Robustness is the ability to maintain vital functions in the face of changing conditions.
Robust plant systems are essential for maintaining natural and agricultural ecosystems and the services they provide to humanity.
To uncover the fundamental principles enabling plant robustness to environmental perturbations, and to unlock the potential of plants for maximization of robustness, GreenRobust will follow an ambitious integrative, multidisciplinary research plan organized along three axes.
- Environmental perturbations (drought, heat, and biotic interactions),
- Levels of biological organization (from molecules to populations)
- Biodiversity (nine plant species belonging to three families)
Research along these axes is linked by Research Projects and supported by two central research structures, the Plant Perturbation Atlas (PPA) and Central Data Hub (CDH). The PPA will produce a comprehensive dataset on the multi-level response of plants to perturbation and the resulting robustness at molecular to population level. The CDH will ensure the quality and integrability of the generated datasets. Finally, Emerging Translational Projects (ETPs) will enable the translation of the fundamental knowledge of plant robustness into applications.
