PlastiRootS - Evaluation of complex Root traits towards PLASTIcity in barley under Salt stress for improving climate resilience and productivity

Abiotic stresses constitute a significant threat to global crop production, and this problem is likely to be exacerbated in the future due to climate change. Soil salinity affects more than 60 million hectares of irrigated land, and continuously increasing day by day.
Worldwide crop production must be doubled by 2050 to feed the increasing population, estimated to be 9 billion. Although significant progress has been made in crop improvement, most efforts have targeted above-ground traits in plants. Roots are essential for plant adaptation and productivity but are significantly less studied due to technical difficulties. Barley is the fourth most important cereal crop worldwide. To date, most of the research focused on improving the malt quality of barley. However, it is also necessary to assemble new cultivars with increased adaptation to abiotic stresses to ascertain Climate-Smart Agriculture. PlastiRootS focuses on deciphering the natural variation of root plasticity under salinity stress in barley germplasm via advanced non-destructive root phenotyping techniques networked with fatty acid profiling. Additionally, PlastiRootS aims to identify key genes responsible for
the modulation of root plasticity under salinity stress by a genome-wide association study. Further, the multiplexed CRISPR gene editing system for functional validation of candidate genes in barley will be utilised to reveal the adaptive response of root traits to salt stress. The PlastiRootS offers an unprecedented opportunity for addressing novel aspects in root biology and will provide a foundation for future breeding efforts toward superior root traits against salinity stress tolerance in barley. This project will contribute to the UNSDGs and inclusive green economy strategies to produce more food with fewer resources, achieve food security, promote sustainable agriculture, and economic opportunity through agriculture and combat climate change and its impact.