Project description
Plant pathogens shed light on cross-kingdom symbiotic interactions
Herbivorous insects are key vectors of plant pathogens, facilitating their transmission to uninfected plants. However, how microbes balance their roles as plant pathogens and insect mutualists remains unclear, as does the genetic basis of pathogen specificity and host shifts between parasitism and mutualism. The ERC-funded SymPathy project aims to advance understanding of cross-kingdom symbiotic interactions and plant pathogen epidemiology by exploring the relationships between the fungal pathogen Fusarium, the leaf beetle Chelymorpha alternans, and their shared host plant, Ipomoea batatas. By integrating fieldwork, bioassays, and advanced technologies, such as sequencing, reverse genetics, and metabolomics, the project will investigate symbiont-driven defences, the genetic mechanisms underlying infections during host shifts, and the interactions between pathogens and their vectors.
Objective
By vectoring plant pathogens, herbivorous insects are key determinants in the epidemiology of numerous plant blights. For a vector-borne phytopathogen, natural selection favors upgrading insect fitness to enhance transmission to an uninfected plant. It is currently unclear how a microbe balances this dual symbiotic lifestyle, featuring markedly different interaction outcomes: as a plant pathogen and an insect mutualist. Likewise, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying pathogen specificity, and the genomic basis and consequences of cross-kingdom host shifts along the parasitism-to-mutualism continuum. I will tackle these questions using an emergent model system: the interaction between the fungal pathogen Fusarium, the leaf beetle Chelymorpha alternans, and their shared host plant Ipomoea batatas. I recently described that C. alternans associates with a fusarial strain that coats the pupae of its host, protecting beetles against predators during metamorphosis. In exchange, the insect propagates its symbiont to its host plant, where it causes wilt disease. The unique biology and tractability of this study system affords unparalleled opportunities for experimentation. My approach will combine fieldwork and bioassays, with the latest developments in sequencing technologies, reverse genetics and metabolomics to characterize (1) the mechanistic features of symbiont-driven defense, (2) the genetic basis of infection in a cross-kingdom host-shift, (3) the genomic consequences of a dual symbiotic lifestyle, and (4) the breadth, origin as well as partner fidelity and chemical stability of a pathogen-vector interaction. Bridging the fields of chemical ecology, plant pathology and natural product research, this project will significantly further our understanding of the genetic-basis of cross-kingdom symbiotic interactions and the epidemiology of plant pathogens.
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.
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
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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)
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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)
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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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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(opens in new window) ERC-2024-STG
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1081 HV Amsterdam
Netherlands
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