Periodic Reporting for period 1 - NatGenCrop (Employing the natural genetic variation to improve nutritional properties and stress tolerance in vegetable crops)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2023-01-01 do 2024-03-31
Yield and nutritional properties of vegetable crops are affected by unfavourable environmental conditions, such as drought, salinity, extreme temperatures, and pollutants. NatGenCrop aims at improving stress tolerance of major vegetable crops (tomato, pepper, legumes, lettuce) and design new strategies for maintaining higher yields and food quality even during unfavourable weather conditions. One of the major research directions is exploring the wide genetic and phenotypic variations of fleshy (tomato, pepper) and leafy (lettuce) vegetables to improve agronomical traits under abiotic stresses (e.g drought, salinity, and extreme temperatures). A suite of genetics and genomics approaches, such as GWAS in combination with QTL, will be employed to identify genes contributing to high yield and stress tolerance. In another research direction, the fruit metabolic compositions will be characterized in terms of flavour and healthy related compounds to assess the impact of abiotic stress on fruit quality. A wide range of plant phenotypic, and metabolic traits will be evaluated, followed by transcriptomic profiling in two genome-wide association (GWAS) panels and two backcrossed inbred lines (BILs) populations for both tomato and pepper. The identified genes will be subsequently validated by CRISPR-Cas9 editing technologies and field trials. To implement this ambitious work program, a new research department “Crop Quantitative Genetics” will be established in the Center of Plant Systems Biology and Biotechnology (CPSBB) in Plovdiv. The new research department will scale up the applied research on vegetable breeding in CPSBB and the region. Furthermore, the new CPSBB department will link with Bulgarian and international research organizations, companies, and farmer associations in the field of crop science, creating an ecosystem network that is highly attractive to talented researchers and brings the innovations to end users for the benefit of the society.
Overall Objective:
To exploit the vast natural genetic variation in vegetable crops, using quantitative genetics and systems biology approaches, in order to understand plant responses to abiotic stresses and achieve crops with enhanced resilience to stresses as well as improved nutritional properties.
Specific objectives:
• Objective 1: Establishment of a new research department “Crop Quantitative Genetics”. This department will be established within the structure of CPSBB, with the ERA Chairs holder acting as Department Head.
• Objective 2: Excellent research and innovation: Genetic, genomics, and phenotypic characterization of the vast collection of vegetable lines existing in CPSBB; GWAS analysis for identification of genes associated with traits of agronomical and human health significance (e.g. tomato and pepper fruit size, fruit shape, colour, metabolic composition, including antioxidants content, valuable secondary metabolites etc.).This will be done by the scientific staff of the new department, under the supervision of the ERA Chairs holder.
• Objective 3: Educating PhD students in the fields of plant systems biology and biotechnology.
Overall Objective:
To exploit the vast natural genetic variation in vegetable crops, using quantitative genetics and systems biology approaches, in order to understand plant responses to abiotic stresses and achieve crops with enhanced resilience to stresses as well as improved nutritional properties.
Specific objectives:
• Objective 1: Establishment of a new research department “Crop Quantitative Genetics”. This department will be established within the structure of CPSBB, with the ERA Chairs holder acting as Department Head.
• Objective 2: Excellent research and innovation: Genetic, genomics, and phenotypic characterization of the vast collection of vegetable lines existing in CPSBB; GWAS analysis for identification of genes associated with traits of agronomical and human health significance (e.g. tomato and pepper fruit size, fruit shape, colour, metabolic composition, including antioxidants content, valuable secondary metabolites etc.).This will be done by the scientific staff of the new department, under the supervision of the ERA Chairs holder.
• Objective 3: Educating PhD students in the fields of plant systems biology and biotechnology.
At the beginning of the project, a dedicated website was created in order to serve as dissemination platform to the general public, partner organizations, universities, and breeding associations.
A new Department - Crop Quantitative Genetics, with the ERA Chairs holder, Dr. Saleh Alseekh, assigned as its Head, was established at CPSBB during 2023. This included setting up a separate laboratory, office spaces, growth facilities for the plants, and most importantly – recruiting the research team itself, which currently amounts to seven scientists.
In the first year of the project, trials in both tomato and pepper, presented by 332 GWAS (152 tomato from 21 countries and 180 pepper from 6 Balkan countries) and 166 (56 tomato and 110 pepper) BIL lines in field and greenhouse conditions. were carried out. The studied populations were extensively phenotyped in order to select for lines that show prominent abiotic (drought in particular) and oxidative stress tolerance. These lines were subsequently linked with genotyping data to identify the putative genes candidates for further functional studies.
The ERA Chairs holder already successfully applied for an additional project to the Bulgarian National Science Fund in a call for fundamental research – “Metabolic diversity of botanical gardens in Bulgaria and Germany”.
Thousands id samples from both leaves and fruits of tomato and pepper were collected for metabolomics and ICP-MS analyses. The metabolomics analyses on tomato fruits have already been completed.
GWAS analysis were already performed on tomatoes, identifying 10 candidate genes related to tomato fruit quality and yield and 19 other candidate genes associated with primary metabolites which can now be functionally studied.
The project objectives, expected results and impact were communicated to various stakeholders in a number of various activities, with hundreds of thousands people reached. A dedicated project website has been launched and regularly udpated: https://natgencrop.com/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
A new Department - Crop Quantitative Genetics, with the ERA Chairs holder, Dr. Saleh Alseekh, assigned as its Head, was established at CPSBB during 2023. This included setting up a separate laboratory, office spaces, growth facilities for the plants, and most importantly – recruiting the research team itself, which currently amounts to seven scientists.
In the first year of the project, trials in both tomato and pepper, presented by 332 GWAS (152 tomato from 21 countries and 180 pepper from 6 Balkan countries) and 166 (56 tomato and 110 pepper) BIL lines in field and greenhouse conditions. were carried out. The studied populations were extensively phenotyped in order to select for lines that show prominent abiotic (drought in particular) and oxidative stress tolerance. These lines were subsequently linked with genotyping data to identify the putative genes candidates for further functional studies.
The ERA Chairs holder already successfully applied for an additional project to the Bulgarian National Science Fund in a call for fundamental research – “Metabolic diversity of botanical gardens in Bulgaria and Germany”.
Thousands id samples from both leaves and fruits of tomato and pepper were collected for metabolomics and ICP-MS analyses. The metabolomics analyses on tomato fruits have already been completed.
GWAS analysis were already performed on tomatoes, identifying 10 candidate genes related to tomato fruit quality and yield and 19 other candidate genes associated with primary metabolites which can now be functionally studied.
The project objectives, expected results and impact were communicated to various stakeholders in a number of various activities, with hundreds of thousands people reached. A dedicated project website has been launched and regularly udpated: https://natgencrop.com/(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
The project is expected to identify new genes that regulate important agronomic traits, such as abiotic and biotic stress tolerance, fruit size, shape, and color, and fruit yield.
New cultivars with superior qualities in terms of yield and nutritional properties are expected to be introduced to the market.
New cultivars with superior qualities in terms of yield and nutritional properties are expected to be introduced to the market.