H2020 ADAPT Project: Accelerated development of multiple stress-tolerant potatoes
- Type Project
- Status Firmado
- Execution 2020 -2024
- Assigned Budget 4.999.972,00 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website ADAPT
The potato is one of the world's most important food crops. However, its vulnerability to environmental stresses raises significant food security concerns. While there is limited knowledge of combined stress signaling pathways in model plants such as Arabidopsis, such knowledge is lacking in crops due to their unique metabolic mechanisms. The EU-funded ADAPT project will study the dynamics of complex signaling and response mechanisms to identify the molecular mechanisms of combined stress adaptation in the potato.
The project will develop new strategies to increase productivity, stability, and quality under multiple stress conditions. It will combine molecular biology, stress physiology, systems biology, and analysis with molecular engineering and breeding, engaging user-oriented agencies to test and implement the project's results.
ADAPT identifies molecular mechanisms of combined stress adaptation in potatoes to develop new strategies for improving productivity, yield stability, and product quality under multiple stress conditions. Potato is one of the most important food crops worldwide, and one of the main constraints to ensuring yield is its sensitivity to environmental stress, particularly heat and drought, which are often followed by flooding in the field. While there is limited knowledge of combined stress signaling pathways in model plants such as Arabidopsis, this knowledge is almost entirely lacking in crops. These adaptive mechanisms require metabolic reprogramming triggered by different signaling pathways.
To understand the dynamics of complex signaling and response mechanisms, our approach will utilize several technological advances (e.g., high-throughput phenotyping and novel sensor plants). These tools will guide us to key developmental stages and tissues for in-depth analysis that enables unprecedented dissection of these processes. The approach requires the complementary expertise of 10 leading academic research institutions, four major potato producers, and a sensing technology developer. This unique combination of molecular biology, stress physiology, systems biology, and analysis with molecular engineering and breeding, as well as the active involvement of end-user-driven agencies for variety testing and potato trade, ensures the translation of ADAPT results.
Based on our mechanistic understanding, expected outcomes will include new breeding targets and the potential to match potato varieties to specific environmental conditions. The knowledge from our research will directly reach the most relevant stakeholders and end-users, contributing to breeding programs and guiding the development of technology to improve crop management strategies. Therefore, we anticipate that ADAPT will have a revolutionary impact on potato breeding and management strategies.
- UNIVERSITAT WIEN (UNIVIE)
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