FREECLIMB - FRUIT CROPS RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN

FREECLIMB addresses Topic 1.2.1: Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change - increasing the sustainability and resilience of the Mediterranean farming sectors, fitting under the specific challenge and scope of the call. In particular this proposal fully addresses the key scientific and technical challenges for breeding activities oriented either to developing novel breeding material and/or valorizing local varieties more adapted to environmental constraints and shortage of resources. The project targets major issues for fruit tree breeding through well- integrated and complementary actions that will ultimately widen the range of varieties (scion and/or rootstock) adapted to a changing climate scenarios. This will be achieved by a broad-spectrum approach involving the implementation of tools and germplasm resources, in turn enabling breeders, nurseries and growers to identify and access the most appropriate varieties for each climatic context and farming system. FREECLIMB will focus on key adaptive traits suited to Mediterranean farming conditions and related to the resistance and resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. The project will implement efficient methods and tools to phenotype the relevant traits facilitating screening and characterization of diverse genetic materials to rapidly access sources of genetic variation for specific target traits.

FREECLIMB addresses Topic 1.2.1: Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change - increasing the sustainability and resilience of the Mediterranean farming sectors, fitting under the specific challenge and scope of the call. In particular this proposal fully addresses the key scientific and technical challenges for breeding activities oriented either to developing novel breeding material and/or valorizing local varieties more adapted to environmental constraints and shortage of resources. The project targets major issues for fruit tree breeding through well- integrated and complementary actions that will ultimately widen the range of varieties (scion and/or rootstock) adapted to a changing climate scenarios. This will be achieved by a broad-spectrum approach involving the implementation of tools and germplasm resources, in turn enabling breeders, nurseries and growers to identify and access the most appropriate varieties for each climatic context and farming system. FREECLIMB will focus on key adaptive traits suited to Mediterranean farming conditions and related to the resistance and resilience to abiotic and biotic stresses. The project will implement efficient methods and tools to phenotype the relevant traits facilitating screening and characterization of diverse genetic materials to rapidly access sources of genetic variation for specific target traits. The project will improve and make better use of genetic resources by acting at various levels: (i) providing open access to extensive genetic and phenotypic information about diverse germplasm collections for key fruit tree species; (ii) implementing innovative genomics-based approaches to predict plant performance and accelerate breeding and selection of superior genotypes in constrained environments; (iii) integrating multi-omics (transcriptomic, proteomic and metabolomic) approaches for dissecting plant response to different environments 3 and management practices and increasing knowledge about mechanisms of adaptation to abiotic and biotic (single or multiple) stresses; iv) laying foundation for the establishment of multi-site collections and progeny field testing in MB. A major strength of FREECLIMB is the availability of large germplasm collections, some in multiple locations, covering a range of Mediterranean cultivation environments. The project partnership includes geneticists, breeders, physiologists, biochemists, bioinformaticians and pathologists that possess complementary expertise and will share knowledge, and define priority areas for research and breeding activities through the engagement of stakeholders and end-users. The basis for FREECLIMB is represented by the following fruit crops ideotypes defined before the start of the project by consultation with all partners and FFA, given present and future climatic scenario in the MB. These include all traits that ideally should be incorporated in a variety for more sustainable farming systems. Pre-breeding activities will focus on pyramiding both abiotic and biotic resilience traits as recommended by fruit stakeholders. Stone fruits. Rootstock: adaptation to sub-optimal water supply and different soil type (in particular calcareous soils); nitrogen use efficiency; root-knot nematode resistance; Almond: Scion: resistance/tolerance to late frost damage; Sharka (Plum Pox Virus, PPV) resistance; Apricot: Scion: resistance/tolerance to late frost damage; low- chilling requirements; resistance to blossom brown rot (Monilinia spp.); PPV resistance; Peach: Scion: low-chilling requirements; high water use efficiency; resistance to blossom and fruit brown rot (Monilinia spp.), powdery mildew, leaf curl and PPV. Olive. Scion: tolerance/resistance to olive fruit fly (B. oleae); early flowering to avoid heat-stress; adaptation to high air temperature during flowering; Rootstock (or self-rooted): resistance to Verticillium wilt, soil salinity and sub-optimal water availability. Citrus. Scion: tolerance to ‘Mal secco’. Rootstock: resistance/tolerance to Phytophthora, soil salinity, calcareous soils and sub-optimal soil water availability. Grape. Scion: downy and powdery mildew resistance. Rootstock: Grape phylloxera (D. vitifoliae, Fitch 1855) resistance, adaptation to a range of soil type and water availability.

