Project description
Natural solutions for insect-resistant crops
Farmers worldwide face severe challenges as insect pests, such as whiteflies, spread viruses that destroy crops. With resistance to pesticides increasing and environmental harm rising, the need for safer, sustainable solutions is greater than ever. Wild tomato species have a natural edge: they produce compounds in tiny structures called trichomes that repel or kill insects. These natural defences offer a promising alternative to chemical pesticides. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the TriDeTo project aims to uncover the molecular secrets behind trichome development in tomatoes. By studying how lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) help produce and store these insecticidal compounds, researchers hope to create tomato varieties that resist pests naturally, reducing crop losses and protecting the environment.
Objective
Insects like whitefly are virus-vectors causing substantial crop losses worldwide. They gain resistance to current commercially available pesticides, which are harmful to the environment. Therefore, there is a clear need to integrate sustainable alternatives in crop protection. Wild tomato species have the capacity to defend themselves by producing a wide variety of natural defense compounds that have a toxic or repellent effect inside trichomes.
Glandular trichomes are hair-like structures on the surface of green tissues of tomato for the synthesis and storage of specialized metabolites that exhibit insecticidal properties. From the site of synthesis in the plastid and cytosol these natural insecticidal metabolites need to pass barriers including the cell wall and cuticle, to be accumulated in a dedicated storage compartment. Contrary to the current understanding of insecticidal metabolite biosynthesis, little is known about the development and composition of these glandular trichomes though it appears to differ between cultivated and wild tomato.
Non-specific lipid transfer proteins (nsLTPs) are known to transfer hydrophobic molecules (lipids) between membranes in plants. I hypothesize that a specific tomato LTP gene affects the formation of trichomes through binding of fatty acids and transport of lipids in the cuticle. I aim to study and discover the molecular mechanisms associated with the role of LTPs in trichome development and gland constitution characterizing LTP mutants (knockout and gland specific overexpression lines). I will study these mutants in detail at the metabolome, proteome and lipidome level, as well as compare them to a number of wild accessions.
In the future this research would have implications in development of insect resistant cultivated tomato cultivars. This proposal will help me become an independent researcher, combining my background in plant biochemistry with knowledge on molecular biology.
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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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.
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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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1012WX Amsterdam
Netherlands
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