Integration of volatile cues and plant peptide signals for enhanced herbivore resistance in tomato

Project Information

InteCue

Grant agreement ID: 886651

DOI

10.3030/886651

Project closed

EC signature date 7 April 2020

Start date 1 March 2021

End date 28 February 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 191 149,44

EU contribution

€ 191 149,44

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAET BERN
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - InteCue (Integration of volatile cues and plant peptide signals for enhanced herbivore resistance in tomato)

Reporting period: 2021-03-01 to 2023-02-28

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Insect herbivores are major pests causing severe yield losses in agriculture. They are great threat for food safety. Therefore, it is important to explore and exploit the arsenals plants have for self-protection, especially in a time urgently demanding sustainable agriculture. To breed new pest resistant crops and to develop efficient biocontrol strategies, we need to understand how plants sense different danger cues to initiate defense against insect herbivores. InteCue aims to address one important question: If and how plants integrate airborne volatile cues and vasculature transduced peptide signals in anti-herbivore defense. The main objectives of InteCue are: 1. Evaluating the capacity of plants to integrate volatile cues and plant peptide signals; 2. Dissecting the molecular mechanisms of potential signal integration. Research from InteCue shows that plants have different defensive strategies. Maize plants can combine volatile cues and plant peptide signals to start strong anti-herbivore defense, while tomato plants are not able to do so. InteCue has successfully achieved its major objectives. It has also created important resources for a deeper mechanistic understanding of plant volatile and peptide signaling integration.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

InteCue had 3 work packages. In WP1, we analyzed the defense responses triggered by volatile cues and phytocytokines in both tomato and maize. We found volatile-phytocytokine synergy in maize but not in tomato. In WP2, we conducted an RNA-seq experiment to illustrate the transcriptional landscape shaped by the green leaf volatile (Z)-3-Hexenyl-acetate and the phytocytokine ZmPep3 in maize. We further evaluated the impact of HAC on ZmPep3 mediated defense. Our work showed that HAC signaling and ZmPep3 signaling are interconnected yet with substantial specificity. In WP3, we generated mutants in both tomato and maize using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool. We functionally characterized the role of a novel phytocytokine in tomato defense and development. We further created high order mutants of 4 maize genes for in depth analysis of volatile-phytocytokine signaling integration. Overall, InteCue has generated 1 review paper, 1 research paper and 1 research manuscript in preparation. It has also created mutants for 1 tomato gene and 4 maize genes ready for further research and to share with the research community. We have communicated the discoveries from InteCue in 5 scientific conferences and 1 public outreach event.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Discoveries from InteCue have advanced the knowledge in plant volatile perception and plant peptide signaling. We discovered that the immature leaves in maize are the dominant volatile sensing organs. This ‘nose’ function disappears as soon as the leaves mature. We have also identified a novel peptide that plays an important role regulating growth and defense in tomato. The former discovery leads to a manuscript that is published in the preprint server bioRxiv and submitted to a peer reviewed journal. The latter discovery leads to a manuscript in preparation. The work in InteCue has attracted substantial attention from the public during the “Night of Research” event in Bern on September 10th, 2022. We expect the formal publication of our work would spark great curiosity from both the research community and the public. Our findings also provide a basis for further exploring the plant defense network. Ultimately, progresses made from InteCue will contribute to breeding elite crop cultivars with higher insect resistance.

InteCue outreach

Schematice overview of InteCue