GAiNS · Gibberellic acid signaling and dynamics during arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and rhizobial-legume symbiosis
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2020-09-01 → 2022-08-31
- EU contribution
- €212,934
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Gibberellic acid signaling and dynamics during arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and rhizobial-legume symbiosis
The use of nitrogen-based fertilizers is harmful for the environment, expensive for small-share farm holders in many parts of the world, but also important for producing high-yielding crops. The legume family of plants (soy, peas, peanuts) can acquire their own nitrogen from associations with bacteria in the soil. This plant-bacteria relationship is interesting from a biological perspective but also has potential to be applied to other species, like rice and wheat, to reduce to yield-reliability on nitrogen-based fertilizer. Legumes interact with nitrogen-acquiring bacteria by housing them within cells of a specialized organ termed a nodule. The objective of this project is to understand how legumes use a plant growth hormone called Gibberellin to regulate nodule development. I am doing this by using a cutting-edge technology to measure how much Gibberellin is in each cell under the microscope during nodule development. I developed this technology in the model legume called Medicago truncatula. I’ve spatially mapped Gibberellin during nodule development and found surprising but clear patterns of Gibberellin gradients in nodules. I’ve also developed Gibberellin visualization tools in barley, an important crop to many European farmers. Most plants, including barley, can associate with soil fungi within their roots to acquire nutrients, like Phosphorus, from the soil. Despite the differences in microorganisms, these two symbioses are quite similar and share common host genes that enable interaction. I have thus spatially-mapped Gibberellin patterns during fungi interactions in barley roots, finding surprising and clear accumulation patterns. These studies provide an interesting frame work to compare and contrast how Gibberellin is functioning in symbiosis and will help inform Gibberellin-based breeding targets for producing more sustainable crops.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The association of microbes at the root-soil interface is an ancient adaptation integral for nutrient acquisition. Most land plants, including trees and crops, associate with mutualistic fungi called mycorrhizae. Legumes have adapted specialized root structures termed nodules for association with nitrogen-fixing bacteria (rhizobia). While there are differences among the species that beneficially associate with plants, there is a large overlap in the key players regulating both symbioses. One important regulator is gibberellin or gibberellic acid (GA), a plant hormone that has diverse and important functions in plant growth and development. While GA inhibits infection events, there is conflicting evidence for the role of GA as an important positive and negative regulator of nodule organogenesis. Here, I propose to determine the mechanism of GA regulation in symbiosis in the model plants Medicago truncatula and barley (Hordeum vulgare). My approach combines the use of a state-of-the-art GA biosensor to characterize and model GA fluctuations in symbiosis in combination with transcriptomic and genetic approaches to characterize GA-signaling response in M. truncatula and H. vulgare. Upon completion of this project, we will gain an understanding of the dynamics of GA signaling in symbiosis and define downstream GA targets that are of special interest for engineering enhanced symbiosis in cereal species.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- THE CHANCELLOR MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE · CAMBRIDGECoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union