Emerging multifactorial complexity at the geminivirus-host interface

Project Information

GemOmics

Grant agreement ID: 101044142

DOI

10.3030/101044142

EC signature date 27 April 2022

Start date 1 July 2022

End date 30 June 2027

Funded under

• European Research Council (ERC)

Total cost

€ 1 999 973,00

EU contribution

€ 1 999 973,00

Coordinated by

EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - GemOmics (Emerging multifactorial complexity at the geminivirus-host interface)

Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2024-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Viruses manipulate their host cells to replicate and spread, ultimately causing devastating diseases in the organisms they infect. This manipulation is based on the activity of virus-encoded proteins, limited due to restrictions in genome size imposed by the viral cycle. How the action of these few proteins results in the massive cell reprogramming observed during the infection remains enigmatic. This project tackles this question by using geminiviruses, plant viruses infecting crops worldwide, as models. We aim to define the complete set of proteins these viruses produce, and investigate how they interact, physically and functionally, with the cellular proteins and with one another, generating a comprehensive map of the virus/host intersection with unprecedented resolution. Then, we plant to test if these maps are similar in different virus/host interactions.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Our results so far indicate that viruses produce more proteins with roles in the infection than previously thought, and that some of these proteins physically interact with themselves and/or one another, which could expand their functional capabilities.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The conceptual and practical enlargement of the virus/host interface elucidated in this project suggests that we are currently just scratching at the surface of virus-host interactions.

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