Objective
Plants are continuously attacked by pathogens and pests, resulting globally in large agricultural losses and food insecurity at high economic cost. To counter infection, plants have developed sophisticated immune responses in which the post-translational modifier, ubiquitin, plays indispensable roles. Ubiquitination is a versatile protein modification that regulates the amplitude and intensity of immune responses, thereby establishing durable resistance. Substrate ubiquitination is performed by E3 ligases that act as matchmakers by recruiting specific substrates. Despite the essential roles of E3 ligases in plant immunity, it remains unclear how they achieve such extraordinary substrate selectivity and how they evolved to adapt to changing threats in their environment, including new pathogens. Conversely, pathogens have evolved effector proteins that hijack ubiquitin signalling to prevent immune activation, but the underpinning molecular mechanisms remain obscure.
The SynUbL project will establish interactions between the major cereal crop, barley, and fungal pathogen, Puccinia hordei, as an economically relevant host-pathogen system for addressing these questions and to bioengineer durable resistance. By functionally tracking immune-induced E3 ligases along the evolutionary tree, we will reveal how these enzymes evolved structural features for specific substrate recognition. Simultaneously, we will expose P. hordei’s hijacking tactics, thereby uncovering the significance of ubiquitin in shaping the evolutionary arms race between host and pathogen. Collective insights are then utilised to synthetically engineer novel E3 ligases to allow on-demand activation of host immune pathways and on-demand destruction of immune-suppressing pathogen effectors. Hence, this project not only provides fundamental discoveries in ubiquitin signalling, it exploits these innovations by generating sustainable strategies for durable crop resistance in the agrifood sector.
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.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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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.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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.
(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
15782 SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
Spain
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.