Descripción del proyecto
Una mejor comprensión de la interacción entre el estrés de las plantas y su crecimiento
Las plantas están expuestas continuamente a factores medioambientales estresantes: temperaturas extremas, escasez de agua, salinidad del suelo, etc. Aunque son capaces de resistir estos factores, lo hacen a costa de limitar su crecimiento. Por ejemplo, uno de los componentes principales de la respuesta a los factores estresantes más devastadores es el ácido abscísico (ABA), una hormona que desencadena mecanismos de adaptación a escala celular y en toda la planta mediante la activación de proteínas quinasas SnRK2. Otro componente importante es la proteína quinasa de detección de energía SnRK1, que favorece la tolerancia al estrés en la planta y su supervivencia regulando a escala global el metabolismo y la expresión génica. El proyecto ABA-GrowthBalance, financiado con fondos europeos, investigará la interacción entre la SnRK1 y la SnRK2, así como su manera de modular vías de señalización para fomentar el crecimiento como respuesta al ABA. Sus hallazgos serán de utilidad en el campo de la fitogenética.
Objetivo
In response to adverse environmental conditions, such as water scarcity, extreme temperatures or salinity plants trigger responses that promote stress tolerance and survival at the expense of growth. Despite the negative impact of stress on crop productivity how growth is modified by stress signalling pathways is largely unknown. One major component of the response to the most devastating stresses is ABA, a hormone that triggers cellular and whole-plant adaptive mechanisms via the activation of SnRK2 protein kinases. Another major player is the energy sensing SnRK1 protein kinase, which promotes plant stress tolerance and survival through the vast regulation of metabolism and gene expression. Preliminary results in the host lab have revealed deficient ABA responses in a partial SnRK1 loss-of-function mutant as well as the physical interaction between SnRK1 and the ABA-activated SnRK2 kinases, suggesting a functional connection between these two pathways. Furthermore, SnRK1 and SnRK2 have recently been implicated in the repression of a central growth regulator, the TOR (Target of Rapamycin) protein kinase. The aim of this proposal is to investigate the interaction between these two major stress-related kinases (SnRK1 and SnRK2) and to elucidate the mechanism(s) by which they modulate growth-promoting signalling pathways in response to ABA. To tackle the functional relevance of the SnRK1-SnRK2 connection, a combination of biochemical approaches, genetics, microscopy, cell-based assays and chemical genomics will be used. To identify growth regulators downstream of the SnRK axis, targeted analyses of TOR readouts will be employed in combination with unbiased analyses of SnRK1 interactors and substrates in ABA. Altogether this project will provide novel molecular insight on the trade-offs between stress tolerance and growth/yield that may potentially contribute to more successful crop improvement.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopy
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-WF-01-2018
Régimen de financiación
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinador
1067-001 LISBOA
Portugal