Project description
A closer look at wild beet genetics for climate resilience
The impact of global warming on the Mediterranean is likely to increase the risks of heat stress and drought, jeopardising food security and the existence of climate-sensitive crops such as sugar beet. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Bytes4Beets project studies the role of heat-adapted wild sea beet populations in the Mediterranean region in order to enhance the climatic tolerance of farmed beet species. Specifically, using genomic landscape analysis, long-read sequencing and genome-by-environment associations, this study will explore the genetic variations associated with heat stress adaptation within the Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima populations found along the Italian Adriatic and Ionian coasts. Additionally, the project will assess the presence or absence of these adaptive genes in sugar beets, leaf beets and red beets.
Objective
Climate change is projected by the IPCC to raise Mediterranean temperatures by +2.2–5 °C this century, intensifying heat stress, drought, and food insecurity. These risks are acute in the Mediterranean basin, a biodiversity hotspot and vital region for European agriculture. The EU’s Green Deal, Biodiversity Strategy 2030, and Common Agricultural Policy (2023–2027) highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient crops. Sugar beet (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) supplies ~20% of global sugar, with Europe producing more than half. It is both economically important and environmentally relevant, as a deep-rooted crop contributing to soil carbon sequestration. Yet modern cultivars, bred mainly for yield, are highly vulnerable to rising spring–summer temperatures that threaten root yields and seed set, especially in southern Europe.
Crop wild relatives (CWRs) are underused reservoirs of adaptive traits. In the Beta genus, the wild ancestor Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima thrives along Italy’s Adriatic–Ionian coasts, enduring the same heat stress now limiting cultivated beets. These coasts span five macroclimatic zones within a narrow latitudinal band, offering a natural gradient for studying adaptation. Italy also holds strategic importance as Europe’s hub for high-quality beet seed production, itself increasingly at risk from warming.
Bytes4Beets will integrate landscape genomics and haplotype-resolved pan-genomics to uncover the genetic basis of heat stress adaptation in sea beet. Through GPS-tagged collections, long-read sequencing, and genome–environment association (GEA), the project will identify adaptive alleles and prioritise donor ecotypes. It will then screen cultivated sugar, leaf, and red beet germplasm to evaluate whether these alleles are present, rare, or absent. While stopping at donor identification and allele screening, the project establishes a scalable framework for future breeding, enabling rapid integration of adaptive variation into elite lines.
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 genetics
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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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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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-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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35122 Padova
Italy
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