Project description
The development of asexual breeding technologies in plants
A minority of plants and animals have evolved asexual reproductive strategies. Asexual reproduction by apomixis in plants allows clonal transmission of favourable genotypes through seeds over unlimited generations. Hybrid crop varieties are stress-resistant and high-yielding, yet they reproduce sexually. The introduction of apomixis in hybrid crops would enable the unlimited inheritance of hybrid vigour through seeds. The EU-funded AsexualEmbryo project will explore the genetic and molecular basis of apomixis, aiming to develop novel breeding technologies. The project objectives include uncovering how a parthenogenesis gene homologue functions during sexual reproduction and engineering synthetic apomixis in vegetable crops by eliminating meiosis and triggering parthenogenesis.
Objective
Some plant species have abandoned sex and produce clonal seeds by apomixis; here, we will explore how this occurs, and exploit these insights to develop novel breeding technologies.
In contrast to most eukaryotic species in which reproduction is sexual, a minority of plants and animals have evolved alternative – asexual – reproductive strategies. In plants, apomixis allows clonal transmission of favorable, hybrid genotypes through seeds over unlimited generations. Hybrid crop varieties are stress-resistant and high-yielding due to hybrid vigor, yet they reproduce sexually. The introduction of apomixis in hybrid crops would allow stable inheritance of hybrid vigor through seeds, in perpetuity, and eradicate the need to continuously re-make hybrids by crossing. However, our knowledge of the genetic and molecular basis of apomixis remains incomplete, and blueprints for synthetic apomixis in crops must be established.
This project will decipher the function and evolution of a novel PARTHENOGENESIS gene that I recently demonstrated causes asexual embryo formation in naturally apomictic dandelions. Harnessing and extending fundamental findings, synthetic apomixis systems will be developed in two important vegetable crops – hybrid lettuce and tomato – allowing the full complement of hybrid traits to be faithfully inherited through seeds. Ultimately, apomixis in crops could revolutionize the €22 billion hybrid seed industry, make hybrid seeds readily available for all, and facilitate sustainable, high-performance agriculture around the world.
Specifically, this project will involve:
1) Deciphering how a PARTHENOGENESIS gene homologue functions during sexual reproduction
2) Optimizing the expression of PARTHENOGENESIS factors through evolutionary insights and mutagenesis
3) Engineering synthetic apomixis – a holy grail of plant breeding – in two important dicot crop species by skipping meiosis and triggering PARTHENOGENESIS
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture vegetable growing
- agricultural sciences agricultural biotechnology agricultural genetics plant cloning
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine embryology
- natural sciences biological sciences reproductive biology
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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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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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.
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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.
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
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