Descripción del proyecto
Cómo las plantas pueden identificar a sus vecinas
Durante décadas, se ha dado por sentado que las interacciones intraespecíficas entre las plantas son de naturaleza puramente competitiva. Sin embargo, pruebas experimentales recientes indican la existencia de interacciones positivas en diversas especies de plantas silvestres, en las que el genotipo puede cooperar con miembros de su especie a fin de reducir el crecimiento competitivo. Para alterar su respuesta competitiva, las plantas deben poder distinguir la identidad de sus vecinas. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos KNOWN investigará la función directa o indirecta de los compuestos que secretan las raíces en la mediación de la percepción y el reconocimiento de las plantas vecinas en interacciones conespecíficas. Esto se logrará mediante un enfoque interdisciplinar que combinará ecología evolutiva, química, genética cuantitativa y microbiología. Comprender este vínculo entre el reconocimiento y las respuestas plásticas subterráneas ayudará en el diseño de variedades de cultivos de alto rendimiento.
Objetivo
Understanding the social networks of plants is essential for predicting their coexistence. For decades, intraspecific interactions were assumed to be purely competitive in nature. However, recent experimental evidence has demonstrated the existence of positive interactions for various wild plant species, wherein a genotype can recognize a conspecific, and cooperate to reduce competitive growth when growing with either their kin, or even an unrelated intra/con specific. My PhD research took this a step further by giving the first-ever evidence for the existence of both these types of positive interactions within the same plant species, varying between natural populations.
To alter their competitive response, plants must have mechanisms to reliably distinguish the identity of their neighbors. The root systems are known to be critical for sensing and integrating signals that allow plants to perform elaborate behaviors similar to those of intelligent animals. Yet, the underlying mechanisms remain largely unknown. This project aims to understand the direct or indirect role of root-secreted compounds in mediating neighbor perception and recognition in conspecific interactions. To do this, we will combine interdisciplinary approach at the interface of evolutionary ecology, chemistry, quantitative genetics, and microbiology
Understanding how plants recognize each other is a crucial step in determining how competitive traits evolve in intraspecific plant-plant interacting systems, which has implications in both natural and agroecological contexts. Comprehending intraspecific recognition mechanisms can ultimately help illuminate the dynamics of natural plant populations and aid in predicting their resilience in the face of current and future global changes. More importantly, understanding this link between recognition and belowground plastic responses can be exploited to design efficient crop variety mixtures with high yield potential owing to cooperative interactions.
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MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinador
8000 Aarhus C
Dinamarca