Diversity and beneficial properties of bacterial endophytes of arctic plants

Objective

Arctic and semiarctic ecosystems cover 22% of the earth's terrestrial surface. These environments are very sensitive to disturbance, and are likely to be deeply affected by the climate change. At the same time, arctic microbiology has identified diverse communities of bacteria adapted to low temperatures, and arctic microbiota has been recognized as an untapped resource for sustainable industrial, agricultural and pharmaceutical applications. Unfortunately, the research on microbial diversity in cold climates has not included endophytic bacteria of arctic plants. The diversity and role of endophytic bacteria in arcto-alpine ecosystems is virtually unknown, even though many important traits of arctic plants, such as cold tolerance, effective uptake and processing of nutrients, and resistance to pathogens and pollutants could be associated with endophytes. This project will explore the diversity of endophytic bacteria arctic plant species, and traits of endophytic bacteria with potential ecological role and applicational value by (1) Isolation of endobacterial communities from arctic plants, (2) Characterization of endobacterial community diversity by molecular methods (DGGE, clone libraries) and by endophyte isolation, and, (3) Screening for beneficial traits, like production or modulation of phytohormones, antagonism, nutrient mobilization and production of cold-active enzymes. The project will provide high-quality, novel data on an as yet completely uncharacterized aspect of arctic and subarctic biodiversity. It will broaden our understanding of plant adaptation to arctic environments and the role of endophytes therein. Additionally, the project will produce a collection of endophytic bacteria adapted to arctic conditions, that can be valuable in agriculture, forestry and in sustainable industrial applications. The fellowship will also enable the re-integration into science of the researcher, who is returning from child-care leave.

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.

• natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
• natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
• natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
• agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries forestry

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Arctic biology
• Bacteriology
• Biodiversity
• Endophytic bacteria
• Environmental biology
• Microbiology

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

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.

• PEOPLE-2007-2-1.IEF - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008
See other projects for this call

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.

MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF)

Coordinator