Project description
Changes in metabolites due to abiotic stress help fight plant pathogens
Plant pathogens pose a major threat to crops. Although certain abiotic stressors can provide resilience to subsequent pathogen infection, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. The EU-funded MICROBIS project will address this knowledge gap by identifying changes in metabolites that enhance plant tolerance to pathogens following periods of abiotic stress. MICROBIS will cultivate the model organism Arabidopsis and expose it to water and temperature stress followed by a pathogen and then measure and analyse metabolome changes. Finally, artificial intelligence algorithms will be applied to select species of agronomic interest that metabolically respond to sequential stress as Arabidopsis does. The results will help to develop new strategies to ensure food security under current climate change conditions.
Objective
Ensuring food security and accessibility represents a global challenge since world population grows exponentially while crop quality and productivity is restricted by limitations on arable areas and increasing incidence of stress conditions due to climate change. Plant pathogens are major threats for optimal crop yield and preservation of the harvest. Although plant immune responses are well characterised in isolation, pathogen infections frequently occur in combination with other stress conditions. Importantly, the outcome of plant-pathogen interactions under combinatorial stress is unpredictable as the operating molecular mechanisms differ from those triggered under each individual stressor. Certain abiotic stressors ultimately confer resilience to subsequent pathogen infection, i.e. cross-tolerance, however the network of molecular events involved remains undeciphered. Recent studies suggested that metabolites could retain stress memory and modulate combinatorial stress responses, but their potential role in cross-tolerance has been barely investigated. Hence, this MSCA is aimed at identifying changing metabolites after abiotic stress periods that enhance plant tolerance to pathogens. To this end, comprehensive conditions and time-courses for sequential stress will be defined to cultivate Arabidopsis thaliana plants under frequent abiotic stressors, namely drought and temperature shifts, followed by pathogen challenge. Subsequently, metabolome changes will be profiled and systemically analysed to retrieve central features. The biological relevance of candidates will be assessed in planta. Finally, artificial intelligence algorithms will be applied to select species of agronomic interest that metabolically respond to sequential stress as Arabidopsis does and thus initiate translation of cross-tolerance strategies into crops. Consequently, this MSCA will contribute to the development of new strategies to ensure food security under current climate change conditions.
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.
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.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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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.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
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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.
08193 CERDANYOLA DEL VALLES
Spain
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.