Objective
Life on Earth is profoundly shaped by plant metabolism. Plant metabolites serve as nutrients, mediate signalling and defend against attack, thereby governing interactions with microbes, herbivores, and their natural enemies. Yet it is unclear whether plant metabolites can function as keystone traits that structure entire food webs and drive community-wide ecological and evolutionary change. Addressing this question is urgent, because metabolic novelties are emerging ever more rapidly through climate warming, species invasions, and crop engineering—with unknown consequences for the stability and evolution of ecological communities.
To uncover whether and how plant metabolites can act as keystone traits, we will build a reproducible experimental food web centred on an aquatic flowering plant, the giant duckweed (Spirodela polyrhiza). We will generate two contrasting metabolic strategies—defence- and storage-enhanced—and trace how the metabolites alter species composition, evolution, and ecosystem processes.
Specifically, we will: (i) genetically engineer duckweed metabolism; (ii) quantify direct effects of the altered metabolism on snail herbivores and algal competitors; and (iii) test in mesocosms whether and how the direct effects cascade through the food web to algae-feeding Daphnia, reshaping community composition, driving Daphnia evolution, and altering nutrient cycling. To determine whether these dynamics are stabilized by indirect feedbacks between duckweed and Daphnia, we will conduct reciprocal transplants. Finally, we will integrate trait, fitness, and sequencing data to build trait-based eco-evolutionary models that reveal how plant metabolites modulate interaction strengths and steer community dynamics.
By combining synthetic plant biology, experimental community evolution, and modelling, METABOKEY can reveal molecular factors that structure entire communities. The resulting framework and experimental platform will unlock trait-based community research.
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.
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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)
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-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-2026-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.
55122 Mainz
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.