Descrizione del progetto
Il ruolo del metabolismo alogeno nell’immunità delle macroalghe brune
I patogeni delle macroalghe provocano epidemie sistematiche e minacciano lo sviluppo sostenibile di colture marine di macroalghe e di popolazioni di alghe naturali negli ecosistemi. La mancanza di misure adeguate per la gestione delle malattie insieme a una conoscenza limitata sulla biologia delle macroalghe denota il bisogno urgente di studiare le patologie delle alghe. A seguito di studi recenti che replicano infezioni patogene e di analisi trascrittomiche e proteomiche, nelle macroalghe brune sono state introdotte aloperossidasi come meccanismo di difesa generico. Il progetto HALOSPATH, finanziato dall’UE, si propone di chiarire il significato del metabolismo alogeno nei meccanismi di difesa e immunitari della macroalga bruna filamentosa Ectocarpus e della più complessa Laminaria (con due grandi famiglie multigeniche di bromo e ioduro perossidasi), utilizzando un approccio integrato di metabolomica comparativa e trascrittomica RNA-Seq.
Obiettivo
Macroalgal pathogens are a threat to the sustainable development of macroalgal mariculture and natural populations in marine ecosystems, causing spectacular disease outbreaks and significant losses (10-20% annually). The lack of proper posteriori containment and disease management measures has increased the urgency to study macroalgal pathologies. Nevertheless, the biology of macroalgal pathogens is understudied and limited to their documentation and phylotaxonomy. Elicitor-based short-term studies mimicking pathogen infection complemented with recent transcriptomics and proteomics of Ectocarpus-Eurychasma pathosystem highlighted the induction of haloperoxidases as a generic defense mechanism in brown macroalgae. Nothing is known about the nature of metabolites, in particular halometabolites, involved in macroalgal host-pathogen interactions till date. HALOSPATH intends to elucidate the significance of halogen metabolism in defense and immunity mechanisms of the filamentous brown macroalga Ectocarpus (containing one haloperoxidase gene) and the morphologically complex Laminaria (containing two large multigenic families of bromo- and iodo-peroxidases) against pathologies, using an integrated approach of time-series comparative metabolomics, and RNA-seq transcriptomics. This will generate large metabolomic and transcriptomic datasets, offering unprecedented insights to advance the knowledgebase of disease resistance/infection mechanism in macroalgae, revealing the secrets behind the infective success of these pathogens that could be exploited for resilience of macroalgal ecosystem to pathogens. Potential bioactive halometabolite products will be explored during secondment at MEDINA, envisaging transfer of knowledge across EU. This project will significantly advance the scope of existing research in the host lab and contribute to gender equity in research. I will acquire cutting-edge analytical, molecular skills and expertise to lead my own independent research group.
Campo scientifico
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Meccanismo di finanziamento
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinatore
AB24 3FX ABERDEEN
Regno Unito