Objective
Research objectives and content
The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be utilised as a convenient model system in salinity studies. Recently, a large number of spontaneous mutants have been obtained that suppress the salt sensitivity of a yeast strain disrupted in the gene which encodes an ATPase that acts as the major sodium extrusion pump of yeast cells. The very high frequency at which these mutations occur, suggests that many different genes mutate. These mutations could influence important determinants of salt tolerance, such as targets of sodium toxicity, regulatory systems of membrane transporters or the transporters themselves.In this project we will isolate and characterise the mutations suppressing the salt sensitivity and clone the corresponding genes. With this system we expect to pick up novel sodium targets or transporters in yeast. These novel genes not only can illuminate the critical steps involved in salt tolerance, but also can provide useful biotechnological tools to improve salt tolerance in crop plants.
Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact)
During his PhD research the applicant has gained large practical experience in plant molecular genetics. The requested training would extend the practical knowledge to yeast molecular genetics, applied to an important environmental stress factor, namely the salinity problem. This does not only involve training in new techniques but also demands a complementation of the theoretical knowledge from the plant model to the microbial model. This would create a greater potential for the future career of the applicant.
Links with industry / industrial relevance (22)
The salinity problem is an important factor limiting plant productivity. Identification of novel halotolerance genes will allow development of new biotechnological tools to improve salt tolerance in crop plants, which is an urgent need for the future of agriculture.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmolecular biologymolecular genetics
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistryalkali metals
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicsproduction economicsproductivity
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutation
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
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Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
RGI - Research grants (individual fellowships)Coordinator
VALENCIA
Spain