SFB 924:  Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Yield and Yield Stability in Plants

• Subject Area: Biology ; Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine
• Term: from 2011 to 2023
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 170483403

Future sustainable food production will require inputs from various disciplines including molecular plant biology, plant breeding, plant biotechnology and agriculture. A deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying plant growth and reproduction, productivity and environmental stability will aid targeted progress in precision crop breeding and allow the transfer of knowledge from model plants to crop plants or between crops.The SFB924 aims to make a significant contribution to future crop production by elucidating molecular mechanisms regulating yield and yield stability. The consortium brings together experts from different fields of plant biology from the Wissenschaftszentrum Weihenstephan of the Technische Universität München, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, the Universität Regensburg and the Helmholtz Zentrum München für Gesundheit und Umwelt (HMGU). They use high throughput technologies including genomics, proteomics and metabolomics supported by bioinformatics, cellular imaging and genome editing to investigate processes regulating reproductive success as well as quantitative and qualitative aspects of yield formation (yield regulation). A second project area concentrates on the molecular mechanisms governing the interactions of plants with their abiotic and biotic environment (yield stability).

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres

Completed projects

• A01 - Characterization of gibberellin-regulated gene expression networks during abiotic stress response (Project Head Schwechheimer, Claus )
• A02 - Receptor kinase-mediated control of cell wall stress response (Project Head Schneitz, Kay )
• A03 - Hybridization barriers: CRP signalling during pollen tube invasion, growth and guidance (Project Head Dresselhaus, Thomas )
• A04 - Gamete interaction and fusion during double fertilization (Project Head Sprunck, Stefanie )
• A06 - Molecular function of VACUOLAR FUSION DEFECTIVE proteins in intracellular trafficking and vacuole biogenesis (Project Head Isono, Erika )
• A07 - Programmed cell death in Arabidopsis: Function of KDEL-peptidases in development and pathogen defense (2) (Project Head Gietl, Christine )
• A08 - Amino acid translocation to sink tissues and in organismic interactions (Project Head Hammes, Ulrich )
• A09 - Functional characterization of PATHOGENESIS RELATED10 (PR10) genes (Project Head Schwab, Wilfried )
• A10 - Systems analysis of phytohormone signal transduction and cross-talk (Project Head Falter-Braun, Pascal )
• A12 - Analysis of the function of brassinosteroids in the control of gibberellin homeostasis (Project Head Poppenberger-Sieberer, Brigitte )
• A13 - Predicting heterosis in F1 hybrids from parental DNA methylomes (Project Head Johannes, Frank )
• A14 - Small secreted proteins in male flower development and pathogenicity in maize (Project Head van der Linde, Karina Katharina )
• A15 - RhoGTPase signalling in double fertilisation in Arabidopsis and maize (Project Head Denninger, Philipp )
• B01 - Molecular basis of water use efficiency mediated by ABA receptors (Project Head Grill, Erwin )
• B02 - Pleiotropy or linkage - one genomic segment controls multiple drought-related traits in maize (Project Heads Avramova, Viktoriya ;  Bauer, Eva ;  Schön, Chris-Carolin )
• B03 - The role of the GRAS protein RAM1 in arbuscule development and function (Project Heads Gutjahr, Caroline ;  Parniske, Martin )
• B04 - Structural and functional dynamics of Remorin proteins during biotic and abiotic stress responses (Project Head Ott, Thomas )
• B05 - Ecophysiology of transgenic plants expressing an alien defence pathway (Project Head Frey, Monika )
• B06 - Plant-to-plant signalling in biotic and abiotic stress tolerance in Arabidopsis and barley. (Project Head Vlot-Schuster, A. Corina )
• B07 - Functional analysis of Ralstonia solanacearum TAL effectors (Project Head Lahaye, Thomas )
• B08 - Posttranslational regulation of RAC/ROP functions in barley disease susceptibility and basal resistance to powdery mildew (Project Head Hückelhoven, Ralph )
• B10 - LORE-mediated immunity in Brassicaceae (Project Head Ranf-Zipproth, Stefanie )
• B11 - Spatio-temporal dynamics of the CCaMK/CYCLOPS complex (Project Head Parniske, Martin )
• B12 - Molecular assessment of metabolome alterations in Hordeum vulgare induced by net blotch. Corinna Dawid (Project Head Dawid, Corinna )
• B13 - Molecular diversity of pathogen defence mechanisms in wild tomatoes (Project Head Stam, Remco )
• B14 - Small RNA transport from pathogens to plants (Project Head Weiberg, Arne )
• B15 - Molecular basis of plant susceptibility mediated by microbe-derived vesicles (Project Head Robatzek, Silke )
• Z01 - Central tasks (Project Head Schwechheimer, Claus )
• Z02 - Bioinformatic analysis of genomes and transcriptomes (Project Head Mayer, Klaus F.X. )
• Z03 - Global and targeted proteomics in plants (Project Heads Küster, Bernhard ;  Schwechheimer, Claus )
• Z04 - Bioinformatics data analysis platform (Project Head Baumbach, Jan )

• Applicant Institution: Technische Universität München (TUM)
• Participating University: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München; Universität Regensburg
• Participating Institution: Helmholtz Zentrum München; Deutsches Forschungszentrum für Gesundheit und Umwelt
• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Claus Schwechheimer