Link to other projects

Ongoing Projects

GERMOLEOPRO

What is it about?

Future food systems must adapt to climate change by shifting toward sustainable protein sources, including plant-based options, while preserving nutritional quality. The project evaluates camelina (Camelina sativa) as a resilient, nutrient-rich crop with high ω3 oil and protein potential for diversified agriculture. The GERMOLEOPRO project, financed by the Carnot institutes Plant2Pro and Qualiment (France), studies bioprocessing methods such as germination to remove antinutritional compounds and improve protein digestibility and health benefits.

Project leader

INRAE – Massimiliano Corso and Frederic Capel

Networking activities

  • Participation to the final event of UNTWIST, samples’ exchange, samples produced during UNTWIST project will be analysed in the frame of GERMOLEOPRO.

OLEOPROTID

What is it about?

Environmental stress and cultivation conditions can modify the composition and spatial distribution of proteins and bioactive metabolites within camelina seeds, affecting overall seed quality. Although abiotic stress may increase metabolites that negatively impact nutritional or organoleptic properties, these compounds are also essential for seed stress defence mechanisms. OLEOPROTID project, financed by France2030 program (ANR, France), seeks an optimal balance between plant resilience and seed quality through varietal selection and processing strategies, following a multi-disciplinary approach involving, among other techiques, plant physiology, multi-omics, functional genomics and biochemistry.

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Project leader

INRAE / Université Clermont Auvergne
Project coordinator: Frederic Capel
UNTWIST scientific contact: Massimiliano Corso

Networking activities

  • Participation to the final event of UNTWIST

ADAPT – Developing heat and drought stress tolerant potatoes Copy

What is it about?

ADAPT will determine the molecular and phenotypical responses of potatoes to combined environmental stress conditions such as heat, drought and flooding, which are becoming increasingly important for potato yield under the challenging growth conditions of the future due to climate change. 

Arising from a mechanistic understanding, we aim to identify new breeding targets and matching potato varieties to specific environmental conditions. 

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Project leader

UNIVIE The University of Vienna

Networking activities

  • Joint workshop on best practice of data sampling and management – More info
  • AIT presented UNTWIST at the ADAPT Project Meeting and The coordinator of ADAPT has been approached and agreed to serve as EEAB member – More info
  • The coordinator of ADAPT presented the project at the UNTWIST Kick-off Meeting – More info

4CE-MED

What is it about?

4CE-MED project aims at developing Mediterranean innovative, diversified and resilient farming systems not competing for land with actual food chain, following a participatory approach for identifying smallholder needs, while planning, monitoring and evaluating the project actions. The 4CE-MED systems are modified conventional farming systems including camelina, a promising oilseed crop for Europe, as a cash cover crop which might increase farmers’ revenue while enhancing soil and water conservation.

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Project leader

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA

Networking activities

  • 4CE-MED website and social media profiles are linked to UNTWIST project. 
  • INICIATIVAS INNOVADORAS and UNIBO as partners participating in both projects generate knowledge to develop research networking activities, and to disseminate results at a large.

Argento

Argento

What is it about?

In the actual scenario of lack of vegetable raw materials for animal feeding and scarcity of crop alternatives for farmers, the rationale behind Argento project is a win-win story. Camelina represents an alternative oilcrop to be introduced into cereal-based cropping systems, able to grow with low environmental footprint and to source valuable seed cake for poultry feeding (i.e. quails) to produce healthy meat and eggs.

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Project leader

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM – UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA

Networking activities

  • UNIBO as partner participating in both projects generates knowledge to develop research activities and exchange results.
  • Information of events where ARGENTO is particpating is being updated thanks to the exchange of information between both projects. 

CARINA

What is it about?

Boosting sustainable diversification in farming systems

CARinata and CameIINA to boost the sustainable diversification in EU farming systems.

CARINA project will focus on innovative farming systems for these crops, which can grow almost everywhere in Europe and Northern Africa. They also provide high quality oils that will be transformed into innovative biobased products (bioherbicides, bioplastics). What’s more, the co-product from oil extraction from these crops is a protein-rich cake that can be used as animal feed. A solution may be found in two new oilseed crops, carinata and camelina. The CARINA solution willbenefit approximately three million farmers.

