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GRK 1525:  The Dynamic Response of Plants to a Changing Environment

Subject Area Plant Sciences
Term from 2009 to 2018
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 65369579
 
Final Report Year 2019

Final Report Abstract

Plants are sessile organisms and hence, in contrast to, e.g., animals cannot evade shorter or permanent episodes of stress by flight. In contrast, plants must mount a rapid and effective response to temporarily adapt to stress, be it abiotic, such as drought, heat, or excess light, or biotic, such as pathogen attack, to survive the stressful situation. This short-term acclimation enables survival and hence the basis for reproductive success. Reproductive success, in turn, is a strict prerequisite to adaptation to longer-term environmental stress, such as altered growth temperatures and precipitation patters due to, e.g., climate change. Long-term adaptation occurs at the level of the genome under the mechanisms of evolution by natural selection. In its first funding phase, IRTG 1525 "The dynamic response of plants to a changing environment" concentrated on rapid cellular and developmental acclimation responses to environmental stress, such as high light and suboptimal growth temperatures, with a strong focus on abiotic stress factors. Major findings included a molecular understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the dissipation of excess light energy through the activation of non-photochemical quenching by the PsbS protein, posttranslational regulation of the plant stem cell niche by protein phosphorylation, or the control of response to the environment by the circadian clock. In transition to the second funding cycle, the IRTG also considered biotic stressors, such as pathogen attack and it included adaptation to altered environments by genome evolution. Major findings included a new understanding of how plants communicate the attack by bacteria from infected to non-infected leaves and thereby induce immunity in the non-infected leaves. Computational simulations of metabolic evolution provided exciting and novel insights into the mechanisms underpinning the evolution of C4 photosynthesis via C3-C4 intermediate stages. The IRTG provided large scale datasets, such as comprehensive transcriptomic atlases and genome sequences that are of significant interest to the broader scientific community. The scientific program of the IRTG was enabled by interdisciplinary research at the interface between experimental plant science and computational biology. This provided a rich training environment for IRTG’s graduate and postdoctoral researchers, preparing them for a multitude of career opportunities in life science research. The IRTG implemented novel forms of graduate training at HHU, such as a Fast Track PhD program that is open to excellent students holding a BSc degree. With a strong emphasis on training in quantitative biology, statistics, and computational biology the IRTG prepared its graduates for careers in datadriven and large-scale biology. All graduate students stayed for a minimum of six months in the laboratories of partnering groups at Michigan State University, under the guidance of local faculty mentors. These interactions led to a significant number of joint publications and enriched the training experience of the participating students with an international perspective.

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