Project description
Sustainable crop protection agents
Global food security is increasingly threatened by climate change and the overuse of synthetic pesticides. The EU’s Green Deal and Farm to Fork strategy call for a significant reduction in agrochemicals, creating an urgent need for effective natural alternatives. Fungal terpenoids are potent bioactive compounds with promising crop protection properties. However, their high production cost limits their widespread use. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FUNgTERP project aims to develop an integrated biotechnology platform for the discovery and scalable production of these compounds from the fungus Clonostachys rosea. Researchers will establish how these molecules protect plants and modulate soil microbiomes, creating a pathway to commercialisation and supporting the transition to sustainable agriculture.
Objective
"Global food security faces critical challenges from climate change and unsustainable agricultural practices. The EU's Green Deal aims to significantly reduce synthetic agrochemicals. The FUNgTERP project offers an ecologically sound alternative using fungal terpenoids—potent, natural bioactive compounds currently inaccessible due to high production costs.
This project will dismantle this barrier by creating a pioneering, integrated biotechnological platform for the discovery, scalable production, and functional validation of these compounds. It centers on the fungus Clonostachys rosea, a world-renowned biological control agent. The project's timeliness is enhanced by the recent high-quality genome for C. rosea, which has transformed gene identification into a high-probability bioinformatic exercise.
The core innovation lies in establishing a causal link between purified fungal terpenoids and their dual impact on plant health: direct antagonism and the induction of systemic resistance. This approach introduces a novel ""ecological risk-culling"" strategy, ensuring that only compounds beneficial to the entire agricultural ecosystem are advanced. The project will also provide the first mechanistic insights into how these specific molecules modulate the soil microbiome.
FUNgTERP aims for transformative impact by delivering new molecular tools and production platforms. By breaking the economic barrier of high-value terpenoids, the project will create a clear path to commercialization through licensing or a spin-off company, an approach validated by companies like Isobionics/BASF. The project directly supports the EU’s ""Farm to Fork"" Strategy and the EU Mission ""A Soil Deal for Europe"" by providing tangible, ecological solutions."
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 agronomy plant protection
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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)
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Topic(s)
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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-2025-PF
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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.
30167 Hannover
Germany
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.