Project description
Crop breeding with genome-scale multi-targeted gene editing
Population growth, climate change, and limited resources have heightened the urgency of accelerating crop breeding. Genetic redundancy in large gene families complicates the discovery of important traits, and currently, no technology can effectively reveal these traits at a genome-wide level. The ERC-funded Multi-Crop project will introduce genome-scale, multi-targeted CRISPR libraries for crops to address key agricultural challenges. This innovative method, applicable to numerous crops and breeding traits, has been validated and patented in Arabidopsis, tomato, and rice, demonstrating its potential to uncover hidden genetic traits and transform plant breeding programs. As the first large-scale application of multi-targeted CRISPR technology in plants, Multi-Crop effectively overcomes functional gene redundancy in various conditions, such as drought and other stress responses.
Objective
The need to accelerate crop breeding programs has never been greater, as the world population is exponentially increasing, the climate is changing, and resources are limited. Breeding relies on genetic variation. However, it is impossible to alter many phenotypes by introducing genetic variation in a single gene due to large gene families with high functional redundancy. For example, in tomato and rice, ~80% of coding genes belong to multi-gene families. Therefore, in many cases, mutating multiple gene family members is required to uncover hidden traits that are important for plant resilience and food security. Currently, there is no approach or technology that can dig into the hidden genetic redundancy at a genome-scale level (unbiased forward genetics) and reveal masked agricultural traits.
To address these challenges, we developed the Multi-Crop technology - the first genome-scale multi-targeted CRISPR libraries in crops. We have constructed, validated, and patented the approach in Arabidopsis, tomato, and rice, demonstrating that the Multi-Crop technology can uncover hidden genetic traits and is the future of plant breeding programs.
Not only is this the first demonstration of a large-scale, multi-targeted CRISPR technology in plants, but the unique approach also overcomes functional gene redundancy under any given conditions, such as the response to drought, pathogen, fruit size, and more. Multi-Crop can be applied to most crops and all breeding traits. Therefore, we expect the new toolbox we develop here to transform how scientists and breeders perform genetics.
We believe that Multi-Crop is a game-changing technology. Unlike any other technology available today, it enables uncovering hidden phenotypic variations. Moreover, its high throughput nature of maximizing genetic diversity will enable a tailored fit for specific farmers, markets and growth conditions, enhancing productivity and farmer profitability.
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.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture fruit growing
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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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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Topic(s)
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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.
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-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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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) ERC-2022-POC2
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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.
69978 Tel Aviv
Israel
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