FREECLIMB will act at multiple levels to provide a better understanding of how fruit crops adapt to ever-changing environmental constraints and why certain varieties are tolerant to abiotic and biotic single or multiple stresses: i) by identifying the genes, pathways and allelic variants controlling key plant functional traits and ii) integrating multi-omics approaches for dissecting plant responses to different environments and management practices and increasing knowledge about mechanisms of adaptation to abiotic and biotic stresses. FREECLIMB will produce knowledge, tools and methods to support the development and profiling of new fruit crops varieties/hybrids that are tolerant/resistant/resilient to biotic and abiotic stresses, productive in Mediterranean climate conditions (especially water scarcity and increasing temperatures) and efficient in the use of limiting resources (water/soil fertility) taking into account the needs of the users and the legislative constraints. The project will carry out extensive characterization of Mediterranean germplasm collections, which in turn will result in valorisation of local biodiversity as a source of variability for adaptive traits to the Mediterranean conditions that may sustain agriculture in stressful environments exacerbated by climate warming. Multi-site collections developed by the project together with open access FAIR-compliant (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) database and repositories will remain as a legacy of FREECLIMB for future exploitation by breeders and growers. Ultimately, FREECLIMB outcomes will empower breeders to produce new varieties that are “fit for purpose”, i.e. that provide stable and high(er) yields while having an increased capacity for adaptation to varying biotic and abiotic conditions (e.g. mitigating the impacts of climate change). The dissemination, exploitation and communication plan, as well as the management of IPR issues, will strengthen and optimize the impact of FREECLIMB outputs towards the largest target of stakeholders by i) ensuring stakeholders’ commitment and fostering interactions and feedback between partners and other scientific community members and stakeholders; ii) disseminating project results horizontally to the scientific community and vertically to the stakeholders; iii) training and capacity building for young researchers and breeders and iv) enhancing open access tools to facilitate and deepen the dissemination of the outputs. FREECLIMB will help to increase the competitiveness of the Mediterranean fruit farming sectors by: (i) developing breeding methods and plant material adapted to environmental challenges; (ii) increasing accessibility to valuable material adapted to Mediterranean conditions. From an environmental point of view, FREECLIMB is envisaged to have positive effects on agriculture's impact on the environment and on biodiversity mainly due to: (i) improved use efficiency of water resources and (ii) improvement of soils use efficiency. FREECLIMB will build the foundations for long-term Mediterranean collaborations towards climate change adaptation of fruit crops’ cultivation, taking into account farmers’ contributions to a public goods-oriented bio- economy in the framework of agro-ecological methods, low (external) input farming systems, ecosystem services, in multi-stakeholder collective practices and joint production of knowledge. This project will also address the Paralleli Euromediterranean Institute’s mandate to contribute to the creation of a Euro-Mediterranean area of freedom and of economic and social development (www.paralleli.org). Access to new breeding materials freely available to growers of all partners where agriculture is still in a fragile status (according to international standards) is expected to greatly foster a virtuous trend to modernize their farming systems. In conclusion, FREECLIMB outcomes will provide science-based solutions and a North-South shore network to project Mediterranean fruit crops cultivation towards 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, e.g. SDG 2.4, 2.5, 12.2