Project description
Improving seed germination in plants
Seed germination is an essential part of plant life, paramount for survival and yield. During maturation, seeds accumulate translationally inert mRNA, which gets activated upon water uptake and triggers seed germination. The scope of the EU-funded TransEpiSeed project is to investigate the mechanisms that govern the storage of these mRNAs in dry seeds, aiming to provide important insight into seed germination. Scientists will focus on internal mRNA modifications as signals for the recruitment of proteins that will trigger translation. Understanding the regulatory control of seed germination will help improve the process with obvious advantages for modernised precision agriculture.
Objective
Seed germination is a unique phase of the plant life cycle. Its correct coordination is crucial for seedling establishment, and germination is, therefore, key for crop survival and yield. The improvement of seed germination will be highly important for modernized precision agriculture.
Seeds accumulate a substantial amount of translationally inert mRNA during maturation. These mRNAs have a strikingly long half-life allowing seeds of certain plant species survive up to thousands of years. Upon water-uptake, these mRNAs are translationally activated in support of seed germination. The function of mRNAs stored in dry seeds has been a mystery for decades. My recent work demonstrated that these stored mRNAs are associated with ribosomes and that they get translated during early seed germination. Therefore, an understanding of the regulatory mechanisms that govern the storage of these mRNAs in dry seeds, and their eventual translation upon germination will reveal tremendous insight into seed germination.
A multitude of mechanisms might affect mRNA translation. Common to them is that they must involve sequence-specific recognition of a signal within the transcript, such as an mRNA modification. N6-methyladenosine (m6A), the most widespread internal mRNA modification, has been shown to have important role on mRNA stability or translation efficiency involving recruitment of specialized m6A-binding proteins, in plants referred to as EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED C-TERMINUS (ECT) proteins. TransEpiSeed aims to study the relevance of m6A for translational control during seed germination by investigation of m6A dynamics and the function of ECT proteins. Combining my knowledge on the translational regulation of seed germination with expertise on m6A of the host lab provides a strong base to increase the insight into the regulation of seed germination. The results will provide opportunities for high-quality seed production and strengthen my skills required as advanced seed biologist.
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy
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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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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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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) H2020-MSCA-IF-2019
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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.
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
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.