Plant colonization of land was a critical evolutionary step for terraformation and the development of rich terrestrial ecosystems. Land plant ancestors evolved from freshwater algae and subsequently radiated to yield the astonishing diversity observed nowadays. Recent advances in genomics indicate that the water-to-land transition was accompanied by the emergence and/or expansion of protein families that founded novel plant metabolic pathways.
The EPPIMAL project will investigate the evolution of protein-protein interaction networks that shaped these metabolic pathways and helped plants to adapt to a terrestrial life. The project is funded for two years (2023-2025) by the European Commission Horizon action via a postdoctoral fellowship awarded to Mauricio López Obando, and is scientifically coordinated by Hugues Renault.
