Project overview
ABSTRESS applies combined, integrated systems biology and comparative genomics approaches to conduct a comprehensive study of the gene networks implicated in the interaction of drought stress and Fusarium infection in legumes using Medicago truncatula as a model for pea.
Project rationale:
Legume crops are essential for the future of European agriculture and our commitment to its improvement through a systems biology approach to plant breeding. The combined application of comparative genomics and systems biology will deliver a rapid breeding solution by identifying novel genes to the poorly studied Fusarium – drought interaction in legumes. ABSTRESS is used as an exemplar of how this technology may be used to solve the Fusarium-Drought problem in non-legume crops as well as providing a generic methodology for resolving multi-component crop breeding challenges (project website)
Academic project partners:
Lead: Dr Adrian Charlton, The Food and Environment Research Agency, York, UK
- The University of Essex
- The University of Aberystwyth
- ISV-CNRS Gif sur Yvette, France
- INRA Dijon, France
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Cordoba, Spain