Obiettivo Wolbachia are arguably the most prevalent intracellular bacteria in animals, infecting filarial nematodes and up to 66% of arthropod species. Wolbachia are maternally transmitted and can induce a large range of strong phenotypes on their hosts. However, very little is known on how they induce these phenotypes and how they interact with the host at the molecular level. One main difficulty with this system is that Wolbachia have been genetically intractable. We will study how Wolbachia confers protection to viruses, a phenomenon that is currently being applied to fight dengue and Zika viruses. We also aim at understanding how these endosymbiont titres are regulated, a crucial aspect of their biology. We will identify host and Wolbachia genes that regulate these processes by performing classical genetic screens in Drosophila and develop a new method to perform a forward genetic screen in Wolbachia. Our previous analysis of natural variants of Wolbachia will also be extended in order to identify alleles associated with differential growth and antiviral protection. We will characterize candidate Wolbachia genes, from the previous analysis and current results in the lab, by performing a new method to obtain loss-of-function mutants in target Wolbachia genes. We will also focus on putative effector proteins of Wolbachia with the purpose of identifying cellular location, induced phenotypes, and host interacting proteins. Drosophila genes will be characterized by classical genetic methods in this model organism. The identification and characterization of Wolbachia and host genes involved in antiviral protection and Wolbachia proliferation will provide key insights to these basic biological problems. Moreover, the knowledge generated and new Wolbachia variants may have an application in the fight against arboviruses transmitted by mosquitoes and human diseases caused by filarial nematodes. Campo scientifico natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirologynatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsnatural sciencesbiological scienceszoologyinvertebrate zoologymedical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsantivirals Parole chiave Host-microbe interactions endosymbionts Wolbachia Drosophila innate immunity antiviral protection insect Programma(i) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Argomento(i) ERC-2017-COG - ERC Consolidator Grant Invito a presentare proposte ERC-2017-COG Vedi altri progetti per questo bando Meccanismo di finanziamento ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant Istituzione ospitante FUNDACAO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 999 500,00 Indirizzo AVENIDA BERNA 45A 1067-001 LISBOA Portogallo Mostra sulla mappa Regione Continente Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Tipo di attività Research Organisations Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 1 999 500,00 Beneficiari (1) Classifica in ordine alfabetico Classifica per Contributo netto dell'UE Espandi tutto Riduci tutto FUNDACAO CALOUSTE GULBENKIAN Portogallo Contribution nette de l'UE € 1 999 500,00 Indirizzo AVENIDA BERNA 45A 1067-001 LISBOA Mostra sulla mappa Regione Continente Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Área Metropolitana de Lisboa Tipo di attività Research Organisations Collegamenti Contatta l’organizzazione Opens in new window Sito web Opens in new window Partecipazione a programmi di R&I dell'UE Opens in new window Rete di collaborazione HORIZON Opens in new window Costo totale € 1 999 500,00
