(Labex Agro:ANR-10-LABX-0001-01)) » SHORT TITLE: MIC-CERES Microbial eco-compatible strategies for improving wheat quality traits and rhizospheric soil sustainability Project leaders: Marcella BRACALE University of Insubria, Italy marcella.bracale@uninsubria.it Lionel MOULIN IRD, UMR LSTM/IPME, France lionel.moulin@ird.fr Context : Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L. subsp. aestivum) is one of the most important sources for food, animal feed, and industrial raw materials. If bread wheat is highly important for EU economy, with France and Italy being among the top 5 wheat producing EU countries, the demand for wheat in Africa has been steadily rising. There have been declines in wheat production and productivity in major growing areas of the world, and wheat productivity is highly dependent on fertilizer additions. There is growing interest in the use of microbial root symbionts to improve productivity and resilience of agricultural systems. However appropriate sampling and knowledge of microbial inoculation impact (in different combinations) on plant development and grain yield are required for wheat, as well as a better knowledge of the wheat response to these microbes. Objectives : MIC-CERES aims at characterizing the response of wheat to colonisation by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and symbiotic beneficial bacteria (SBB), with a view to using them as natural biofertilizers and bioprotectors in integrated strategies for wheat cultivation. Actions planned : WP1. Profiling of the wheat root-associated microbiomes in different agrosystems in Europe and Africa (culturable and non-culturable approach by amplicon barcoding) WP2. Identification of inoculation parameters that maximize wheat performance under different environmental conditions WP3. Evaluation of molecular responses of wheat to AMF, SBB and harmful microbes: plant RNAseq and proteome analysis of roots and leaves in different combinations of inoculums WP4. Field experiments to test inoculation by AMF and SBB in different agro-social-economic ecosystems WP5. Dissemination and training Main results : WP1. Isolation and screening for plant-growth properties of large collections of bacterial endophytes trapped from soils from wheat fields in France, Italy, Senegal and Cameroon (chemical or organic fertilization) WP2. Set up of the in vivo and in vitro inoculation parameters allowing to monitor the wheat response to AMF and SBB. WP3. Set up of two types of mycorrhization protocols compatble with double inoculation in sterile (“sandwich method”) and not sterile conditions. RNA and protein extractions from wheat roots and leaves inoculated by AMF and SBB, for omics approaches. WP5. Creation of a dedicated web site in English; presentation of the project results to 3 international congresses; training of 10 young scientists. Partners : UMR LSTM, IRD Montpellier, France UMR RPB/IPME, Montpellier, France UMR LEM, Lyon, France Univ. Insubria, Varese, Italy Univ. Torino, Italy CRA-GPG, Fiorenzuola d'Arda PC, Italy Univ. Cheikh Anta Diop/LCM, Dakar, Senegal IRAD/Univ. of Yaoundé, Cameroon Duration : 3 years Budget : 491805 € A A B C D B 100 um Test fields in Italy (A), and sampling sites of soils for the characterizaiotn of wheat root-associated microbes in France (B), Cameroon (C) and Senegal (D). Wheat roots infected by R. intraradices (A) or B. graminis eGFP (B) This project is supported by Fondazione Cariplo (ref 2013-1888) and Agropolis Fondation (reference 1301-010 through the « Investissements d’avenir » program (Labex Agro:ANR-10-LABX-0001-01)) »