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Interactions of insect and soil microbial communities with insect pathogenic fungi

Objective

Entomopathogenic fungi belong to the most important antagonists of arthropods in soil. Due to their antagonistic function, entomopathogenic fungi have a great potential for us in biological control of insect and mite pests. However, knowledge on how abundance and diversity of these fungi is affected by environmental factors is limited. While a number of studies have assessed effects of abiotic factors, effects of biotic factors such as microbial and arthropod communities have remained largely unassessed.
The goal of this project is to investigate the interactions of microbial and arthropod communities with the entomopathogenic fungal genera Metarhizium and Beauveria and how abundance and diversity of the two genera might be affected by the two biotic factors. Analyses will be performed in soils obtained from 30 sites representing three habitat types with different management intensities (crop, grassland, forest) in Switzerland.
Multilocus SSR-marker genotyping and high-throughput amplicon sequencing will be used to assess genetic diversity of Metarhizium spp. and Beauveria spp. and microbial and arthropod diversity in the soil samples. Multivariate statistics will be applied to investigate correlations among different abiotic and biotic factors and Metarhizium and Beauveria abundance and diversity.
The project will provide novel insight on how entomopathogenic fungal populations interact with soil biota and fill important knowledge gaps. It will provide basic data to further exploit their use for biological pest control, a significant factor for implementation of sustainable agriculture. Experiments planned will involve state-of-the-art NGS technology and require further adaptation of the technology for application in an area in which its use has been limited. In addition, the project has a strong training component for the applicant including acquisition of up-to-date methods and the opportunity to develop research leadership and professional maturity.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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MSCA-IF-EF-SE - Society and Enterprise panel

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2017

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Coordinator

EIDGENOESSISCHES DEPARTEMENT FUER WIRTSCHAFT, BILDUNG UND FORSCHUNG
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 175 419,60
Address
Bundeshaus Ost
3003 Bern
Switzerland

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Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Espace Mittelland Bern / Berne
Activity type
Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments)
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Total cost

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.

€ 175 419,60
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