Project description
Understanding the mechanisms of plant adaptation to extreme cold
Although climate change is more often associated with global warming, it also includes the increasing frequency and intensity of cold temperatures. Understanding how plants react and adapt to periods of extreme cold – the regulatory networks and mechanisms – will be essential to global food security, yet little is currently known. However, evidence shows that low temperatures have a direct effect on chromatin accessibility, which in turn affects gene expression. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the COOLCASE project will use the plant model system Arabidopsis thaliana to study the dynamics of the coding and non-coding transcriptome and changes in chromatin accessible sites in response to decreasing temperatures.
Objective
Plants, as sessile organisms, must constantly adapt to variable environmental conditions, among which temperature is of paramount importance in the context of climate change. Indeed, in future years, despite an expected rise in temperatures due to global warming, we can also expect an increase in the frequency of severe cold periods for which plants are not prepared. Therefore, understanding the molecular processes that allow plants to react and adapt to cold is essential for developing cold-resistant plants, which is ultimately indispensable for global food security. In recent decades many studies have embarked in addressing this issue. However, the global regulatory landscape underlying cold acclimation and adaption of plants to noisy and fluctuating natural cold conditions remain poorly investigated. Low temperatures are known to have a direct effect on chromatin accessibility which is directly linked to gene expression. Therefore, the aim of this project is to investigate the dynamics of the coding and non-coding Arabidopsis thaliana transcriptome, as well as changes in chromatin accessible sites, in response to regimes of decreasing temperatures. To this end, a comparative analysis of deep-coverage RNA-seq (transcriptome) and ATAC-seq (chromatin accessibility) will be performed on A. thaliana plants grown over weeks of fluctuating temperatures, mimicking natural cold conditions of autumn and early winter. The proposed experimental design will reveal novel coding genes, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and potential distal regulatory elements involved in Arabidopsis responses to cold. Thus, by combining interdisciplinary and mutually reinforcing approaches including (epi)genomics, (epi)genetics, transcriptomics and bioinformatics, the proposed project will significantly improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms required for plant adaptation to cold temperatures likely delivering valuable tools for future breeding of cold resilient crop species.
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.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA transcriptomes
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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.
Funding Scheme
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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
08193 CERDANYOLA DEL VALLES
Spain
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.