PlantDevComm (101171769)

  https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101171769

  Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

  PlantDevComm: Defining the plant species and development communication ID

  ERC CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS (ERC-2024-COG)

  ecosystems  ·  agriculture

  2025-05-01 Start Date (YY-MM-DD)

  2030-04-30 End Date (YY-MM-DD)

  € 2,028,750 Total Cost

  Description

"Plants communicate through various mechanisms to adapt to their environment and coordinate survival and reproduction. Understanding plant communication is crucial for developing resilient crops, reducing agricultural environmental impact, and decoding natural ecosystem dynamics. While studies have focused on ""alarm"" signaling, in which a plant that is exposed to a stressor emits signals that cause neighboring plants to activate stress-coping mechanisms, the realm of constitutive, ""steady-state"" plant-to-plant communication, though suggested, remains largely unknown. This research aims to uncover the rules governing steady-state plant communication, particularly how plants transmit their identity and how neighbor identity perception influences plant survival. The role of plant species and developmental status in generating routine communication signals is unknown. Our novel and exciting discovery reveals that plant species and developmental stage influence emitted communication signals. We have found that plants can recognize airborne communication from their species (""self"") and from other species (""non-self""), and tailor their response to the type of communication perceived. This novel mechanism impacts both development and pathogen resistance in neighboring plants. In this proposal, we will characterize this novel form of plant-to-plant communication, defining the developmental rules of emission and response to different, ""suppressive"" and ""supportive"" volatile signatures that constitute the plant species and developmental ""volatile ID"". We will examine the relationship of the plant volatile ID with the phyllosphere microbial community, and identify novel plant mechanisms that are required for volatile ID sensing and response. Our work will elucidate the role of plant species and developmental identity in the emission, sensing, and response to communication signals, advancing our understanding of plant interactions in diverse communities. "

  Complicit Organisations

1 Israeli organisation participates in PlantDevComm.