-What is the problem/issue being addressed?
Climate change is a global problem that is drastically changing our planet. Increased precipitation in Northern Europe has caused major crop losses, in part due to the low oxygen levels (hypoxia) experienced by the waterlogged roots. Hypoxia is also known to play critical roles for appropriate development in parts of the plant that are naturally hypoxic. The N-degron pathway is a major mechanism that controls the response to hypoxia in plants by regulating the accumulation of a set of master transcription factors. However, transcriptional analysis of N-degron mutants has suggested that another unknown mechanism is also required to regulate hypoxia responses in plants. This action aimed to discover novel pathways that regulate hypoxia responses in plants.
-Why is it important for society?
The European Environment Agency has predicted that annual precipitation will continue to increase in parts of Northern Europe leading to increased risk of flooding, and causing major challenges to agricultural industries. Identifying crops that can adapt to climate change is an urgent issue for modern society. Indeed, climate action is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and HORIZON 2020 Societal Challenge 2 identifies ‘food security and sustainable agriculture’ as a research priority, with agricultural climate change adaptation strategies being key to this goal. EpiStress has provided information regarding a novel pathway involved in the regulation of hypoxia responses, which are important for waterlogging resilience in plants. This could lead to the future identification of new breeding targets for climate change adaptation in crops.
-What are the overall objectives/ conclusions of the action?
The key research objective of this project was to identify novel mechanisms that are involved in hypoxia responses in plants using the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. Another key objective was identifying novel mechanisms involved in hypoxia responses using the model crop, barley. Additional key objectives included training/transfer of knowledge and dissemination/communication. This project was successful in identifying novel interactions between a known pathway controlling hypoxia responses in plants and a previously unlinked pathway that is involved in regulating gene transcription. Furthermore, transcriptional signatures of waterlogging responses were identified in barley that uncovered mechanisms of hypoxia response in this crop. The research fellow, Dr. Ailbhe Brazel, also received training for a number of new skill sets and transferred this knowledge to members of her host institution, Maynooth University. Finally, Dr. Brazel disseminated and communicated the research findings through publication, presentation at scientific meetings, posts on social media and public talks.
