Research to future-proofing crops receives £4.5m funding

Durham University along with the University of Nottingham and Cambridge and Liverpool Universities will research into how plants adapt to their environments. The team has been awarded £4.5m to future-proof crops against climate change and crop production shortages.

Because plants can’t move, the way they adapt to stresses like heat, high salinity and lack of water is partly dependent on a quick and reversible process that modifies proteins called SUMO (small ubiquitin-like modifier).

Durham and Nottingham researchers have shown that manipulating SUMO modification of certain proteins can help the plant to survive and flourish in harsh environments.

The funding, awarded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), will help researchers further understand what triggers SUMO modification and how this activity helps plants to adapt to environmental stresses, contributing to global health and environment challenges while maintaining high-skilled jobs across UK regions.

Read more about how the team will investigate the way plants adapt and survive: Research into how to futureproof crops receives £4.5m funding 

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