EXC 1028: Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) - From Complex Traits towards Synthetic Modules

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Autotrophic plants sustain terrestrial life by converting light energy, water and CO2 into chemical energy. However, arable land is becoming scarce and resources, including water and fertilisers, are becoming depleted under the effects of global change and a growing human population. To develop innovative strategies for sustainable plant production, a fundamental understanding of how plant species adapt to environmental conditions and constraints is needed. The answers to these questions are encoded in the existing natural and artificially-induced genetic variation that enables plant species and their associated microbes to colonise almost all terrestrial environments. The aim of this Cluster of Excellence is to decode this information for four specific complex traits that are crucial to resource-efficient plant growth: (1) annual and perennial life history, (2) C4 photosynthesis, (3) molecular and (4) metabolic mechanisms of plant-microflora interactions. These complex traits have evolved independently or were lost repeatedly during flowering plant evolution, indicating that the number of genes involved is manageable. The development of models explaining and predicting the genetic basis of these traits is, therefore, possible. These models can be tested by transferring genes and entire gene regulatory networks between closely related species displaying opposing ends of the respective trait spectra. The ability to rationally engineer complex traits based on these predictive models will demonstrate understanding of the mechanisms underlying these traits and the feasibility of modifying them in crops. To achieve these goals, the scientific capabilities available within the Cologne-Düsseldorf region are combined in the Cluster of Excellence to create an interdisciplinary team of experimental and theoretical biologists. In an unique research and training venture aimed at advancing plant and microbial research in an ecological context, CEPLAS focusses internationally renowned expertise from the universities of Cologne and Düsseldorf, the Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research and the Forschungszentrum Jülich. We emphasise training of young scientists to establish pioneering programmes for undergraduate students and doctoral researchers, as well as career advancement programmes for postdoctoral associates. This will qualify young scientists for a predictive and synthetic biology that bridges the gap between experimental and quantitative biology.