Phenotypic and molecular characterization of climate change effects on crop growth dynamics

As a consequence of global warming the average temperature on the earth is gradually increasing.
Several modelling studies have indicated that the trend of temperature increase will continue and
therefore predicted an increase of 0.8–4.8°C in global mean surface temperature within the twenty-
first century. Consistent with the recent data suggesting a decrease in crop yield as a result of global
warming, this increase in surface temperature will seriously affect crop productivity. To meet the food
demand of an ever-increasing world population it is thus essential to develop crop varieties that are
resilient to higher temperatures. This could be achieved by efficient introduction of
thermomorphogenic acclimation in future breeding programs, and by a detailed understanding of how
plants translate temperature stimuli into growth, which could greatly support informed selection of
promising target genes for both allele mining and variety development.
In this project we aim to a) provide a detailed morphological map of temperature effects on crop
growth, and b) identify promising target genes for allele mining-based breeding approaches. We
develop and utilize several high-throughput phenotyping approaches to precisely measure changes
in plant architecture during the entire life cycle in response to increased temperature. Using
established molecular and physiological assays we aim to identify key target genes that potentially play
pivotal role in temperature regulation and responsiveness. Together, these data improve our
understanding of how crops respond to higher temperature at both the morphological and the
molecular level and provide potential target that may be used in future breeding efforts to improve
crop performance at higher temperatures.