Project description
Volatile warning signals – how plants and insects get the message
Insects attacking plants results in significant changes in the volatiles emitted by the plant leaves, affecting both insect behaviour and plant metabolism. However, the mechanism through which plants perceive and react to these volatiles remains unknown. The EU-funded VOLARE project will reveal the perception mechanism of key plant volatile signals and their role in the ecophysiology of plants and insects. The project relies on previous research on green leaf volatiles which discovered a class of enzymes that deeply affect ecological interactions by changing the odour plume around a plant. These changes have distinct effects on insect behaviour and plant metabolism. VOLARE will advance previous research results by explaining the way plants and insects perceive E-2-hexenal and hexenyl acetates.
Objective
Plant leaves can emit large amounts of volatiles into the air. When attacked by insects, the composition of these blends changes markedly. It is well known that these changes affect not only the behavior of insects interacting with the plant but also the metabolism of the plant itself as well as its nearby competitors. However, how plants perceive these volatiles and generate a functional response is not known.
My research activities have been dedicated to a group of plant volatiles emitted the earliest upon herbivory, the so-called green leaf volatiles (GLVs). I discovered a class of enzymes, present in plants and insects, that profoundly affect ecological interactions by converting the highly abundant GLV Z-3-hexenal into E-2-hexenal (Science 2010, eLife 2013, Frontiers in Plant Science 2017). These two compounds, as well as their derivatives, among which Z-3- and E-2-hexenyl acetate, have distinct effects on the behavior of herbivorous and predacious insects as well as on the metabolism of plants.
Here I propose to take my program to the next level by elucidating how plants and insects perceive E-2-hexenal and hexenyl acetates. First I will use a classical mutagenesis screen and a cutting-edge technique called chemical yeast 3-hybrid (Y3H) to identify plant proteins involved in signal processing and especially perception of volatiles. With the newly identified genes in hand I will create non-responsive mutant plants to investigate the role of these key volatiles in the plant's self-recognition and its interactions with herbivorous insects and pathogens. Simultaneously, I will use Y3H to also identify insect proteins that directly interact with either E-2-hexenal or E-2-hexenyl acetate and I will create non-responsive insects using CRISPR-Cas9 and assess how this affects their behavior. This interdisciplinary research project will uncover the perception mechanism of key plant volatile signals and the roles these play in the (eco)physiology of plants and insects.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsignal processing
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyentomology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsenzymes
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbotany
Programme(s)
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
ERC-STG - Starting GrantHost institution
1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands