| The European Commission has earmarked no less than €12 million for research into plant growth and development in a project called AGRON-OMICS. The plant research consortium is spearheaded by Pierre Hilson and Dirk Inzé at the Department of Plant Systems Biology of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) and Ghent University www.vib.be The goal of this 5-year initiative, established in collaboration with 9 other top European research institutes, is to understand the network of biological processes involved in leaf growth. Experiments with Arabidopsis thaliana will identify the molecular components controlling growth and build mathematical models to explain how these components interact. Scientists still do not understand how such action is orchestrated nor how the growth process is coordinated across the successive levels of organization: from molecules, to cells, organs to whole organisms. In particular, leaves are superb solar-driven molecular machines for carbon assimilation and essential determinants of ecosystem productivity. Collaborating laboratories can be found in France, Germany, UK, Spain and Switzerland “AlphaGalileo” Additional documentation is available via the project website: www.agronomics.eu |
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