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H2020Individual fellowship2017–2020

EpiAGPs · Breaking frontiers in plant reproduction: understanding the roles of AGPs and epigenetics regulating male-female crosstalk towards fertilization

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-09-01 → 2020-02-01
EU contribution
€180,277
Participants
1
Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Breaking frontiers in plant reproduction: understanding the roles of AGPs and epigenetics regulating male-female crosstalk towards fertilization

Human life depends on plants, which feeds us, our livestock or fulfils our biofuel needs. Thus to feed this growing population, it will be necessary to double agricultural yields without increasing the amount of arable land. A fine knowledge of the molecular processes that finely regulate plant reproduction, will allow increasing crop productivity and high quality seed production in a sustainable manner by agricultural engineering, safeguarding the increase of arable land usage. EpiAGPs is a research project dedicated to plant reproduction study (Fig 1) in the model plant Arabidopsis. Plant reproduction is the ultimate goal of all flowering plants, leading to the formation of seeds and the perpetuation of the next generation of plants. EpiAGPs was achieved using a combination of genetic, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches in Arabidopsis, an excellent model to study the reproductive process, as it shares a conserved developmental program with major seed-producing crop plants. The main goal was to elucidate in which pathways AGPs act and how they modulate the epigenetic activity during reproduction, in order to make possible, as a long-term goal, to improve seed production and the generation of novel interspecific hybrids. Overall, EpiAGPs has shed light into the involvement of AGPs in Arabidopsis reproductive process. Dr Pereira has found evidences, which reinforce the prominence of this family of glycoproteins not only in plant reproduction, but also in the plant developmental process. EpiAGPs revealed that the transcription factors NTT and HEC3 are involved in AGPs regulation, and that the epigenetic control involves HDACs.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

“By 2050 the Earth will need to feed two billion more people. How can we achieve that without overwhelming the planet?” The question, raised back in 2009, demands quick action. Human life depends on plants, which feeds us, our livestock or fulfils our biofuel needs. Thus to feed this growing population, it will be necessary to double agricultural yields without increasing the amount of arable land. A fine knowledge of the fundamental molecular processes that finely regulate plant reproduction, will allow increasing crop productivity and high quality seed production in a sustainable manner by agricultural engineering, safeguarding the increase of arable land usage.EpiAGPs aims to provide new insights into the role of Arabinogalactan Proteins (AGPs), signalling molecules crucial for plant reproduction, and their signalling cascade, along with their modulation of/by epigenetic mechanisms. This will be achieved using a combination of genetic, proteomic and transcriptomic approaches in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Arabidopsis is an excellent model to study the reproductive process, as it shares a conserved developmental program with major seed-producing crop plants.EpiAGPs has great potential to contribute to Europe’s excellence and competitiveness in the world, being in line with the European Sustainable Development Program and with the Europes’ 2020 Strategy goals that is optimisation of food production processes and a lower-carbon impact to achieve sustainable growth. The Host laboratory and I will mutually benefit from EpiAGPs; bringing together two different molecular fields of study related with the same developmental process: sexual plant reproduction.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO · MilanoCoordinatorItaly

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union