Molecular and Omics Approaches to Elucidate Plant Stress Signaling and Crop Improvement Grant uri icon

abstract

  • The world population is expected to reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Estimates of the Food and Agriculture Organization project that global food production has to increase 60% by 2050 to meet the rising demands (fao.org). On top of rising demand for food, increasing environmental stresses are predicted; particularly global rises in temperature and decreased availability of water. From this, crop yield losses due to biotic and abiotic stresses, currently up to 60%,are bound to be exacerbated. A challenge in agriculture is to increase crop yield by combating losses caused by diverse stresses. Our strategy is to understand the intricate mechanisms of plant biotic and abiotic stress signaling and utilize the basic knowledge to improve crops to resist diverse stresses via biotechnology and plant breeding approaches.

date/time interval

  • 2015 - 2020