Objective
Microbial inoculants containing arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are powerful tools in increasing the sustainability of our food production systems. These soil fungi form a symbiotic association with almost all major agricultural crops, acquiring nutrients beyond the nutrient-depleted zone of the rhizosphere to meet plant nutrient requirements, resulting in increased biomass and yield. AMF-colonized plants also show greater tolerance to a/biotic stresses. The production of these inoculants has thus huge economic value. However, current AMF production relies largely on substrate-based cultivation systems with suitable host plants, which is space-demanding, hard to scale-up and prone to carrying unwanted contaminants. An alternative exists with the production of AMF in vitro in root organ cultures (ROC). This method also has some drawbacks. It is labor-intensive, costly, and produces comparatively fewer spores than in the greenhouse. Mass production of AMF at industrial scale is, however, done in ROC, but in countries where labor costs are well below EU salaries. This model is not viable in the EU which is characterized by high salaries and stringent regulations.
The ambition of AMFactory is therefore to bridge the gap between the contaminant-free production of AMFs in ROC and their mass-production in bioreactors at low costs, making EU worldwide competitive on the market of AMF bioinoculants. This will be achieved by engineering host roots for enhanced lipid metabolism to fuel the spores (WP1), identify and optimize plant-AMF signaling compounds for optimal colonization (WP2) and enable their low-cost, large-scale biosynthesis via microbial cell factories (WP3). The combination of engineered roots and signaling molecules will be tested and validated using ROC and advanced microfluidics (WP4) and the most promising confirmed in a bioreactor (WP5) with the final objective to produce 108 spores per L in a period of 4 to 6 months, applicable for European farming.
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 physical sciences classical mechanics fluid mechanics microfluidics
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation bioreactors
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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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.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
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-EIC - HORIZON EIC 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) HORIZON-EIC-2025-PATHFINDEROPEN
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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.
1348 LOUVAIN LA NEUVE
Belgium
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.