The MERIT Network

MERIT integrates young researchers into a highly innovative interdisciplinary program aiming at the identification of regulatory control points of the low energy syndrome (LES) in plants, which is highly relevant for plant productivity.

The MERIT Network consists of twelve full and associated network partners and each group contribute with specific expertise to the network. MERIT partners work on different aspects of the signaling components regulating LES in plants, ranging from environmental factors triggering the signaling to the downstream targets and the consequences of signaling in reprogramming metabolism and gene expression. The major strenght of MERIT is the novel combination of expertise combining state-of-the-art technology in molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics with bioinformatics approaches and industrial applications.

• Johannes Hanson (coordinator), Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

• Elena Baena-González, Fundacao Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisboa, Portugal
  

• Christina Chaban, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany

• Wolfgang Dröge-Laser, Julius-Maximilians University, Würzburg, Germany
  

• Matthew Hannah, Bayer CropScience NV, Gent, Belgium

• Berend Snel, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands

• Markus Teige, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

• Jesus Vicente-Carbajosa, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
  

• Wim Vriezen, Nunhems Netherlands, The Netherlands (associated partner)

• Wolfram Weckwerth, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

• Ulrike Zentgraf, Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany

• Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden (associated partner, represented by Johannes Hanson)
  

The active participation of Bayer CropScience (full network partner) and Nunhems Netherlands (associated partner) will enable intersectorial industry-academia cooperation with the long-term objective of improving yield and stress robustness of crops. MERIT is an example of true translational research in which achievements from model organisms will be directly communicated to industrial partners.