[Seminars] PSB event reminder
contact at psb.vib-ugent.be
contact at psb.vib-ugent.be
Mon Feb 27 09:10:01 CET 2012
Calendar Name: seminars
Scheduled for: Monday, February 27 2012, 11:00 - 12:30
Event text: Prof Christian Hermans
Lab of Plant Physiology and Molecular Genetics
Université Libre de Bruxelles
Brussels
BELGIUM
Details: Molecular and physiological basis of plant nutrition:
Insights into the responses to magnesium and nitrate
availability.
ABSTRACT
Crop nutrition can be manipulated through agronomy and
genetics, to optimize biomass allocation and thereby
crop yields, and the delivery of essential mineral
nutrients to humans and livestock. Our primary research
goal is to dissect and exploit the physiological and
genetic bases for plant mineral nutrient use efficiency
(NUE). (i) The first focus is on magnesium, which is an
essential element in plant cell biology but also the
fourth most common cation in the human body and half of
its dietary intake is from plant origin. Hypomagnesaemia
in the human body is recognized as a global clinical
problem. Our primary interest is to identify genes
involved in Mg homeostasis in the model species
Arabidopsis thaliana. To achieve this goal, our
experimental outlines are to use natural and
mutant-induced changes in Mg content and to identify
transcriptome changes associated with Mg depletion and
restoration. (ii) The second focus is on nitrate since
it is the major nutritional determinant of root
morphology, and because of its agronomic significance in
determining yield and seed set. Modifying root system
architecture (RSA) is one of the strategies aimed at
developing plants that capture nutrients more
efficiently, which are suited for sustainable farming
with less fertilizer inputs. Learning about mechanisms
of lateral roots (LRs) growth stimulation or repression
by nitrate availability will help to draw strategies to
modify RSA. Low nitrate levels in the soil stimulate
lateral root development, which substantially increases
the root surface area available for acquisition.
Conversely, homogeneous high levels of nitrate inhibit
lateral root elongation. We are trying to gain better
knowledge about these nitrate-dependent changes in root
morphology of Arabidopsis. Forward genetic dissections
(mutant screens) and genome-wide association mapping are
currently used to identify key genes that determine RSA
and root biomass allocation. Our applied ambition is to
transfer the benefits from Arabidopsis research to
Brassica crops. Comparative genomics through a
model-to-crop pipeline will allow key genes controlling
root architecture traits and mineral content to be
studied in crop systems.
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