The project is about understanding the biology of cold acclimation of plants: how this process is affected by climate change, mediated by the microbiota and epigenetically regulated in different populations of the dominant European Alpine pasture species, Festuca rubra. The findings will provide an understanding of the effect of unpredictable events (changing cold and warm weather) on plant fitness and whether the microbiota associated with the plant plays a role in maintaining plant fitness during such events.