Development of SMART Plant Prototypes for Optimized Performance

Research Area 5 aims to establish a systematic framework for the design and development of SMART plant prototypes that enhance yield and resource use efficiency through the targeted modulation of adaptive and acquired traits. The core objective is to engineer plants with dynamic, responsive phenotypes - capable of sensing environmental signals, processing them via genetically encoded logic circuits, and executing context-appropriate developmental and metabolic responses.

While natural evolution has enabled plants to adapt to fluctuating environments over long timescales, it is often constrained by trade-offs and pleiotropic effects. We seek to overcome these limitations to enable the rational design of novel trait combinations that are not accessible through conventional breeding.