Objective
Magnaporthe Oryzae is a filamentous fungus responsible for rice blast disease which destroys 10-30% of the global annual rice harvest. It can also attack various other cereal crops such as rye, barley, and wheat, establishing it as among the most devastating fungal plant pathogens. While central Europe's climate was previously thought to be unsuitable for blast disease development, researchers have recently isolated Magnaporthe strains from wild grasses in several European countries. Concerning, these strains appear to be able to infect wheat and barley and thus pose a threat to Europe's economically vital cereal production. While fungicide applications and selective breeding programs can help reduce crop losses, a comprehensive management strategy will be essential to control this pathogen effectively.
M. oryzae has evolved an intriguing developmental program enabling it to breach the leaf cuticle and gain access to underlying epidermal tissue. This process begins when a three-celled conidium lands on the surface of a leaf and rapidly germinates. Environmental cues are subsequently sensed to trigger signaling pathways that regulate development of a highly pressurized cell, known as an appressorium, which is needed for cuticle breach. Using bakers’ yeast as a model, my lab has made important contributions towards understanding how the atypical Ser/Thr protein kinase known as TOR (Target Of Rapamycin) regulates growth of eukaryote cells. Although new to us as an experimental model, we have preliminarily found that TOR also plays a key role in conidial sensory perception upstream of appressoria development in M. oryzae, by responding to nutrient, and, surprisingly, abiotic cues not previously linked to TOR signalling. Using molecular genetics, chemical and structural biology approaches, we wish to characterize these novel TOR signalling pathways to discover new ways by which TOR regulates cell growth and to probe their utility as antifungal targets.
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genetic selection
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology structural biology
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds cereals
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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) ERC-2025-ADG
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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.
1211 Geneve
Switzerland
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.