WATBIO - Development of improved perennial non-food biomass and bioproduct crops for water stressed environments

Duration of the project: 2012 - 2017

Contact: Dr. Henning Wildhagen, Email: hwildha(at)gwdg.de

World-wide the demand for food and bioenergy feedstock is increasing. It is desirable to preferentially utilize perennial crops that can be cultivated on marginal land for the production of energy. Climate change, especially, increasing drought events pose a severe risk to sustainable, long-term, low-input biomass production. Therefore, it is pivotal to understand the underlying physiological and molecular mechanisms of drought stress responses of bioenergy crops, and to investigate the variation of drought stress responses among differentially adapted genotypes. In the frame of the collaborative EU project WATBIO (www.watbio.eu), such variation in three non-food crops, Populus, Miscanthus and Arundo is studied. Within the WATBIO project 22 partners from 8 countries from universities and enterprises are collaborating on this task.

The focus of the Polle lab is on the genus Populus, which is known for its adaptation to a broad range of habitats, its fast growth and availability of molecular and genomic resources.
Our objectives are to understand


  • the interactions between molecular pathways of drought stress signalling with those controlling growth processes

  • how these interactions vary between Populus genotypes adapted to contrasting environments.


We hypothesize that Populus genotypes from environments differing in precipitation and mean annual temperature harbor different physiological and molecular mechanisms to cope with limited water availability, which can be exploited to produce improved germplasm for sustained biomass production.

To address this hypothesis, we carried out collaborative drought stress experiments under controlled conditions and investigated the anatomical, physiological and transcriptional responses (RNA sequencing). The data are used for model development. The greenhouse experiments are complemented by field trials aiming to dissect the genotypic variation in performance among different Populus genotypes.

proj_watbio_text_c2
Greenhouse experiment with Populus nigra genotypes, INRA Nancy.

Publications
Hennig A, Kleinschmit JRG, Schoneberg S, Löffler S, Janßen A, Polle A (2015) Water consumption and biomass production of protoplast fusion lines of poplar hybrids under drought stress. Frontiers in Plant Science 6: 330, doi: 10.3389/fpls.2015.00330

Feussner I, Polle A (2015) What the transcriptome does not tell - proteomics and metabolomics are closer to the plants' patho-phenotype. Current Opinion in Plant Biology 26: 26-31, doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2015.05.023

Polle A, Janz D, Teichmann T, Lipka V (2013) Poplar genetic engineering: promoting desirable wood characteristics and pest resistance. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 97(13): 5669-5679, doi: 10.1007/s00253-013-4940-8

Posters
Paul S, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) ARR5::GUS activity in Populus reporter lines in relation to growth and drought. Third WATBIO annual meeting, Crete, Greece (21-24 Sep 2015)

Wildhagen H, Smith HK, Allwright M, Viger M, Valdes-Fragoso M, Douthe C, Cohen D, Brendel O, Le Thiec D, Hummel I, Bure C, Janz D, Paul S, Haworth M, Pollastri S, Della Rocca G, Rüger S, Paulo J, Schnabel S, Scalabrin S, Vendramin V, Cattonaro F, Malinowska M, Robson P, Centritto M, Loreto F, Keurentjes J, van Eeuwijk F, Morgante M, Flexas J, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Taylor G, Polle A (2015) Investigating the molecular basis of drought tolerance in Populus: The WATBIO Populus core experiment. Third WATBIO annual meeting, Crete, Greece (21-24 Sep 2015)

Yu D, Paul S, Wildhagen H, Janz D, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Taylor G, Polle A (2015) Hormonal and molecular basis of growth and wood formation in Populus under drought stress. Conference on 'Perennial biomass crops for a resource constrained world', Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany (7-10 Sep 2015)

Paul S, Janz D, Wildhagen H, Teichmann T, Hänsch R, Polle A (2013) Cytokinin localization patterns in relation to growth and drought in Populus reporter lines. PRO-BIOPA Conference, Freising, Germany (27-29 Nov 2013)

Wildhagen H, Janz D, Taylor G, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Polle A (2013) Effects of drought stress on growth and wood formation in Populus. PRO-BIOPA conference, Freising, Germany (27-29 Nov 2013)

Wildhagen H, Paul S, Janz D, Teichmann T, Hänsch R, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Taylor G, Polle A (2013). Effects of drought stress on growth and wood formation in Populus. First WATBIO annual meeting, Florence, Italy (30 Sep - 02 Oct 2013)

Presentations
Polle A (2016) Making wood in climate-smart trees: from model systems to the real world. VISCEA Conference Plant Model Species: Fundamentals and Applications, Vienna, Austria (4-5 Feb 2016)

Paul S, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) Tissue and cell-specific cytokinin activity monitored by an ARR5::GUS reporter construct in poplar wood. Molecular Plant Sciences Seminar, Schwann-Schleiden-Forschungszentrum, University of Göttingen, Germany (3 Dec 2015)

Paul S, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) Tissue and cell-specific cytokinin activity in poplar monitored by ARR5::GUS reporter lines. Forstbotanisches Seminar, Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Germany (23 Nov 2015)

Polle A, Wildhagen H, Paul S, Smith HK, Taylor G, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Nguyen NQ, Janz D (2015) Wood production under drought stress. Botany 2015, Edmonton, Canada (25-29 July 2015)

Yu D, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) Identification of PP2C genes of poplar and their response to drought. Forstbotanisches Seminar, Göttingen, Germany (22 June 2015)

Kins L, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) Studies on the Molecular Mechanism of Wood Formation in Poplar Trees as Affected by Drought Stress and Seasonality. Forstbotanisches Seminar, Göttingen, Germany (11 May 2015)

Wildhagen H, Smith H, Allwright M, Valdes-Fragoso M, Douthe C, Cohen D, Brendel O, Le Thiec D, Hummel I, Bure C, Janz D, Paul S, Haworth M, Rüger S, Centritto M, Loreto F, Flexas J, Bogeat-Triboulot M-B, Taylor G, Polle A (2015) Investigating the molecular basis of drought tolerance in Populus. IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference, Florence (8-12 June 2015)
Paul S, Wildhagen H, Polle A (2015) Seasonal fluctuation of cytokinin activity in poplar reporter lines under ambient conditions. Forstbotanisches Seminar, Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Germany (26 Jan 2015)

Polle A, Euring D, Bai H, Janz D (2014) Intra-specific variation in poplars: growth responses to nitrogen fertilization and drought. VI International Poplar Symposium VI, Vancouver, Canada (20-23 July 2014)

Wildhagen H, Mith H, Douthe C, Gogeat-Triboulot M-B, Le Thiec D, Brendel O, Flexas J, Taylor G, Polle A (2013) Core experiment, where are we, where are we going? WATBIO 1st Annual Consortium Meeting, Florence, Italy (30 Sept - 02 Oct 2013)

Polle A, Euring D, Bai H, Janz D (2013) How does intra-specific variation in poplars affect growth responses to nitrogen fertilization and drought? PRO-BIOPA conference, Freising, Germany (27-29 Nov 2013)

Paul S, Janz D, Polle A (2013) The effect of drought stress on growth and cytokinin responsiveness of Grey Poplar (Populus × canescens) transformed with an ARR5::GUS construct. Forstbotanisches Seminar, Department of Forest Botany and Tree Physiology, University of Göttingen, Germany (21 Jan 2013)

1This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement No FP7-311929.