Title Promoter Affiliations Abstract "Novel Biocontrol agents for insect pests from neuroendocrinology" "Jozef Vanden Broeck" "Animal Physiology and Neurobiology" "Insects are the most diverse Class of life on earth, and different insects can be essential for, or highly damaging to, agriculture, horticulture and forestry. There is a pressing need, not just for new insecticides to combat resistance, but more specific, “greener” insecticides that target deleterious insects while sparing beneficial ones. This proposal aims to identify such insecticides by turning the insects’ own hormones against them, both by designing artificial neuropeptide “mimetic” analogs as candidate compounds, and by generating transgenic insects that carry deleterious neuropeptide payloads within them, that can propagate through a population and impact on survival at times of stress.We have assembled an international multi-actor consortium from EU member and associated member states, as well as a third country partner, with unparalleled experience in insect functional genomics, neuropeptide physiology, synthetic chemistry and synthetic biology, and in field-testing of candidates. Established links to agricultural, horticultural and forestry end-users, agencies/advisors and our SME partners ensure relevance to user need; and set out a pathway to exploitation and implementation of our results, for impact across three major economic sectors in the EU and globally.We will deliver novel, ‘green’ neuropeptide-based insect pest biocontrol tools by:utilising ‘beyond the State-of-the-Art’ technologies based on two approaches: rational design of neuropeptide hormone analogues; and development of genetically-encoded neuropeptides for translational insect synthetic biology in genetic pest management.bridging outstanding research and technology in neuroendocrinology and genetics to end user need, to ultimately produce neuropeptide hormone analogues and genetic pest management biocontrol tools.validating and demonstrating these novel insect biocontrol agents in laboratory, field and forest applications, based on user need and a market-driven approach." "Novel biocontrol agents for insect pests from neuroendocrinology" "Guy Smagghe" "Department of Plants and Crops, Department of Crop protection, University of Cape Town, Agricultural Research Organization, Stockholm University, BRUKER DALTONIK GMBH, Forestry Commission England, University of Cologne, Oxitec (United Kingdom), Innovate UK, JPK Instruments (Germany), University of Glasgow, KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER NETWORK LIMITED, Scottish Government, The Pirbright Institute, KU Leuven, University of Leeds" "Insects are the most diverse Class of life on earth, and different insects can be essential for, or highly damaging to, agriculture, horticulture and forestry. There is a pressing need, not just for new insecticides to combat resistance, but more specific, “greener” insecticides that target deleterious insects while sparing beneficial ones. This proposal aims to identify such insecticides by turning the insects’ own hormones against them, both by designing artificial neuropeptide “mimetic” analogs as candidate compounds, and by generating transgenic insects that carry deleterious neuropeptide payloads within them, that can propagate through a population and impact on survival at times of stress." "Development of biostimulants and biocontrol agents from the waste streams of dry peas and fibre flax" "Geert Haesaert" "Department of Plants and Crops" "The project wants to develop biostimulants and/or biological crop protection agents from waste streams of the processing of dry peas and fibre flax. To this end, extracts will be made from the waste streams that will be screened at both laboratory and field level. Extracts with a high biological activity will serve as a basis for IP development and will be further developed into commercial products in follow-up projects." "Lytic bacteriophages and probiotic Bacillus spp. as novel biocontrol agents of Motile Aeromonad Septicaemia (MAS) in farmed Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus): A holistic approach to disease management." "Daisy Vanrompay, Annelies Declercq, Peter Bossier" "Department of Animal Sciences and Aquatic Ecology, Busitema University" "Local bacteriophages and probiotic Bacillus spp. will be isolated and characterized. The isolates wil be tested against Aeromonas hydrophila, both in vivo and in vitro under lab conditions. Bacillus spp. will be combined together with selected bacteriophages to test for a synergistic effect under lab conditions. Semi-field trials will conducted on Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) for field verification." "Molasses provisioning to disrupt the mutualistic association of the biocontrol agent Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants with honeydew-producing pest insects in pomelo in Thailand" "Jozef Vanden Broeck" "Animal Physiology and Neurobiology, Kasetsart University" "Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants are important biocontrol agents of fruit crops in Thailand but their mutualistic association with honeydew-producing insect pests can result in an ineffectual crop protection and cause economic harm to farmers. I will take an innovative, application-oriented, and interdisciplinary approach by disrupting the weaver ant-Hemiptera mutualism in Thailand