Project description
Molecular insight into virus proliferation in plants
Plant viruses pose a significant threat to agriculture, so their investigation is central for plant disease control. Despite high replication rates in somatic tissues, certain viruses are excluded from stem cells and progeny, indicating an efficient antiviral defence mechanism. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the VirITAS project seeks to uncover the molecular basis of this mechanism, focusing on RNA interference and plant hormones as pivotal factors. By employing transcriptomic analysis of gametes and genome-wide association studies, researchers hope to identify regulatory candidates and genomic polymorphisms influencing virus exclusion and seed transmission. Insights gained could revolutionise antiviral strategies in agriculture.
Objective
With this proposal I will address a long-known but still not understood phenomenon in plant virology. Despite extreme replication rates in infected somatic tissues, many plant viruses are excluded from stem cells in the shoot apical meristem and subsequently from the progeny of flowering plants, suggesting that reproductive cells possess an exceptionally efficient antiviral defense. Yet some viruses overcome this barrier and pose a substantial agricultural risk of spreading viral diseases through seeds over great distances. Insight into the molecular basis of virus exclusion from stem cells and germline/progeny is therefore of utmost importance. Recent work by the host group leader indicates that RNA interference and plant defense hormones prevent viruses from entering the meristematic stem cells. If this exclusion is sufficient to prevent virus entry to the germline, which factors restrict seed transmission of different viruses, and at what stage of development they are relevant, will be addressed in this action by two independent unbiased screens. First, I will identify candidates regulating virus exclusion from plant germlines and vertical transmission by performing cell-specific transcriptomic analysis of gametes from healthy and infected plants aiming to identify enriched and depleted transcripts suggesting involvement of their products in antiviral defense. Second, I will compare viral seed transmission rates in natural accessions of Arabidopsis to perform a genome-wide association study and identify underlying genomic polymorphisms. The proposed work is expected to deliver ground-breaking insight into the mechanisms of transgenerational antiviral defense and novel mechanisms of antiviral immunity, with a high potential to contribute to disease control in plants.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology cells technologies stem cells
- 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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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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
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.
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
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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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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.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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.