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Disentangling the multitrophic interactions of the supervector Bemisia tabaci to potentially use its symbiotic communities to reduce plants viral-vectored diseases.

Project description

Preventing plant diseases by vector modification strategies

The rising global population puts constant pressure on food production and intensive agricultural practices. Alongside the injudicious use of insecticides, this has modified agrarian ecosystems, causing more plant vector-borne viral diseases than ever before. The EU-funded GuardSym project will focus on the whitefly Bemisia tabaci as a vector to investigate its multitrophic interactions with its bacterial symbionts, vectored virus, and host plants. Scientists will employ a multidisciplinary approach that combines insect and plant physiology, virology, and high-throughput sequencing to identify symbionts that confer virus-resistance to their whitefly host. The project will form the basis for the development of population modification strategies where natural populations are replaced with virus-resistant ones that can no longer cause plant disease.

Coordinator

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS
Net EU contribution
€ 196 707,84
Address
Rue Michel Ange 3
75794 Paris
France

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Region
Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Paris
Activity type
Research Organisations
Other funding
€ 0,00