybridization barriers between annual crops and wild perennial relatives and the trade-off between longevity and seed yield.
PERLIFE pioneers the knowledge-based engineering of perennial traits in annual crops using the important annual crop barley as study system. This project will thus open entirely novel avenues for breeding perennial crops. PERLIFE capitalizes on 1) recent technical advances in high-throughput genome sequencing for the identification of genetic variants and 2) the novel genome-editing technology Crispr/CAS9 for the targeted transfer of genes between species. PERLIFE will isolate genetic variants promoting perennial growth using comparative genomics in annual and perennial wild relatives of barley. In interspecific crosses, we will dissect the interrelationship of longevity and seed yield and identify linked coding and regulatory variation. Based on this information, we will design and implement strategies for the targeted modification of longevity in barley using transgenic approaches and genome editing. The engineered genotypes will be trialled in environmental simulation chambers for longevity, stable seed yield and stress resistance to select the most successful engineering strategy. This ground-breaking work will provide a highly efficient approach for the generation of perennial cereals and will thus have a profound impact on sustainable food production in the face of climate change and a growing human population.
Campo scientifico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturesustainable agriculture
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologygenetic engineeringgene therapy
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedscereals
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
40225 Dusseldorf
Germania