Objective
Many important plant diseases are vectored by insects, and the dependence of pathogens and insect herbivores on a common plant host creates the potential for antagonistic and mutualistic interactions that may have large implications for disease transmission. Pathogen-induced effects on plant traits affecting their suitability for herbivores or the cues presented to foraging insects are likely to be central to these interactions. Yet, the ecology and evolution of plant-pathogen-vector interactions is not well understood. A few recent studies have shown that virus-induced plant organic volatiles are attractive to aphid vectors, but broader implications for disease ecology and pathogen evolution have not been investigated. I propose here to explore the ecology of vector-borne viral and bacterial pathogens of the wild gourd Cucurbita pepo subsp. texana. Previous work in this system suggests that infection by an aphid-vectored virus, ZYMV, and a beetle-vectored bacterial pathogen, Erwinia trachephila, are dependent on the selective behaviour of their respective vectors. I will thus explore the effects of pathogen-induced changes in plant volatiles and insect behaviour, and their impact on pathogen transmission. I will examine variation within natural pathogen populations for these effects, to gain a better understanding of their adaptive nature and their consequences in pathogen epidemiology and evolution. I will also develop a second study system, involving the plant Arabidopsis thaliana and a whitefly-vectored virus (CaMV) to extend this valuable model to questions relating to plant-pathogen-vector interactions, which would greatly facilitate the elucidation of underlying mechanisms. The proposed work will be performed jointly at the department of entomology of the Pennsylvania State University, USA, a worldwide leader in the fields of chemical ecology and disease dynamics, and the laboratoire Ecologie, Systématique et Evolution at Université Paris-Sud 11, France.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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-IOF-2008
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
91405 ORSAY CEDEX
France
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.