More genes for a higher fitness under salt stress: identification of genes whose expressional differences, based on differences in ploidy, lead to a better salt tolerance.

为了确保粮食安全，必须增加粮食生产。在这种情况下，提高作物的耐盐性将是一个问题，因为许多农业地区都遭受高盐度。对四倍体拟南芥植物的分析揭示了多倍体和耐盐性之间的联系。在大多数开花植物的历史上都发生了多倍体繁殖事件，并对物种进化做出了重大贡献，主要是通过增加基因组变异性和适应不断变化的环境。揭示多倍体个体耐盐性增强背后的分子机制将增加我们对进化力量的理解，并使基于自然发生的遗传变异的耐盐品种的开发成为可能。四倍体根已被确定为高耐钠性的决定因素，并与宿主实验室建立了鉴定贡献基因的策略。在拟议的项目中，有针对性的方法将寻求候选基因的四倍体敲除突变体。此外，将通过RNA深度测序（RNA-seq）评价表达差异，以选择候选基因。其中，与耐盐性相关的基因将通过四倍体突变体的特征和它们对非生物胁迫的响应来研究。

To ensure the food security, an increase in food production will be necessary. In this context, improving salt tolerance of crops will be an issue since many agricultural areas are suffering from high salinity. Analyses of tetraploid Arabidopsis thaliana plants have revealed a connection between polyploidy and salt tolerance. Polyploidisation events have occurred in the history of most flowering plants and have significantly contributed to species evolution, mostly through increasing genomic variability and enabling adaptations to changing environments. Unravelling the molecular mechanisms behind the increased salt tolerance in polyploid individuals will increase our understanding of evolutionary forces as well as enable the development of salt tolerant cultivars based on naturally occurring genetic variation. Tetraploid roots have been identified as the determining factor for higher Na tolerance and a strategy to identify contributing genes was established with the host lab. In the proposed project, a targeted approach will seek for candidate genes in tetraploid knock-out mutants. Additionally, evaluation of differences in expression via RNA deep sequencing (RNA-seq) will be performed to select candidate genes. Among these, genes with relevance to the salt tolerance will be studied through the characterisation of tetraploid mutants and their response to abiotic stresses.