Project Details
TRR 175: The Green Hub: Central Coordinator of Acclimation in Plants
Subject Area
Biology
Term
since 2016
Website
Homepage
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 270050988
Plants have evolved a variety of physiological responses that enable them to adjust to changes in their abiotic environment (acclimation). The TR175 focuses on reversible responses to changes that plants will encounter frequently, in particular fluctuations in temperature and light levels. The chloroplast has emerged as a hub of acclimation to fluctuations in light and temperature and serves both, as sensor for and target of acclimation. The TR175 links scientists from Munich, Kaiserslautern and Berlin/Golm with an outstanding range of expertise in chloroplast biology in the three model species Arabidopsis, tobacco, and Chlamydomonas. In the first funding period, the TR175 has focused on the identification and characterisation of key factors (modulators and integrators) in acclimation to cold, heat and high light. Modulators are acclimation components whose loss affect acclimation responses, while integrators represent modulators that coordinate at least two acclimation processes. Quantitative experimentation joined with system-biology approaches pervaded the entire research network, providing a high synergy between physiological, biochemical and system-biology approaches. In the second funding period, we will continue research in the four major research areas of the TR175. In Area A we will characterize genetic modulators of acclimation. Insights from the first funding period have prompted us to shift our focus towards studies on the regulation of chloroplast translation and to extend our analysis to longer acclimation periods. In Area B we will continue to characterise metabolic modulators by quantitative analyses. In addition, we will include fluctuating light conditions in our portfolio of environmental factors. In Area C we will continue to characterize signalling modulators in more detail, and extend our attention to the nucleocytosolic compartment, as well as to environmental factors like drought and fluctuating light. In Area D we will continue to design and employ efficient algorithms, as well as sophisticated tools for data structuring and interpretation, with the goal of computer-based modelling of metabolic reaction sequences, signal transduction pathways and gene-regulatory networks during acclimation. Our Central Scientific Project Z1 will further serve as central resource for quantitative-biology approaches and it will be extended to identify novel modulators and integrators based on laboratory evolution approaches. Modulators/Integrators identified will then be directly tested in the four research areas and will be transferred into the model crop Camelina sativa.The expected outcomes will comprehensively elucidate the factors and mechanisms behind the chloroplast’s centrality within the broader context of acclimation, allowing us to effectively identify genetic factors with a high potential to enhance acclimation ultimately in crop plants.
DFG Programme
CRC/Transregios
Current projects
- A02 - Chloroplast Ribonucleoprotein CP29A – stabilizing chloroplast RNA pools during cold acclimation responses (Project Head Schmitz-Linneweber, Christian )
- A03 - Integrators that acclimate plastid RNA homeostasis in response to environmental and metabolic stimuli (Project Head Meurer, Jörg )
- A04 - Identification and characterization of photosynthetic and translational modulators involved in chloroplast acclimation to low temperature (Project Heads Bock, Ralph ; Zoschke, Reimo )
- A05 - Analysis of co-translationally acting factors regulating the biogenesis of chloroplast encoded proteins (Project Head Willmund, Felix )
- A06 - Light- and cold-dependent integrators of chloroplast gene expression and C-metabolism in Chlamydomonas (Project Head Nickelsen, Ph.D., Jörg )
- A07 - PPR proteins as modulators of chloroplast translation and RNA stability during temperature acclimation (Project Head Ruwe, Hannes )
- A08 - Challenged (by) parasites: Plastid-mediated acclimation kinetics of a plant-plant-pathosystem (Project Head Wicke, Susann )
- B02 - Role of thioredoxins and regulation of starch metabolism in acclimation to light and temperature (Project Head Geigenberger, Peter )
- B03 - Function of chloroplast located sugars and the plastid envelope in acclimation to cold temperatures (Project Heads Neuhaus, Ekkehard ; Trentmann, Oliver )
- B04 - Redox-mediated influence on plastidial metabolism and photosynthesis (Project Head Fernie, Ph.D., Alisdair )
- B06 - Acclimation of transport across chloroplast envelopes (Project Head Schwenkert, Serena )
- B07 - Acclimation to fluctuating light: cyclic electron flow (Project Heads Leister, Dario ; Naranjo, Belen )
- B08 - Chloroplast nucleotide homeostasis and its interplay with photosynthesis during cold acclimation (Project Head Möhlmann, Torsten )
- B09 - Exploring the inner envelope K+ nexus to dissect the significance of the plastid ion homeostasis for acclimation (Project Head Kunz, Hans-Henning )
- C01 - Identification and characterisation of components of the PGE retrograde and acclimation signalling pathways (Project Head Kleine, Tatjana )
- C02 - Dissection of the chloroplast unfolded membrane protein response in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Project Head Schroda, Michael )
- C04 - Role of heme for plastid retrograde signaling (Project Head Grimm, Bernhard )
- C05 - Mechanisms and components of GUN1/GLK signalling and its relevance for acclimation (Project Heads Kaufmann, Kerstin ; Leister, Dario )
- C06 - Regulation of Flavonoid Biosynthesis by Plastid-derived Signals (Project Head Richter, Andreas S. )
- D02 - Extraction of acclimation integrators from –omics data using functional constrained regulatory networks (Project Head Mühlhaus, Timo )
- D03 - Subcellular modelling of metabolic acclimation (Project Heads Klipp, Edda ; Nägele, Thomas )
- INF - Research-driven cultivation of contextualized data for plant biology (Project Head Mühlhaus, Timo )
- Z01 - Quantitative biology experiments and novel approaches for identifying integrators (Project Heads Kleine, Tatjana ; Klipp, Edda ; Leister, Dario ; Neuhaus, Ekkehard ; Ohler, Uwe ; Schmitz-Linneweber, Christian ; Schroda, Michael )
- Z02 - Central Tasks (Project Head Leister, Dario )
Completed projects
- A01 - Chloroplast RNA polymerase activity during acclimation (Project Head Kühn, Kristina )
- B05 - The role of OEP16 and OEP40 in cold acclimation (Project Head Soll, Jürgen )
- C03 - Regulatory functions of chloroplast-associated non-coding RNAs in acclimation processes (Project Head Frank, Wolfgang )
- D01 - Leveraging deep sequencing data to move from predictive to mechanistic models of plastid gene expression (Project Head Ohler, Uwe )
Applicant Institution
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Co-Applicant Institution
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin; Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau
Participating Institution
Max-Planck-Institut für molekulare Pflanzenphysiologie (MPI-MP)
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Dario Leister