PLant AdaptioN to Elevated Temperatures: mitigating crop losses caused by climate change

Introduction

Agricultural ecosystems are severely pressed by global warming. Elevated temperatures, a consequence of climate change, are causing dramatic crop and economic losses while threatening the healthy and sustainable living standards of most European citizens. Predictions of increased ambient temperatures between 1.5-4ºC pose a danger to food security globally for the coming years.

Research Context

In the context of the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant (IDRICA-683163), our lab found that vascular Brassinosteroid receptors can confer resistance to several abiotic stresses without penalizing plant growth, disclosing a yet unexplored innovation potential (EU patent application P6100130EP; 2021).

Experimental Findings

These findings were initially obtained in the model organism Arabidopsis, and the emerging hypothesis has now been tested in Brassinosteroid mutants of the cereal Sorghum. We found that:

1. Hypocotyl growth on selected mutants is compromised upon elevated temperatures in Arabidopsis.
2. Mesocotyl growth on selected mutants is compromised upon elevated temperatures in Sorghum.

These results support conserved mechanisms across species.

High-Throughput Screening

These findings enable a novel High-Throughput (HTP) screening capacity for compounds/biologicals to overcome the most damaging impacts of warming in crops. Upon initial HTP screening, this proposal aims to enter into a valorization path towards lead generation through a computationally-assisted screening cascade to identify cost-effective lead compounds that can improve crop yield at elevated temperatures.

Conclusion

Overall, PLANeT takes the opportunity for transferring proprietary know-how into value to market-creating innovation in the agricultural industry.