“To understand the underlying mechanisms of plant root plasticity for the survival of crops under abiotic stresses, it is important to study root adaptations to single stresses in different environments (soil type, quality, and microbiome) and to multiple simultaneous stresses.” Karlova et al., 2021
Research Projects
For plants to be resilient to abiotic stresses like salinity and drought, the root system is of vital importance. Roots are the primary organs that adapt their architecture and physiology to drought and salt stress. Their performance is key to the ability of the whole plant to recruit nutrients and water. However, we have limited knowledge of how the root functions and this translates into a limited capability to control plant resilience to abiotic stress. Novel developments in biostimulants show that it is possible to affect root functioning and resilience towards abiotic stress such as high-salinity. However, despite the potential for agriculture, there is very limited knowledge on the mechanisms through which biostimulants act. The goal of ROOT is firstly to provide fundamental knowledge on how to improve the resilience of crop root systems towards salinity stress. We will focus on tomato because it is an important field crop in European areas threatened by salinization, and it has many well-organized resources (well-annotated genome, genetic resources). The industrial partners in ROOT will not only advise the research project from their market-oriented viewpoint, but will also actively participate in work packages, will perform a field experiment, provide their network for stakeholder involvement and will take the lead in the transfer of knowledge into application.
Freshwater supplies are declining worldwide, a situation intensified by global warming. Greenhouses and microalgae production, like many other industries, need to reduce their freshwater demand. By growing microalgae in the drain water of greenhouses, the overall fresh water usage can be reduced, and the water becomes cleaner. This approach can also result in new microalgal-based products for agriculture and aquaculture, generating extra income; in essence, transforming waste into value. A new research project aims to test this concept by developing new low-cost cultivation systems expected to cut the production costs of microalgae in half.
In the consortium we focus on Solanacae drought stress and microbiome associated with stress resilience which is part of WP1 and WP 3 in the project.
NWO domain TTW- H.I.P. Project Title: Getting to the roots of stress resilience of potato plants
In potato, due to its complex root system that develops from a tuber, root development and environmental stress resilience are even stronger understudied than in several other field crops. We propose to investigate natural variation and genetic control of potato root phenotypic plasticity under stress, to aid development of stress resilient potato varieties that contribute to a more climate-proof and sustainable growth with stabilized yields and decreased inputs of nutrients and water.
Stress resilience in Crops 