Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Keeping ready for battle: understanding fundamental mechanisms of establishment and maintenance of epigenetic marks underlying abiotic stress memory in plants

Objective

Drought and salt stress threaten crop production worldwide. Evidence from the field that pre-exposure of plants to transient mild stress (priming) enhances their tolerance to subsequent harsher stress indicates that plants maintain a ‘memory’ of environmental events that allows them to respond more efficiently to subsequent stress. However, systematic studies on the molecular processes underlying abiotic stress priming are scarce. The proposed project takes advantage of an effective salt-priming protocol for the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana developed by the host group, and builds on recently published
evidence from the host that epigenetic marks consisting of a decrease of tri-methylated lysine 27 in histone 3 (H3K27me3) underlie somatic stress memory of the primed plants. The work will focus on elucidating the molecular mechanisms for the establishment, maintenance and fading of the epigenetic memory and the role it plays for improved stress tolerance. The main objectives are the following: (1) testing the role of REF6 (a plant histone demethylase), SWI3B (a component of a chromatin-remodeling complex) and nucleosome repositioning in priming-induced H3K27me3 loss, (2) investigating the mechanisms of H3K27me3 spreading after priming, (3) assessing the effect of repeated salt exposure on H3K27me3, and (4) detailed analysis of cell-type specific H3K27me3 changes in the HKT1 gene, encoding a sodium transporter with a crucial role in plant salt tolerance. The research will use a range of modern technologies including chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP), next-generation (Illumina) sequencing, quantitative PCR, nucleosome mapping and the use of INTACT technology for cell-type specific ChIP, combined with refined data analysis to obtain results at a high spatio-temporal/molecular resolution. Advanced training in cutting-edge technologies, collaborations with other laboratories and significant project outcomes will greatly contribute to develop the candidate’s career.

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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

You need to log in or register to use this function

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.

Call for proposal

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

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF
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

UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW
EU contribution
€ 231 283,20
Address
UNIVERSITY AVENUE
G12 8QQ Glasgow
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
Scotland West Central Scotland Glasgow City
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0