Project description
Understanding root system nutrient acquisition through clonal growth
Plant roots play a role in acquiring water and nutrients and transporting them to above-ground parts. However, herbaceous plants often face trade-offs in optimising root system performance. Clonal growth, which includes horizontal stems and adventitious roots, may provide an alternative transport strategy by shortening the distance between roots and leaves. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the HiddenFun project will explore whether clonal growth improves root system efficiency. It will compare related species with varying degrees of clonal growth, first refining its methods using two model species to test root function plasticity. The project aims to enhance our understanding of root acquisition strategies – knowledge with valuable applications in both ecology and agriculture.
Objective
Plant root systems have two key functions: they acquire water and nutrients and transport them to aboveground plant parts. As a single root segment cannot be fully efficient at both functions, plants face a trade-off in optimising whole-root-system functioning which is largely unexplored in herbs. Clonal growth, being common in herbs and widespread over the angiosperm phylogeny, offers an alternative transport pathway via horizontal stems, while adventitious roots formed on these stems shorten the transport distance from roots to leaves. I thus hypothesise that clonal growth allows for a higher acquisition efficiency of root systems. To test this hypothesis, I will apply a novel comparative experimental approach using pairs of phylogenetically related species differing in the extent of clonal growth. The main comparative test will be preceded by method optimisation and complemented by experimental manipulation of two model clonal species to estimate phenotypic plasticity of root functions. To investigate the acquisition-transport trade-off in root systems, I will combine an ecophysiological approach of stable isotope labelling to estimate acquisition efficiency with root morphology and anatomy to provide mechanistic insights. I will integrate my experience in plant clonality and stable isotope labelling with the host's deep knowledge of root functional traits. The project aims to establish methods to study root acquisition vs. transport in herbs of different growth forms and to determine the cross-organ belowground functional diversity and root phenotypic plasticity that underpins the ability of species to adjust to different environmental conditions. The results will significantly contribute to our understanding of basic principles of plant functions hidden belowground. Those functions, related mechanisms and consequences are fundamental to ecology, plant physiology and agriculture, and relevant to increasing drought and nutrient enrichment under global change.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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 biological morphology comparative morphology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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15374 Muencheberg
Germany
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