Project description
Sustainable breeding for horticultural crops
Horticultural crops urgently need to adapt to climate change and shift towards sustainable production models. While genetic improvement through conventional breeding holds promise, its slow pace limits progress. Predictive breeding, which integrates omics resources, could speed up this process, but it has been underused in horticulture. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Horti-Predict project aims to change this by developing novel predictive breeding methods. By combining multi-omics data with advanced models, it will accelerate breeding cycles for better genetic improvement. Focusing on grapevine and apple, the project will produce open-access tools, including a framework for omics data, predictive models, and a haplotype catalogue. These innovations promise faster adaptation of crops to future climates.
Objective
Horticultural crops face the urgent need for climate adaptation and a shift towards a more sustainable production model. Genetic improvement through conventional breeding is one of the most viable and sustainable solutions yet is hampered by its slow pace. Predictive breeding, and the integration of new omics resources, is on the cutting-edge of breeding science and offers a potential solution to accelerate this process. While effective in major cereal crops, predictive breeding has been underutilised in horticulture. This project will harness this opportunity and develop novel predictive breeding methods by uniquely combining multi-omics data and advanced prediction models to speed up the breeding cycle to increase the rate of genetic improvement. To achieve this the applicant will (1) generate high-quality multi-omics data, (2) develop models incorporating multi-omics data and genotype-by-environment interaction terms in order to increase the predictive ability of the model, (3) validate the models and create haplotype catalogues in order to develop practical breeder-friendly tools. Grapevine and apple are two of the most important horticultural species in Europe and will be explored as use cases in the project, however the methodology and tools developed will also be highly relevant for other crops. Specifically, the project will result in three open-access outcomes (1) An end-to-end framework to produce high-quality omics data, (2) Advanced predictive breeding models, and (3) a deployable breeding tool in the form of a haplotype catalogue. All outcomes contribute to scientific advances in either breeding methodology or improved trait knowledge and collectively work towards increased genetic gain for enhanced adaptation of horticultural crops to future environments.
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
- 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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-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.
65366 Geisenheim
Germany
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.