Cell-specific plant defense responses to aphids (VIDI)
Aphids are a major problem in pepper and other crop systems. This is due to the combination of a very efficient asexual reproduction system with exponential aphid population growth in monocultures, the large economic impact of aphid-transmitted plant viruses and the rapid adaptation of aphids to insecticides. In this project, we aim to find alternatives for insecticides. For this, we elucidate natural plant defense pathways and will contribute to new genetic markers to develop crop plants with stronger and more diverse natural resistance mechanisms, and microbial agents that activate plant defences. The interaction between aphids and plants is intricate. Aphids use their piercing-sucking stylet mouthparts to gently probe in between cells and secrete saliva to suppress wound responses (see //youtu.be/HEogJTdk9KY?si=QMgaStlYzr6s2uDG). Eventually they aim for the sieve tubes where they can passively ingest phloem sap, a sugar-rich nutrient source. We will elucidate cell-specific plant defense responses along that probing pathway of the aphid to prevent or retard the aphid in finding its food source in the phloem. In parallel, we investigate how to activate these defense genes via transcription factors and microbial inoculants. Our study systems consist of the green peach aphid (Myzus persicae), Arabidopsis, as a model plant with a vast range of molecular possibilities, and pepper plants and their wild relatives (Capsicum sp.). Picture Hans Smid, //bugsinspace.nl/