Arabidopsis GROwth Network integrating OMICS technologies - AGRON-OMICS
Lead Research Organisation:
John Innes Centre
Department Name: Contracts Office
Abstract
Plants are crucial to mankind as they supply food, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and renewable sources of materials and energy. Yet the processes by which they grow are poorly understood. Although some of the key factors involved in plant organ growth have already been identified, the circuitry that links the different levels of organisation (whole plant, organ, cell, molecular module, molecule) remains to be uncovered, fortunately, for the first time, techniques exist or can be developed to characterise a multicellular system exhaustively at all relevant levels. The main goals of AGRON-OMICS are (1) to survey systematically with an array of high throughput methods what are the molecular components driving growth in the cells of a developing Arabidopsis leaf, (2) to understand how these elements interact and coordinate their action across levels of organisation, and (3) to explain quantitative growth phenotypes at the molecular level through inference and mathematical MODELLING, followed by further experimentation. The partnership tackling these ambitious goals has two poles: BIOLOGY, the laboratories involved study the main known molecular pathways that regulate and implement leaf growth, including cell cycle, cell wall biosynthesis and remodelling, carbon and nitrogen metabolism, and photosynthesis; TECHNOLOGY, each of them offers a unique platform chosen to record variables describing Arabidopsis plant and growth, from the macroscopic analysis of leaf size and shape, to the in depth analysis of molecular cell components. AGRON-OMICS will establish the infrastructure necessary to organise its multidisciplinary research programme, then to integrate and interpret a wide range of data sets. With a strong emphasis on DISSEMINATION, the project will create knowledge used in industrial applications and will yield data, tools, resources and novel technologies that will be released to the research community at large as soon as practically feasible.
Organisations
- John Innes Centre, United Kingdom (Lead Research Organisation)
- Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (Collaboration)
- Max Planck Society (Collaboration)
- University of Warwick, United Kingdom (Collaboration)
- Institute of Development Research (IRD) (Collaboration)
- Wageningen University & Research (Collaboration)
Publications

Higgins JA
(2010)
Comparative genomics of flowering time pathways using Brachypodium distachyon as a model for the temperate grasses.
in PloS one

Massonnet C
(2010)
Probing the reproducibility of leaf growth and molecular phenotypes: a comparison of three Arabidopsis accessions cultivated in ten laboratories.
in Plant physiology

Xia T
(2013)
The ubiquitin receptor DA1 interacts with the E3 ubiquitin ligase DA2 to regulate seed and organ size in Arabidopsis.
in The Plant cell
Description | a new range of mutants that affect plant growth was discovered. these are being studied to understand how plants grow, with the long term aim of increasing the yields of crop plants |
Exploitation Route | some of the genes we have discovered have ben patented and licensed to industry to test for their effects on crop yield |
Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
Description | The outcomes of this EC project have included the development of a longer-term collaboration with the University of Gent and IGDB in China. The project funded detailed genetic analyses of growth control in Arabidopsis, and the resulting mutants are the foundation of current research in growth control in Arabidopsis and Brassica |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
Impact Types | Economic |
Description | AGRONOMICS EC network |
Organisation | Institute of Development Research (IRD) |
Department | IRD Centre de Montpelier |
Country | France |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | JIC carried out collaborative work on leaf growth measurements and isolated new mutants influencing leaf growth. Some of these have been published, and some are still under analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | The Agronomics Network was set up as a partnership between EU labs supported by the EC. It aimed to develop systematic "omics" approaches to understanding leaf growth. Extensive proteomic and transcriptomic datasets were generated, and genetic resources generated. Automated phenotyping of leaf growth was integrated into these studies. |
Impact | We identified sets of mutants that either suppressed or enhanced the growth promoting mutant da1-1. These mutants were instrumental in identifying how DA1 limits cell proliferation during leaf growth, and this work was published. The role of several suppressor mutants remains to be elucidated. The full mutant collection was taken to China where it is still used to characterise genes controlling growth |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AGRONOMICS EC network |
Organisation | Max Planck Society |
Department | Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology |
Country | Germany |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | JIC carried out collaborative work on leaf growth measurements and isolated new mutants influencing leaf growth. Some of these have been published, and some are still under analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | The Agronomics Network was set up as a partnership between EU labs supported by the EC. It aimed to develop systematic "omics" approaches to understanding leaf growth. Extensive proteomic and transcriptomic datasets were generated, and genetic resources generated. Automated phenotyping of leaf growth was integrated into these studies. |
Impact | We identified sets of mutants that either suppressed or enhanced the growth promoting mutant da1-1. These mutants were instrumental in identifying how DA1 limits cell proliferation during leaf growth, and this work was published. The role of several suppressor mutants remains to be elucidated. The full mutant collection was taken to China where it is still used to characterise genes controlling growth |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AGRONOMICS EC network |
Organisation | University of Warwick |
Department | Warwick Systems Biology Centre |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | JIC carried out collaborative work on leaf growth measurements and isolated new mutants influencing leaf growth. Some of these have been published, and some are still under analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | The Agronomics Network was set up as a partnership between EU labs supported by the EC. It aimed to develop systematic "omics" approaches to understanding leaf growth. Extensive proteomic and transcriptomic datasets were generated, and genetic resources generated. Automated phenotyping of leaf growth was integrated into these studies. |
Impact | We identified sets of mutants that either suppressed or enhanced the growth promoting mutant da1-1. These mutants were instrumental in identifying how DA1 limits cell proliferation during leaf growth, and this work was published. The role of several suppressor mutants remains to be elucidated. The full mutant collection was taken to China where it is still used to characterise genes controlling growth |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AGRONOMICS EC network |
Organisation | Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie |
Department | VIB Gent |
Country | Belgium |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | JIC carried out collaborative work on leaf growth measurements and isolated new mutants influencing leaf growth. Some of these have been published, and some are still under analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | The Agronomics Network was set up as a partnership between EU labs supported by the EC. It aimed to develop systematic "omics" approaches to understanding leaf growth. Extensive proteomic and transcriptomic datasets were generated, and genetic resources generated. Automated phenotyping of leaf growth was integrated into these studies. |
Impact | We identified sets of mutants that either suppressed or enhanced the growth promoting mutant da1-1. These mutants were instrumental in identifying how DA1 limits cell proliferation during leaf growth, and this work was published. The role of several suppressor mutants remains to be elucidated. The full mutant collection was taken to China where it is still used to characterise genes controlling growth |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | AGRONOMICS EC network |
Organisation | Wageningen University & Research |
Country | Netherlands |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | JIC carried out collaborative work on leaf growth measurements and isolated new mutants influencing leaf growth. Some of these have been published, and some are still under analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | The Agronomics Network was set up as a partnership between EU labs supported by the EC. It aimed to develop systematic "omics" approaches to understanding leaf growth. Extensive proteomic and transcriptomic datasets were generated, and genetic resources generated. Automated phenotyping of leaf growth was integrated into these studies. |
Impact | We identified sets of mutants that either suppressed or enhanced the growth promoting mutant da1-1. These mutants were instrumental in identifying how DA1 limits cell proliferation during leaf growth, and this work was published. The role of several suppressor mutants remains to be elucidated. The full mutant collection was taken to China where it is still used to characterise genes controlling growth |
Start Year | 2007 |
Description | CEPLAS Science Advisory Board |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Mike Bevan sat on the Science Advisory Board for three universities forming a German centre of excellence in plant science. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |