Project description
Plant carbon allocation to soil fungi for sustainable food
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis enhances plant productivity by up to 30 % through improved nutrient uptake. In exchange, plants transfer over one gigaton of carbon to AM fungi each year. Recent research has identified a root pathway that facilitates this carbon transfer, improving nutrient uptake and reducing fertiliser use. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The ERC-funded maxSYMize project will use recent advancements in genetics, carbon tracing and single-cell transcriptomics to map the carbon allocation pathway from leaves to roots and AM fungi with single-cell precision. The project identifies the genetic and transcriptional regulators involved in this pathway to enhance carbon delivery from crop plants to fungal mycelium in the soil.
Objective
The arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbiosis between plants and symbiotic soil fungi confers key nutritional benefits to plants: AM fungi increase plant productivity by up to 30% by improving mineral nutrient uptake from the soil. In exchange for these nutrients, plants transfer more than one gigaton of photosynthetically fixed carbon each year to the AM fungal network in the soil. This carbon transfer has a major impact not just on plant and fungal physiology, but also on the global carbon cycle.
My previous work identified a molecular pathway in plant roots that is activated during fungal colonization of root cells and transfers fixed carbon to AM fungi in the form of lipids. This finding represents a breakthrough in the field of AM symbiosis as we were able to describe, for the first time, how and in which form carbon is delivered to AM fungi.
My discovery unlocks an opportunity: I propose to engineer the model crop rice to maximise carbon delivery to the fungal mycelium by exploiting the mechanisms underpinning carbon allocation to AM fungi. This approach could lead to enhanced nutrient uptake by promoting the symbiotic association, thereby reducing the need for synthetic fertilizer. Moreover, it also has the potential to increase carbon sequestration and soil fertility. However, it is currently unknown how plant carbon metabolism is altered at a whole plant level to increase carbon flux to the fungal mycelium, and how plants control the amount of carbon allocated to AM fungi.
To achieve this ambitious aim, I will exploit the recent technological advances in genetics, carbon tracing, and single cell transcriptomics to map the carbon allocation pathway from leaves to roots and to AM fungi at single cell resolution (aim 1) and identify the genetic and transcriptional regulators of this pathway (aim 2). These insights, along with established knowledge, will be used to maximise carbon delivery from crop plants to the fungal mycelium in the soil (aim 3).
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 microbiology mycology
- social sciences sociology demography fertility
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC 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-2024-STG
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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.
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
United Kingdom
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