Project description
Tailored immune receptors against rice blast disease
Fungal pathogens secrete effector proteins to manipulate host cells and promote colonisation, threatening crop production. Host immune receptors can recognise these effectors, triggering a strong immune response to limit pathogen spread. However, pathogens rapidly modify or lose their effectors to evade detection. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the Tailored Immunity project will enhance immune receptors in rice to achieve durable resistance against Magnaporthe oryzae, the fungus that causes blast disease. By replacing specific domains in nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich repeat (NLR) receptors with those from host proteins targeted by multiple effectors, the project aims to enable simultaneous recognition of various effectors. This approach seeks to provide valuable insights for engineering disease resistance in crops.
Objective
Fungal pathogens are a major constraint to crop production worldwide. As part of their virulence strategy, pathogens secrete effector
proteins to manipulate host machinery and promote colonization. Effectors can be recognized by host immune receptors that launch
a robust immune response that restricts pathogen spread. Pathogens quickly overcome immune receptor-mediated resistance by
modifying or losing effectors to evade detection. In the Tailored Immunity project, our aim is to massively expand the effector
recognition specificity of immune receptors to provide durable disease resistance against the fungus Magnaportha oryzae, the causal
agent of blast disease, and one of the most destructive diseases of rice. In order to do this, we will use a host-target guided
engineering approach to replace the heavy-metal associated (HMA) effector binding domain of nucleotide-binding and leucine-rich
repeat domain (NLR) immune receptors from rice with the HMA domain of host proteins that are targeted by multiple M. oryzae
effectors. We hypothesize that introducing the HMA domain of the newly identified effector hubs to NLRs will allow the simultaneous
recognition of numerous effectors. As the pathogen would need to undergo complex mutation pathways to escape this detection,
and since changing multiple effectors is presumably associated with high fitness costs, we expect that this new strategy will generate
resistance that the pathogen has difficulties to overcome and that is therefore highly durable. By these means, this ambitious project promises to provide a proof-of-concept for a new knowledge-guided and powerful approach for the creation of durable immune receptors that will be highly valuable for the improvement of a large range of crop species. In addition to boosting host immunity, the Tailored Immunity project will provide invaluable information about how immune receptors can be engineered for tailored disease resistance in crops.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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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.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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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.
75007 PARIS CEDEX 07
France
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.