Objective
The project will develop methods to improve the validation of lmmunoassays to measure plant virus contamination. Such assays are central to the control of virus diseases in all Member states of the EU.
Control of virus diseases is important because infection diminishes crop yields, because high health status is an essential requirement for the export of planting materials, and because European agriculture must be protected against the unwitting importation of viruses (Directive 92/103/EEC). Many serological tests are done, but there are no reference materials available EU-wide to validate the results.
Reference material is essential to Quality Assurance and this precompetitive project is to devise control reference materials for use by Phytosanitary Certification laboratories to advance harmonization of measuring virus content in plant material (Directive 77/93/EEC). Such validation would help European trade because (1) reference materials would give confidence in the provision of plant passports (Directive 92/105/EEC) (2) validation of field diagnosis of virus disease would improve prospects for controlling virus spread (3) better quantitation of tests would contribute to the development of virus-resistant germplasm and (4) the validation of certificates of plant health is needed for the export of live plant material outwith the EU would be improved. The proposal is to obtain preparations of antigens, in a stable, purified form, that will react with antibodies to viruses of potato (potato leafroll, potato Y), beet (beet necrotic yellow vein, beet soilborne), tomato (tomato spotted wilt, tomato yellow leaf curl) and grapevine (grapevine leafroll associated 2, grapevine A). The partnership will combine molecular biology, phytopathology and plant dlagnostlcs experience in Research Institutes, Universities, National Pathology Laboratories and SMEs of 7 Member states. The antigens will consist of peptide epitopes attached to the surfaces of readily purifiable particles of bacteriophage or virus-like particles made in cells expressing a virus coat protein or a transposon protein gene. As potentially certifiable reference materials, these antigens will substantially improve the reproducibility of serological testing by calibrating the tests and validating the results. They will also permit the widespread authentication of the various antisera in current use.
The production of reference antigens, and methods for their routine production, will improve the comparability of measurements, allowing European legislation to be applied uniformly, and facilitating trade via mutual recognition of results. It will address the priorities identified under European measurement and testing infrastructure by supporting laboratory-based quality assurance and accreditation (e.g. for ISO 9000 adoption) and supporting the development of technical criteria for accreditation of measurement and analytical laboratories. There will be close links with COST 823 (New technologies to improve phytodiagnosis).
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pathology
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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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
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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.
Coordinator
DD2 5DA Dundee
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.