Descrizione del progetto
Approfondimenti e interventi per la resilienza del suolo e delle colture nel contesto dei cambiamenti climatici
La crisi climatica della Terra sta mettendo a rischio servizi ecosistemici vitali e sconvolgendo la sicurezza alimentare. Il pianeta si trova in una situazione critica. Le comunità microbiche, o microbiomi, essenziali per il feedback climatico e per il mantenimento della salute del suolo e delle piante, devono affrontare minacce senza precedenti. Se i microbiomi sono in difficoltà, la nostra capacità di creare sistemi resilienti è in bilico. In questo contesto, il progetto MicroRescue, finanziato dal CER, mira a recuperare e riattivare i microrganismi dormienti per contrastare gli impatti negativi dei cambiamenti climatici sugli ecosistemi e garantire un futuro sostenibile. Attraverso la comprensione e la previsione della capacità dei microrganismi dormienti di salvare i microbiomi, il progetto svilupperà strategie per la resilienza delle piante. Grazie a esperimenti multi-fattore, MicroRescue fa da apripista alle modifiche microbiologiche e all’ingegneria del microbioma dell’ospite.
Obiettivo
Earth’s climate crisis threatens to disrupt ecosystem services and destabilize food security. Communities of microorganisms, called microbiomes, provide critical functions that feedback on climate and support soil and plant health. I propose a new framework, Microbiome Rescue, to recover microbial populations and lost functions after disturbances. With critical knowledge about the ecology of microbiomes and their contributions to creating resilient systems, I propose that we can achieve a paradigm shift in ecosystem management via directed microbiome interventions. Here, I focus on elaborating rescue strategies that leverage the selective reactivation of dormant microbes. Because microbial dormancy is extensive in soil and the rhizosphere, reactivation offers access to untapped biodiversity and provides immediate solutions for maintaining functions in ecosystems affected by climate change. My first objective is to understand and predict the capacity of dormant soil microorganisms to rescue microbiomes in a changing climate and discover reactivated bacteria that facilitate resilience. My second objective is to investigate and develop bacterial reactivation for rescue-based microbiome management to support plant resilience to climate change stressors and preserve plant-soil feedback. To achieve these goals, I will execute three multi-factor experiments to reactivate the dormant microbiome from soil and plant systems after exposure to heat and moisture stress. First I will perform a heat and moisture experiment for European soils, assess risk, and curate microbial collections that support functional rescue. Next I will perform two practical rescue experiments for the microbiomes of legumes exposed to heat and moisture stress: customized microbiological amendments and host-microbiome engineering. This work will provide unprecedented insights into microbiome rescue and identify targets for biological interventions to support soil and crop resilience to climate change.
Campo scientifico
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagricultureagronomyplant protection
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic changes
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsIstituzione ospitante
75794 Paris
Francia