Objective
Plants harbor fungi asymptomatically within their tissues, called endophytes, which may protect the host plant against herbivores. The fungus Beauveria bassiana is an entomopathogen infecting insects, but it has recently also been demonstrated to grow as an endophyte within several plants. In this project I will evaluate the potential of the entomopathogenic fungus B. bassiana as an endophyte for biological plant protection against pests using wheat as a model host. In addition to effects on insect pests, I will for the first time study effects of endophytic B. bassiana on vertebrate pests, and I will establish whether pests favor or avoid infected plants over endophyte-free plants in preference tests. The project will initially establish methods for inoculation of plants with B. bassiana, validation of successful infections using advanced molecular methods followed by behavioral and physiological animal experimentation, and chemical analyses to separate and identify any volatile compounds emitted from the infected plants. This project is unique and highly inter-disciplinary with an unconventional combination of the disciplines of plant ecology, insect pathology and biological control implementing methods from agronomy, ecology, physiology, chemical ecology, and molecular biology. The knowledge obtained through this project will significantly contribute to the European scientific community within biological pest control and increase awareness of the utilization of endophytic fungi for crop protection. This project will likely become the baseline for subsequent studies in other agroecosystems and could pave the way for the effective deployment of entomopathogenic fungi as endophytes for biological pest control in important agricultural crops.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.