Project description
Integrating internal and external danger signals could boost plant insect resistance
Sometimes the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The EU-funded InteCue project wants to find out if this adage holds up when it comes to the ability of plants to protect themselves against herbivores. Pesky insects feeding on neighbours induce the release of chemicals (herbivore-induced plant volatiles or HIPVs) from the damaged parts of the plant that vaporise and waft to nearby plants to be recognised as danger signals. Similarly, the plant peptide hormone systemin is produced and circulated within plants such as tomatoes and potatoes in response to either mechanical or insect-induced wounds. InteCue will investigate whether the integration of these two responses can augment resistance to insects. Scientists will look at the impact of HIPVs on systemin and at a specific systemin receptor to untangle potential cooperation and point to sustainable methods to breed crops more resistant to pests.
Objective
Plants are often exposed to infestation by insect herbivores. How do they defend themselves to grow and reproduce? We know that plants can perceive volatile cues, emitted by insect infested neighboring plants, to generate faster and stronger defense responses upon subsequent herbivory. Plants can also sense peptide signals, induced by herbivory, to fight against herbivores. However, we know close to nothing about whether plants can integrate volatile cues and peptide signals for enhanced herbivore resistance. In InteCue, I will determine the capacity of tomato plants to integrate herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) and the peptide systemin for enhanced defense responses against herbivores. I will also assess the direct impact of HIPVs on systemin signaling. Finally, I will explore the role of the systemin receptor SYR1 as a hub for HIPVs-systemin signal integration and regulation. As such, I aim to unravel the molecular mechanisms underpinning volatile and plant peptide signal integration and regulation in the context of plant-herbivore interactions. By combining my knowledge of peptide signaling, the expertise of chemical ecology and the unique platform for high throughput volatile profiling from the host lab, InteCue will advance our understanding of signal integration in plant-herbivore interactions. Ultimately, the new knowledge gained will lay the foundation of breeding pest resistant crops for sustainable agriculture.
Fields of science
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
3012 Bern
Switzerland