Project description
Novel antiviral siRNAs help fight beet virus
Beet yellows virus (BYV) is a highly destructive plant pathogen. The recent EU regulatory ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides means a new approach is urgently needed to combat virus yellows disease. One answer is small molecular inhibitors called 'artificial small interfering RNAs' (art-siRNAs) that specifically bind to and deactivate BYVs within the plants. The EU-funded ultraRNAs project will design and assess structure-based art-siRNAs (ultraRNAs) within laboratories, glasshouses and in-field. The aim is for the art-siRNAs to be applied to sugar beet seed pellets and be taken up by the seedlings as they grow. When BYV infects the treated plants, the art-siRNAs will bind to the BYV RNA strands and deactivate them, thereby preventing disease.
Objective
Beet Yellows Virus (BYV) is one of the most destructive pathogens, causing Virus Yellows disease that underlies up to 50% yield losses in sugar beet. The recent regulatory ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in EU has worsened the damage to the EU sugar beet industry. Given the urgency of the current problem caused by BYV, we propose to take advantage of a molecular biological approach to employ small molecular inhibitors called “artificial small interfering RNAs” (art-siRNAs), and demonstrate their ability to specifically bind to and deactivate BYVs within the plants. Our proposal substantially builds on fundamental research outputs from ERC Starting Grant GA680324. We aim to design art-siRNAs that are based on in vivo RNA structure features of BYV RNAs in sugar beet plants and demonstrate high efficacy in virus cleavage or degradation. We will comprehensively assess and validate the effectiveness, efficiency and safety of our structure-based designed art-siRNAs (ultraRNAs) within the laboratories, glasshouses and in-field. We envisage that our art-siRNAs will be applied to sugar beet seed pellets and will be taken up by the seedlings as they grow. When BYV infects these treated plants, we anticipate that our art-siRNAs will bind to the BYV RNA strands and deactivate them, preventing disease. We are confident that through this Proof of Concept we will be able to demonstrate the high performance of our ultraRNAs in terms of not only achieving high efficacy of BYV degradation, but also significantly reducing the quantity of art-siRNAs needed, ideal for incorporating into the seed coating. Ultimately, through follow-on work, our ambition is to provide sugar beet growers with an environmentally-friendly, safe, reliable, efficient, sustainable and long-lasting protection against the virus. Our proposed solution will help save the viability of the sugar beet industry within Europe, which contributes €15.6 billion to the GDPs of the EU-27.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture agronomy plant protection
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2020-PoC
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
NR4 7UH NORWICH
United Kingdom
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