with sugarcane molasses as honeydew and sugar alternative in pomelo (Citrus maxima) and eventually improve the yield of pomelos and of queen brood, a socioeconomically valued edible by-product of which its harvesting is compatible with weaver ant biocontrol. Specifically, I will evaluate the impact of molasses and sugar provisioning on 1) weaver ant presence in the trees; 2) abundance of honeydew-producing insect pests; 3) weaver ant tending of honeydew-producing insect pests; 4) abundance of the natural enemies of honeydew-producing insect pests; 5) plant damage by honeydew-producing insect pests; and 6) quantity, nutritional composition, and microbial load of pomelos and queen brood. I will apply the experimental treatments (i) molasses provisioning of weaver ants, (ii) 50% sugar solution provisioning of weaver ants, and (iii) no molasses/sugar provisioning of weaver ants (control), with appropriate replication and sample size during 23 months. KU Leuven and Kasetsart University experts will coach and advise me in relevant insect identification, plant damage symptoms, interpreting analytical results, project management, and will analyze nutrient composition and microbial load of pomelos and queen brood. I will be exposed to a corporate research environment through a secondment at the biocontrol company Biobest. I will promote the project on Twitter and YouTube and organize a field workshop targeted at agricultural researchers." "Novel mechanisms of biocontrol in the Pseudomonas asplenii subgroup" "Monica Höfte" "Department of Plants and Crops" "Microbial biocontrol agents (MBCA) are getting increased attention since the use of chemical pesticides needs to be reduced. Current screening methods of MBCA strongly focus on the production of secreted metabolites and may not pick up MBCAs with novel modes of actions. This project aims to study novel biocontrol mechanisms against soilborne pathogens in five taxonomically related plant-associated Pseudomonas strains obtained from disease suppressive soils or rice plants that differ in in vitro and in planta activity against phytopathogens. Three strains that produce similar antifungal cyclic lipopeptides (CLPs) show strong antagonism in vitro against the fungus Rhizoctonia solani, but only one of them is active in a bean/R. solani pathosystem. One strain (COR33) is completely inactive in vitro, but very performant in planta, while a fifth isolate (COR58) with strong in planta bicontrol is only active in vitro when in direct contact with the pathogen. Genome mining has revealed that COR33 encodes a type 3 secretion system (T3SS) that may interfere with plant immunity, while COR58 harbours two type 6 secretion systems (T6SSs) that may inject toxins directly inside the pathogen upon contact. In this project, we will use a multidisciplinary approach that includes genome mining, mutant construction, reporter strains, (bio)chemical analysis, microscopy and bio-assays to investigate the role of CLPs, T3SS and T6SS in in vitro and in planta biocontrol." "Biocontrol of plant diseases : boosting the plant’s resistance using biobased products (BioBoost)" "Bruno Cammue" "Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG), Sustainable Catalysis and Engineering (CSCE)" "Because of the increasing concerns on the negative impact of chemical pesticide use in plant disease control, at EU-level more stringent regulations on the application of pesticides have been implemented, together with the promotion of low-pesticide-input strategies. The latter include the so-called “Integrated Pest Management (IPM)” aiming at a more sustainable plant protection with a focus on prevention and biocontrol of diseases/pests. Therefore biocontrol agents (BCAs) can be applied, being either (micro-)organisms or compounds from natural origin, that exert their biocontrol activity in a direct way (antagonism with the pathogen), and/or indirectly via the plant by induction of its so-called “Induced Systemic Resistance (ISR)”. The unique complementary expertise of the research groups CMPG-PFI (Prof. B. Cammue) and CSCE (Prof. B. Sels) led to identification of novel BCAs, on a recently developed ISR-platform, in waste streams of natural materials, which were obtained through controlled catalytic biorefinery and fractionation allowing stable and consistent BCA preparation. We demonstrated that these BCAs exert their biocontrol activity against different fungal diseases with improved performance as compared to existing commercial inducers of plant resistance. In this project we will (i) further identify their active components, which is necessary from a regulatory point-of-view, (ii) analyse their presence in additional feedstocks, (iii) investigate their ISR-inducing activity in planta (spectrum of resistance, mode of action, application method, …), and (iv) consolidate IP of at least one of these novel BCAs, as a basis for long-term valorisation of the research results." "Implementing actinobacteria as a pathogen tailored biocontrol tool to reduce Fusarium graminearum and its mycotoxins in wheat" "Kris Audenaert" "Department of Biotechnology, Department of Plants and Crops" "Our research hypothesis is that the current strategy of selecting biocontrol strains against fungal plant pathogens is fundamentally flawed, because often based on a single mode-of-action and assessed on artificial media. Hence, high potential strains in vitro frequently