• What are the overall objectives?
The rising need for enhanced crop yield and resilience to environmental stress calls for innovative varieties that enable a more sustainable use of land of resources One promising avenue is the exploration of polyploidy, a condition where the entire genetic material of an organism is duplicated. This phenomenon has been found to boost the adaptability, the resilience to environmental stress (such as drought) and the size of various plant organs, such as roots, leaves, fruits, or tubers, making polyploids like wheat, cotton, coffee, potato, strawberry, tobacco, blueberry, and alfalfa more prevalent among crops.
Contrasting most of these established polyploid crops, that emerged from polyploidization events that took place millennia ago, newly formed polyploids (neopolyploids), although they are easy to generate, they often display severe fertility problems and genome instability that limit their use.
While many established polyploid crops emerged from events that occurred thousands of years ago, newly formed polyploids, known as neopolyploids, are easier to create but often suffer from fertility issues and genome instability. One of the main challenges lie in meiosis, a specialized cell division process crucial for forming reproductive cells like sperm and egg cells (prior to formation of pollen and ovules). Established polyploids have evolved adaptations to manage the extra copies of chromosomes during meiosis, ensuring their fertility. However, neopolyploids lack these adaptations, leading to fertility problems and genome instability.
This project seeks to enhance our understanding of polyploid meiosis and reproduction, aiming to develop engineered solutions that can artificially stabilize neopolyploids. The ultimate goal is to overcome fertility challenges in newly formed polyploids, paving the way for more resilient and productive crops in the future.
