Project description
Seed transmission dynamics in mixed plant infections
Plant viruses cause more than half of emerging plant diseases, yet current management often neglects vertical transmission through seeds. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the FACEOFF project will address this gap by investigating how mixed infections with other viruses or bacteria affect seed transmission. FACEOFF aims to determine how the nature of these coinfecting partners – whether beneficial or pathogenic – impacts this process. By combining experimental evolution with genomic analysis, the project will explore the molecular mechanisms driving these interactions. Findings will be integrated into epidemiological models using neural networks to predict virus prevalence, providing a vital step towards securing global food supplies by improving control over hidden disease pathways.
Objective
Plant pests are a main limiting factor for agricultural production, and developing effective control measures is a major requirement to meet the rising food demand of a growing human population. Among pests, viruses account for more than half of emerging plant diseases. A major contributing factor to their emergence is the great capacity of plant viruses to spread rapidly and cause devastating epidemics. Thus, current management methods focus on interfering with their horizontal transmission (HT). However, even when successful, these methods do not prevent virus epidemics as these pests have other dispersal means. The main one is vertical transmission from-parent-to-offspring via seeds (VT), which can be achieved by at least 20% of all known plant viruses. The genetic and ecological determinants of this transmission mode are largely unknown, which hampers providing efficient control measures. One such determinants is the coexistence of plant viruses with other microorganisms in mixed infections within the same plant, which is frequent in nature. Although mixed infections influence many infection traits, their role as modulators of seed transmission is unknown. To fill this gap, FACEOFF will analyze how the type of coinfecting partner (virus-virus and virus-bacteria), its transmission mode (HT or VT) and its relation with the host (beneficial or pathogenic) impact virus seed transmission. The effects of these three factors will be studied in the short- and in the long-term through experimental evolution, and their molecular basis, both in the plant and the virus, will be studied through genomics and transcriptomics. Moreover, the generated data will be integrated in an epidemiological model that integrates neural networks to study how changes in seed transmission induced by mixed infections impact virus prevalence. Thus, FACEOFF will provide an unprecedented understanding on how mixed infections determine virus epidemiology via changes in seed transmission.
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 genetics
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences public health epidemiology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences computer and information sciences artificial intelligence computational intelligence
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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)
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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
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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-2025-PF
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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.
28040 Madrid
Spain
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.