perform inconsistently once tested under ecological relevant conditions. In this project we have selected a specific set of actinobacteria to control Fusarium graminearum in wheat. F. graminearum is the main causal agent of fusarium head blight, causing a reduction in yield. Moreover, its toxic metabolites called mycotoxins pose a risk for human and animal health. These actinobacterial strains were obtained using an innovative screening methodology in which they were tested in relevant natural ecological niches such as wheat leaves, stubble and ears. This uncharted biocontrol potential is the premise for present project. We will implement this carefully chosen set of strains at critical stages of the F. graminearum life cycle: growth, reproduction, mycotoxin biosynthesis. We will uncover the molecular mechanisms involved in this cross kingdom communication (actinobacteria vs Fusarium). A detailed knowledge of the mechanisms involved will allow us to expand the applicability of these strains towards a broader spectrum of pathogens. In view of a sustainable implementation of our biocontrol tool, we will investigate the impact on the residing microbiome and other pathogens of wheat in the field using mesocosms." "Spotting and spreading of a fungal parasite on a globally invasive ladybird: explaining its worldwide distribution and biocontrol potential" "Species Diversity, Wildlife Management and Invasive Species" "The harlequin ladybird, Harmonia axyridis (Coleoptera, Coccinellidae), is one of the worst invasive species in Europe. Originally from eastern Asia, it was introduced as biocontrol in North America, it has since spread over the rest of the world and has a negative effect on native insects as well as food production and human health. The ectoparasitic fungus Hesperomyces harmoniae nom. prov. (Ascomycota, Laboulbeniomycetes, Laboulbeniales) is found on Ha. axyridis worldwide. In laboratory settings infection of He. harmoniae affect Ha. axyridis mortality. However, much is still unclear about the spread and effects of He. harmoniae on Ha. axyridis. This project (1) explores the factors that determine He. harmoniae infections of Ha. axyridis through data analysis from experiments the lab, in the field, and gathered from citizen science. It (2) investigates the population genetics to determine how He. harmoniae has spread globally through DNA sequencing and statistical analysis. Lastly, the project (3) looks at the efficacy of He. harmoniae as a biocontrol agent through laboratory experiments and data from the field. It is necessary to create a greater understanding of how natural enemies infect, spread, and control the invasive alien Ha. axyridis, and the ubiquitous He. harmoniae makes a great target for investigation in this regard." "Development of a high-throughput experimental evolution platform for the optimization of Paenibacillus biocontrol strains" "Hans Rediers" "Microbial and Plant Genetics (CMPG)" "Due to the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistance and the environmental impact tied to the use of disinfectants in agriculture, there has been a growing interest in the development of novel antimicrobial strategies. Among these, the utilization of beneficial bacteria as biocontrol organisms (BCOs) has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional antimicrobial agents. This can be attributed to their minimal environmental impact and intricate often multifactorial working mechanisms, which are inherently associated with a reduced risk of resistance development. Despite these advantages, it is essential to acknowledge that BCOs are less effective and not as widely applicable as their traditional counterparts. Therefore, further optimization of these beneficial bacteria is required to unlock their full potential as viable substitutes in crop protection. Because of their intricate and often multifactorial mode of action, the underlying mechanisms are generally poorly understood, making the optimization of BCOs via rational engineering difficult. However, as BCOs are living entities, which can be subjected to natural selection, experimental evolution can be used as a tool in enhancing the beneficial properties of BCOs. This circumvents the need for a priori knowledge of the molecular mechanisms underlying the multifactorial working mechanisms. This project focuses on a proof of concept of Paenibacillus xylanexeden which can selectively target Agrobacterium rhizogenes known to cause hairy root disease in tomato plants. Through experimental evolution, we aim to expand the BCO's scope to target a wider spectrum of plant pathogens. This expansion of antagonistic properties holds the potential to proactively combat various crop diseases, thereby limiting economic losses. After the selection of strains with improved antipathogenic activity, the acquired adaptations, the stability of the evolved traits and the effect on other properties of the BCO (endotoxin production, propagation in the soil, etc.) will be evaluated. Finally, the superiority of the evolved strains will be validated in relevant application-oriented trials. Ultimately, as part of a larger SBO project, the acquired knowledge during this proof of concept can serve as a reference to develop a versatile, high-throughput experimental evolution platform that can optimize various antipathogenic properties of a diversity of BCO strains and probiotic strains."