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CARINA Promo video

Project leader

UNIBO

Networking activities

  • Inclusion of the CARINA project in the COMMUNITY section of the UNTWIST website.
  • Possibility of presenting the project in the courses and conferences organized on the framework of CARINA and vice versa.
  • Organisation of meetings between both projects for results presentation and analysis of present and future collaboration.
  • Dissemination of events on the website CARINA and vice versa.
  • Publication of project news on the website CARINA and vice versa.
  • Possibility of making technical visits to the demonstration farms of the CARINA project.

trr_341 Plan Ecological Genetics

What is it about?

Genetics of adaptation to novel environmental challenges.

A4: Genetic basis and ecological importance of adaptive myxospermic strategies to drought stress in the Camelineae tribe and the Brassicaceae family.

This project will evaluate the ecological role of seed mucilage composition and link the trait to seed quality and germination in Camelina sativa, a species adapted to semiarid environments and frequently described as a competing weed. We will compare the role of mucilage synthesis and regulation genes in seed germination ability under adverse conditions in C. sativa and ruderal A. thaliana with the aim to identify and compare adaptive gene effects across these related species with different ecologies.

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Project leader

GERMAN RESEARCH FOUNDATION (DFG)

Networking activities

  • Inclusion of the CRC TRR 341 project in the COMMUNITY section of the UNTWIST website.
  • Possibility of presenting the project in the courses and conferences organized on the framework of CRC TRR 341 and vice versa.
  • Organisation of meetings between both projects for results presentation and analysis of present and future collaboration.
  • Dissemination of events on the website CRC TRR 341 and vice versa.

Closed Projects

PANACEA Network

What is it about?

PANACEA Network aims at the dissemination of near to practice applicable cases of Non-food Crops and at the cooperation between research, industry and farming community, in order to increase the contribution of Non-food Crops to the European Bio-economy Strategy. 

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Project leader

CENTER FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CRES)

Networking activities

  • Project presentation at final event of PANACEA: to know more.
  • PANACEA platform and UNTWIST community are linked to bring the opportunity to enlarge the target group to witch the results of both projects are oriented. 
  • There are partners as UNIBO, CAMELINA COMPANY and INICIATIVAS INNOVADORAS participating in both projects, this generate knowledge and potential experience to build both initiatives.

MAGIC

What is it about?

This 4-year project aims at promoting the sustainable development of resource-efficient and economically profitable industrial crops grown on marginal lands, considering that industrial crops can provide valuable resources for high added value products and bioenergy. To achieve the project objective, an up-to-date database of existing resource-efficient industrial crops will be developed with information on their agronomic characteristics, input requirements, yield performance and quality traits for end-use applications.

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Project leader

CENTER FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES (CRES)

Networking activities

  • MAGIC website and social media profiles are linked to UNTWIST community.
  • Both projects shared common target groups where UNTWIST Newsletter has been disseminated.

Improving Camelina seed oil production by modulating mucilage synthesis – CASOM

What is it about?

Camelina is emerging as an alternative oilseed crop due to its resistance to adverse growth conditions and the quality of its oil for nutrition or biofuel production. Camelina oil is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and in particular omega-3 fatty acids that are renowned for their health benefits.

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Project leader

(INRA Institut Jean-Pierre Bourgin) Madame Helen NORTH

Networking activities

  • INRAE as partner participating in both projects generates knowledge to develop research activities and exchange results.

COSMOS, adding value to camelina and crambe oil

What is it about?

This 4.5-year project aims at reducing the dependence of Europe’s oleochemical industry on imported plant oils by turning camelina and crambe into profitable, sustainable, multipurpose, non-transgenic European oil crops.

The European oleochemical industry currently relies on imported coconut and palm kernel oils and fatty acids and on castor oil as sources for medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, C10–C14) and medium-chain polymer building blocks. These are needed for the production of plastics, surfactants, detergents, lubricants, plasticisers and other products.

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Project leader

Wageningen Food & Biobased Research Dr. Rolf Blaauw.

Networking activities

  • UNTWIST community is linked to social media channels of COSMOS project to facilitate the achievement of potential common target groups where the UNTWIST Newsletter has been disseminated. 
  • Social media profiles and news published in both projects are shared continuously. 
  • UNIBO as partner participating in both projects generates knowledge to develop research activities and exchange results.