Objective
Root formation is of primary interest in a number of crop species and can serve as a model system to shed light on organ development in general. The elegantly simple Arabidopsis root provides the most suitable model system for the molecular-genetic dissection of root development. We propose to establish a "root network" between the most active European groups interested in root development. Our objective is to study, in a coordinate and synergistic fashion, genes involved in Arabidopsis root formation and to assess their potential as tools to control root development in agronomically relevant species.
Objectives of the proposal are: a) molecular and genetic analysis of specific Arabidopsis genes involved in root formation; and b) application case studies with the industrial partner for the exploitation of these genes in sugar beet, one of Europe's major crops.
a) Basic research on organ formation. Our network has assembled a large set of Arabidopsis genes involved in root formation at three levels: 1. Primordium formation. Root primordia are first specified and subsequently give rise to all root cell types. Recessive mutations that interfere with root and root meristem formation, have been characterised and the corresponding genes have been or are being cloned. This research is complemented by analysis of the dominant root primordium-inducing oncogene rolB and its regulatory factors.
2. Meristem function. The production of cells and specification of their fate take place within the meristem. Genes involved in control of the cell cycle, as well as genes necessary for the activation of the root meristem are available within the network and will be further investigated.
3. Cell differentiation. Vascularization and root hair cell formation are two cell differentiation events that are directly amenable to molecular studies due to our network's gene collection. The tissue specific genes/promoters analysed here will facilitate research in all work packages.
b) Application analysis. The architecture of the primary sugar beet root is reminiscent in many respects of that of Arabidopsis, and the industrial partner has a strong interest in this crop. Sugar beet represents thus an ideal species to investigate applications.
4. As a first case study, the potential of cell cycle genes in combination with suitable promoters to manipulate the sugar beet internal root architecture will be analysed. The results of the basic work packages 1 to 3 in Arabidopsis and tobacco will serve to design further applications in sugar beet.
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 genetics mutation
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Coordinator
3584 CH UTRECHT
Netherlands
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