Objective
Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) is one of the two most important viruses of field-grown and glasshouse crops in the EU and worldwide, causing considerable losses annually. Moreover CMV attacks more crop and wild-plant species than any other virus. A key contributor to the success of CMV is a recently-discovered factor made by the virus: the 2b protein. Until recently the most important known role for the 2b protein was that it counterattacks resistance mechanisms that plants use to defend against virus infection. In particular, the 2b protein can disrupt a form of antiviral resistance that is controlled by a variety of small RNAs (small interfering and microRNAs). We have discovered a remarkable and novel property of the 2b protein: it inhibits plant resistance to insects. This is very important because under natural conditions, CMV (like most plant viruses) is transmitted from plant to plant by aphids. Aphids are insects that feed on plants and in doing so promote the spread of disease caused by viruses and other disease-causing organisms. We can imagine that it will be in the interests of the virus to inhibit defences against insects so that sufficient aphids will settle on CMV-infected plants to pass on the infection to new host plants. We found that the 2b protein blocks the action of a natural chemical signal, jasmonic acid, which stimulates anti-insect defences in plants. We also discovered that in plants infected with a mutant strain of CMV, called CMVΔ2b, that is unable to make the 2b protein, these defences are activated. We will identify novel, potentially insecticidal gene products and low molecular weight chemicals induced by infection with CMVΔ2b. In addition, we will determine if inhibition of jasmonic acid-induced resistance to aphids is a property common to 2b proteins from strains belonging to all three subgroups of CMV and further elucidate the role of small RNAs in the regulation of jasmonic acid-mediated resistance to aphids.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance multidrug resistance
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Programme(s)
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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-IIF-2008
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Funding Scheme
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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
CB2 1TN Cambridge
United Kingdom
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.