Objective
Maize is one of the most important crops for European agriculture. The energetic value and high nutritional quality makes maize silage a basic element for animal feeding. Since maize originates from tropical regions it is particularly sensitive to low-temperature stress, explaining why stress tolerance has become a major selection criteria in maize breeding programmes. The damage caused by low-temperature stress occurs primarly in the chloroplasts, leading to an early inhibition of photosynthesis, photobleaching of pigments, and considerable losses in quality and yield. It is generally accepted that free radicals play an important role in the destruction of the photosynthetic apparatus and pigments. The working hypothesis of this proposal is that transgenetic plants with an improved scavenging system for free radicals in the chloroplasts will be significantly better protected against lowtemperature stress. To this end, transgenic maize plants will be generated which over express in the chloroplasts both a superoxide dismutase and an enzyme implicated in hydrogen peroxide scavenging (ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, glutathione reductase, or glutathione synthetase). Two participants have an extensive expertise with the molecular analysis of oxidative stress in plants. The maize transformation will be performed by a novel and highly efficient system developed by one of the participants. Transgenic maize plants overexpressing oxyradical-scavenging enzymes will be analysed in detail by biochemical and biophysical methods to quantify the level of tolerance to low-temperature stress. These tasks will be shared by three participants, all of whom are very experienced in this type of analysis. Finally transgenic lines with a higher tolerance to low-temperature stress will be evaluated in field conditions. An improved tolerance to low temperate will contribute considerably to the competitiveness of European agriculture. It is expected that stress-tolerant maize varieties could be grown at lower cost and over an extended area in northern Europe.
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.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture industrial crops fodder
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
- natural sciences biological sciences botany
- agricultural sciences animal and dairy science domestic animals animal husbandry animal feed
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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.
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.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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.
Coordinator
9000 Gent
Belgium
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.