Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Temperature Integration via Phase change and Translation Of Proteins in plants

Project description

Understanding how plants respond to temperature

The mechanisms by which plants respond to temperature are poorly understood. Two important nodes were recently discovered with regard to temperature perception in plants: one transcriptional – key proteins required for plant temperature responses contain prion-related domains directly controlled by temperature-dependent phase separation – and one translational – preferential translation at high temperatures has been observed. The EU-funded TIPTOP project will build on these discoveries to understand the fundamental principles by which the cell senses and incorporates temperature. The project will investigate how prion-domain proteins sense temperature and control the activity of transcriptional regulators, how high temperature affects translation and how this knowledge can help to engineer specific temperature response networks in yeasts and plants.

Objective

How eukaryotes sense and integrate temperature information is an open question in biology. Plants have evolved to grow across a wide range of climates, and experience large temperature gradients geographically, seasonally and over the 24 h diurnal cycle. The distribution and phenology of plants has altered in response to climate-change, and crop yields decrease by about 10% for every 1ºC increase in temperature. The mechanisms by which plants respond to temperature are however poorly understood. We have recently discovered two major nodes for sensing temperature status by plants: (1) Transcriptional- key proteins required for plant temperature responses contain prion related domains and are directly controlled by temperature dependent phase separation. (2) Translational- transcripts show preferential translation at high temperature, and have thermoresponsive hairpin structures. Building on these discoveries, we propose an ambitious programme to understand the fundamental principles by which the cell senses and integrates temperature:
(1) How do prion domain proteins sense temperature and control the activity of transcriptional regulators? What are the organising principles of their activity, and how can sequence variation such as repeat length tune and adapt thermoresponsive prion domain proteins to different climates? (Biochemistry and genetic analysis combined with high throughput functional screens)
(2) How is translation affected by warm temperature? What is the RNA secondary structure code that enables certain transcripts to be preferentially translated at high temperature? (Ribo-seq, quantitative proteomics and transgenic approaches)
(3) How can we use the knowledge gained above in (1) and (2) to engineer specific temperature response networks in yeast and plants? How can we create useful tools and assays to advance the field such as FRET biosensors for local temperature within the cell? (Bioinformatics, biochemistry and cell biology)

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

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

Programme(s)

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.

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.

ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

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

(opens in new window) ERC-2020-ADG

See all projects funded under this call

Host institution

LEIBNIZ-INSTITUT FUR GEMUSE- UND ZIERPFLANZENBAU GROSSBEEREN/ERFURT EV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 2 139 500,00
Address
THEODOR ECHTERMEYER WEG 1
14979 Grossbeeren
Germany

See on map

Region
Brandenburg Brandenburg Teltow-Fläming
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 2 139 500,00

Beneficiaries (1)

My booklet 0 0