Projektbeschreibung
Innovative Methode für mehr Selektivität von Pestiziden
Pestizide und insbesondere die toxische Wirkung von Insektiziden auf Nicht-Zielarten wie Bienen gehören zu den Hauptfaktoren, die für den rasanten Rückgang der Insektenpopulationen und deren Vielfalt auf der ganzen Welt verantwortlich sind. Im Rahmen des EU-finanzierten Projekts DETOXPEST wird ein innovativer Ansatz zur Aktivierung der schädlichen Wirkung von Propestiziden durch Pflanzenproteasen, die im Verdauungstrakt von Raupen aktiviert werden, vorgestellt. Mit der Methode werden keine nützlichen Nicht-Zielarten geschädigt, die keine Probleme verursachen, darunter Bestäuber und natürliche Fressfeinde der Schädlinge. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird das Team von DETOXPEST die Wirkung des Herbst-Heerwurmes (Spodoptera frugiperda), einem invasiven Insekt und potenzieller Bedrohung für die EU-Landwirtschaft, auf die Modellpflanze Arabidopsis thaliana (Acker-Schmalwand) und Mais untersuchen.
Ziel
Insects numbers and diversity have rapidly declined in the EU and worldwide. Pesticides, and particularly the toxicity of insecticides to non-target insects (e.g. bees), are one of the major drivers of insect declines. Apart from destabilizing natural ecosystems, pollinator disappearance directly threatens food security.
To help combat insect decline, I propose an innovative approach for the damage-activation of pro-pesticides (DAPP) by plant proteases that are activated in the gut of feeding caterpillars. Non-target beneficial insects that cause no damage, including pollinators and natural enemies of pests, are spared.
My team pioneers the study of proteolysis in the plant wound response, following our recent discovery that physical damage activates a class of proteases, called metacaspases. I hypothesize that i) damage-activated plant proteolysis is a largely unrecognized but potential key player in the plant wound response to insect herbivores and ii) this knowledge can be used to enhance pesticide biosafety.
We will study the impact of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), an invasive insect pest and potential major threat to EU agriculture, on the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and the economically important crop maize. A combination of advanced (N-terminomics) and novel (Proteome Integral Solubility Alteration) proteomics technologies will allow us to uncover unknown plant metacaspase substrates and damage-activated proteases and to assess their impact on insect herbivory. These fundamental studies will feed information into a pipeline of first-in-class DAPP development, where we will modify biological insecticides with newly-discovered protease cleavage sites. Finally, we will test toxicity against target (Spodoptera) and non-target insects.
My early-stage and fundamental research on damage-activated proteolysis can have a tremendous positive impact on the increase of insecticide selectivity to help combat the escalating problem of insect decline.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsproteomics
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutrition
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculture
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomology
Programm/Programme
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedGastgebende Einrichtung
750 07 Uppsala
Schweden