Project description
Enabling pollen-independent seed and fruit production
Some flowering plants can produce seeds without fertilisation through apomixis, enabling clonal offspring without pollen. While promising for agriculture, no major crops naturally exhibit this trait. Achieving full apomixis requires engineering three key traits, including the particularly challenging autonomous endosperm. The ERC-funded NoSexSeed project aims to uncover how this endosperm forms by studying naturally apomictic species like dandelions and rock cress. Researchers will then transfer these mechanisms into tomatoes, a globally important, heat-sensitive crop. By enabling seed and fruit production without pollen, the project could pave the way for implementing complete apomixis in agriculture, potentially improving crop resilience, reducing breeding costs, and ensuring consistent yields in the face of climate stress.
Objective
Seed development in most flowering plants is coupled to fertilization, which leads to the formation of two structures: the embryo, which forms the next generation; and the nourishing endosperm. Some plant species, however, can produce seeds without fertilization. This phenomenon is called apomixis and, although relatively infrequent, it occurs in several plant families. This type of asexual reproduction via seeds is highly desirable in agriculture: first, it would allow the fixation of hybrid vigour, by producing clonal progeny; second, it would allow seed and fruit production without pollen. This is particularly relevant when pollination is limited, for example under heat stress, to which pollen is extremely sensitive. In fact, due to global warming pollen failure is expected to significantly contribute to crop yield losses. Unfortunately, no major crops can do apomixis and its introduction via classical breeding is not possible. The engineering of apomictic traits into crops has thus seen limited success until recently: novel advances now allow the production of clonal progeny in rice and maize. However, these clonal systems are not pollen independent. Full apomixis requires engineering of three traits: apomeiosis, parthenogenesis, and autonomous endosperm. And while the first two can now be engineered to some degree, the latter is still a major challenge and, without it, a truly pollen-independent system is not possible. Thus, in this project I aim to uncover the mechanisms required for autonomous endosperm formation. For this we will resort to naturally occurring apomicts for gene discovery: dandelion and rockcress. We will then engineer the determinants of autonomous endosperm in tomato, which is the most important vegetable crop worldwide, and whose pollen is extremely sensitive to heat. With this, I aim to unlock the final puzzle piece for pollen-independent seed and fruit production, which would allow the deployment of full apomixis in agricultural systems.
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
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture horticulture vegetable growing
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine embryology
- 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)
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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.
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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-COG
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80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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