Project description
Advanced detection and monitoring of crop viruses and the aphids that transmit them
Aphids, a large family of tiny sap-sucking insects do major damage to the world’s food crops. The damage is primarily due to the viruses that aphids often carry and transmit to crops including cereals/grasses and potatoes. The challenge we face is how to protect the world’s food supply given that the EU Biodiversity Strategy calls for a 50 % reduction in pesticide use. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MONET project will lay the groundwork for targeted pest control via better diagnostic capabilities for two key viruses. This action will enable determination of the principal aphid vector for each viral strain and subsequent virus-vector manipulation.
Objective
Aphids are among the major global pests, causing significant economic damage to food and commodity crops. Barley/Cereal yellow dwarf virus (B/CYDV) is vectored by aphids and is one of the most important viral diseases in cereals and grass species in the family Poaceae, with yield losses ranging from 5% to 80%. Potato Virus Y (PVY) a is transmitted by more than 40 aphid species, and is fifth in the world’s top ten most important plant viruses. In potato, it causes substantial yield reduction and loss of tuber quality.The EU has indicated through the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030 the need to reduce use of pesticides by 50% by 2030. Better diagnostic capabilities for B/CYDV and PVY allows targeted pest control, reducing unnecessary pesticide application, which will contribute to achieving this reduction. MONET will improve understanding and control of these viruses by; 1) Advancing detection of B/CYDV and PVY. 2) Identifying the vector responsible for infection through surveying B/CYDV and PVY species in crops and aphid vectors. Knowing the principle vector and viral strain is crucial for improving DSS for farmers. 3) Investigating virus-vector manipulation using viral transmission assay with primary aphid vectors and most common strains of virus found in Ireland.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
- agricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturegrains and oilseedscereals
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Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
R93 Carlow
Ireland