WheatSecurity will cultivate diverse germplasm panel in sites across Europe under sustainable cultivation conditions (reduced
nitrogen, biostimulants, etc.), and we will assess agronomic performance, quality, abiotic and biotic stress
resistance/tolerance, as well as interaction with microbial ecosystem components. Based on both
demonstrator field trials and contained environment studies, the resilience of diverse wheat germplasm to
environmental conditions and to multiple stress responses, alone and in combination, will be assessed and
demonstrated to end-users (farmers, breeders, processors, policy makers) based on a combination of
traditional and high throughput phenotyping, genome-wide association studies, transcriptomics, and DNAbased
microbiome studies of roots, leaves and flowering wheat heads. Grain nutritional quality and industrial
processing quality will be assessed. Network and association studies will be used to decipher the linkages
between plant performance and genotype x environment x management interactions, and we will test the
hypothesis that it is possible to support crop-health through genotype x microbiome interactions. These studies
will enhance our understanding of the resilience of genotypes and haplotypes, guide the development of
ideotypes adapted to specific environmental niches, and delineate progenitors
that can be used to maximise biodiversity and multi-environment, multi-stress resilience. It will
also demonstrate how we can rapidly expedite the development of cultivars imbued with morpho-physiological
features that meet the EU Green Deal ecological objectives.
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*At the time of the proposal. Please consider this data as an accurate estimate; it may vary during the project’s lifespan.
Total costs include in kind contribution by grant holders and can therefore be higher than the total requested funding.