Multicellular organisms require an accurate coordination of multiple growth programs to develop.
In plants, the lateral growth is the process by which stems and roots grow in diameter. Such process is fundamental for plant development because (i) it provides the mechanical stability that plants need to expand their growth and sustain their structures and (ii) brings about large amounts of extremely useful plant biomass (i.e. in the form of wood in trees).
Lateral growth is mediated by a specialized group of stem cells collectively called cambium.
Remarkably for such a crucial cell-type for plant development and biomass generation, very little is known about the genetic regulation of cambium and indeed cambium remains to date the least understood meristem.
The aim of WOODSofCHANGE project is to uncover the genetics of cambium regulation in a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, and in hybrid Aspen trees (Populus tremula × P. tremuloides), with the purpose of enhancing plant biomass production in the form of wood. Dr. Agusti’s lab has identified new strong potential cambium regulators through a novel approach that combines natural variation and Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) in Arabidopsis. Based on the sophisticated skills acquired in the field of tree genetics and genomics and on the large experience on genomics techniques held in the host lab, we are developing a MSCA-H2020 project that will:
- Characterize the role of the new potential cambium regulators in Arabidopsis and Aspen trees, using state of the art genetic and molecular techniques.
- Discover and characterize new cambium regulators in Arabidopsis.
- Translate the results obtained into the generation of new Aspen varieties with the view of enhancing biomass production in Aspen in the form of wood.
Results unravel new and fundamental aspects of the genetic regulation of cambium activity, illuminating our general understanding on plant development and strongly impacting on Europe’s excellence by enhancing our capacity for wood formation. This is especially urgent since estimates show that by 2020 the amount of wood used only for energy purposes in the EU will be equivalent to today’s total wood harvest.
The project takes place at the Department of Plant Sciences in the University of Oxford, and was funded by the European Commission, Marie Curie Actions of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Programme under REA grant agreement n° 655172 (WOODSofCHANGE) with a Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF grant to Dr. Ana Milhinhos.
