MATHCOV · Maternal temperature history controls progeny vigour
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2018-07-01 → 2020-06-30
- EU contribution
- €195,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Maternal temperature history controls progeny vigour
Seed dormancy and germination are complicated transition processes that play important roles in plant life history. It has been shown that seed dormancy is tightly controlled by the temperature experience of mother plants. Whilst there have been studies showing how the seed production temperature affect seed germination and dormancy, less attention has been paid to post-germinative growth. This event has frequently been called ‘seed vigour’, and refers to the ability of seeds to establish a vigorous and uniform stand of seedlings. Field crops generally have high seed vigour and can establish in a wide range of soil conditions. In species without dormancy, such as Brassica spp., variation in seed production temperatures also affects the rate of seedling growth. Thus, these same molecular processes that control dormancy are also relevant to early seedling growth parameters that interest seed companies. Interestingly, our previous work suggests that endosperm may be a site of perception of temperature signals that regulate seed germination and seedling growth. The overall objective is to address how seed production temperature controls progeny germination and seedling growth vigour via endosperm. In details: Objective 1. Identification of key genes underlying maternal temperature effects on seed development and seedling establishment. Task 1.1 Reconstruction of temperature-responsive gene network. Task 1.2 phenotypical verification of identified genes. Objective 2. Identification of stably-inherited epigenetic changes in seedlings that result from temperature effects during seed maturation. Task 2.1 Investigation of temperature-induced epigenetic changes. Task 2.2 Identification of pathways involved in temperature-induced progeny vigour difference.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
It has long been known that mother plants have a significant influence on progeny traits such as dormancy, seed size, and seedling growth vigour. Temperature is a highly influential environment factor on seeds, and can be sensed directly by either the mother plant or by developing seeds themselves, using an unknown mechanism to integrate temperature information over time. The endosperm plays an important role in the temperature regulation of dormancy, but and previously direct investigation of temperature-controlled events in the endosperm has been limited by the small seed size of the model species Arabidopsis. Here, I will investigate how temperature controls progeny dormancy and seedling growth vigour via endosperm in Brassica oleracea, a key vegetable species that contributes to human health and nutrition, using high resolution timeseries transcriptomics. Gene network and epigenetic profiles will be analysed dynamically and integrated for endosperm and embryo at different after temperature perturbations, to form a high resolution of early and late events that lead to temperature signals in seeds. This will enable the identification of key genes and stably-inherited epigenetic markers involved in temperature-induced differences in seed vigour difference. The resulting model will be tested in Arabidopsis and Brassica by knock-out mutant and transgenic experiments. This duel approach is an effective strategy to control risk. Avenues for the effective dissemination and exploitation of results will be developed by the fellow. Relevant training will be provided to during the fellowship. Ultimately, this project enable us to better understand seed vigour and could benefit seed companies, farmers and policy-makers by showing how to add resilience to environmental variation on seed performance.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- JOHN INNES CENTRE · NorwichCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union