Description du projet
Gare à vous les champignons, les exterminateurs arrivent!
Bien que la plupart des champignons ne soient pas pathogènes pour les plantes, de rares variétés peuvent provoquer des dommages conséquents. Les champignons détruisent chaque année environ un tiers des cultures vivrières mondiales, ce qui non seulement affecte notre approvisionnement alimentaire, mais porte également atteinte aux économies et contribue à la pauvreté à l’échelle mondiale. La mise au point de fongicides il y a environ un demi-siècle a permis de lutter contre cette menace, mais la résistance à ces substances et le développement de souches hautement agressives constituent une préoccupation croissante. Le projet MAHT-FunSST, financé par l’UE, entend faire entrer les fongicides dans l’ère des laboratoires sur puce grâce à une nouvelle plateforme de criblage microfluidique à haut débit. Cette solution devrait contribuer à protéger l’approvisionnement alimentaire mondial, qui lutte déjà pour sa survie face au changement climatique.
Objectif
Fungicide development and screening is stuck in an innovation gap, in which it incurs staggering expenses and takes many years to get a fungicide to market, furthermore, many pathogens develop resistance against fungicides which necessitates the sensitivity screening and recalled fungicides. The present proposal is conceptualized to bridge the gap for high throughput (HT) screening of fungicides effectively, by designing the novel lab-on-chip device. Specifically, we will assess (i) baseline sensitivity of fungicides against phyto-pathogenic fungi, (ii) response of fungi to different doses of fungicides, (iii) antifungal effects induced on fungal conidia, (iv) specific enzyme inhibition by fungicide. The fungicide screening lab-on-a-chip will address the large and currently unmet need to model fungicide screening device, regarding the spatial and mechanical cues important for conidia. The project will be based on the state-of-the-art technical expertise of ELVESYS in microfluidic chip design and fabrication and will fully integrate the Experienced Researcher’s (ER) strong expertise with agricultural plant pathology, molecular plant-microbe interactions and fungicides design and screening to develop a HT fungicide screening chip. Testing and validation of the product will be by perfusion using a set of candidate fungicides. The development of lab-on-a-chip technology will result in increasing the pre- and in-field HT screening of fungicides for their efficacy, optimal dosing and toxicity. The device will minimize the cost of fungicide development and screening, thus reducing the economic burden in the EU area as well as having large implications on improving the production of food globally. Through this opportunity the ER will be immersed in a richly entrepreneurial environment at ELVESYS and exposed to marketing concepts. Together, these experiences will provide the ER with the optimal environment to become a leader in next generation tools for fungicide screening.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF-EF-SE - Society and Enterprise panelCoordinateur
75011 Paris
France
L’entreprise s’est définie comme une PME (petite et moyenne entreprise) au moment de la signature de la convention de subvention.