Descripción del proyecto
Salvar los olivos europeos
Las epidemias representan una amenaza crítica contra los cultivos y aumentan las preocupaciones mundiales sobre la seguridad alimentaria y la estabilidad social. La «Xylella fastidiosa» es una bacteria que se transmite exclusivamente por insectos chupadores que se alimentan de la savia bruta. La bacteria se está expandiendo por Europa y amenaza las plantaciones de olivos. El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos MultiX tiene por objeto reducir la enfermedad en los cultivos sin que esto signifique una pérdida de la producción. El proyecto utilizará un método de varios huéspedes combinado con transcriptómica dual para analizar de forma sistemática las firmas bacterianas y vegetales relacionadas con la enfermedad causada por la «X. fastidiosa». Identificará factores de virulencia y determinantes de la inmunidad de las plantas para comprender la susceptibilidad del huésped y revelar los receptores inmunitarios que controlan la infección por «X. fastidiosa». En consecuencia, ayudará al sistema inmunitario a distintos niveles de la organización del tejido vegetal con la expresión dirigida de receptores inmunitarios.
Objetivo
This project addresses a complex problem in agriculture and will identify the process of multi-host pathogenicity.
Emerging and re-emerging disease epidemics represent ongoing challenges to cultivation of crop plants, a global threat to food security and social stability. One of the recent disease epidemics is caused by Xylella fastidiosa, a generalist bacterium that infects a broad range of hosts, now spreading in Europe and threatening olive production. How pathogens colonize in multiple, genetically diverse species across families is poorly understood.
X. fastidiosa colonizes xylem vessels, dead cells of the vasculature. I hypothesize that the more complex nature of multi-host pathogen interactions could be explained by a common virulence strategy that depends on environmental circumstances, in terms of resources and immune defences to be overcome. We will use a multi-host approach combined with dual transcriptomics for the systematic analysis of bacterial and plant signatures associated with disease caused by X. fastidiosa. Identifying virulence factors and plant immunity determinants will drive our understanding of host susceptibility.
Of translational scientific interest, we will reveal immune receptors that control X. fastidiosa infection. Using this knowledge, we will assist the immune system at different levels of organization of plant tissues by targeted expression of immune receptors. This is high risk/high gain but of strategic relevance for my long-term goal to reduce disease in crops without yield penalties.
At its completion, this project will deliver molecular determinants to disease control and an approach to assist immunity in the vasculature, and thus will pave the way for applying similar strategies to other important vascular pathogens. It will also advance our understanding of the more complex nature of multi-host pathogen interactions and our conceptual views of host range determinants.
Ámbito científico
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
80539 MUNCHEN
Alemania