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Team:KU Leuven/Project/E.coligy
From 2013.igem.org
Secret garden
Congratulations! You've found our secret garden! Follow the instructions below and win a great prize at the World jamboree!
- A video shows that two of our team members are having great fun at our favourite company. Do you know the name of the second member that appears in the video?
- For one of our models we had to do very extensive computations. To prevent our own computers from overheating and to keep the temperature in our iGEM room at a normal level, we used a supercomputer. Which centre maintains this supercomputer? (Dutch abbreviation)
- We organised a symposium with a debate, some seminars and 2 iGEM project presentations. An iGEM team came all the way from the Netherlands to present their project. What is the name of their city?
Now put all of these in this URL:https://2013.igem.org/Team:KU_Leuven/(firstname)(abbreviation)(city), (loose the brackets and put everything in lowercase) and follow the very last instruction to get your special jamboree prize!
Ecology
Modeling
Ultimately our project aims to reduce crop loss because of aphid infestation. Because of practical problems, it is impossible to conduct a field experiment for this. Therefore we attempt to predict the effect of our pheromones on the ecology through a series of modeling steps. At this page you will get a thorough explanation of these steps, software and results.
E. coligy: Plants with BanAphids
Essentially, our project aims to provide plants with a beneficial protection mechanism
Goal with Methyl Salicylate
Bacon ipsum dolor sit amet leberkas filet mignon capicola drumstick ham hock pastrami corned beef boudin tail hamburger spare ribs pancetta beef tenderloin. Biltong short loin flank bacon corned beef shank beef tail boudin sirloin pancetta kielbasa. Ribeye ham jerky boudin shank prosciutto pastrami, bresaola tenderloin tail flank venison sausage drumstick. Brisket bresaola short loin filet mignon pork. Jerky fatback cow, hamburger ball tip pig short ribs chicken turkey. Pork leberkas shoulder pork belly strip steak venison spare ribs bresaola.
Figure 1ǀ Induced-resistance systems in plants
Aphids
Methyl salicylate (MeSA), a volatile ester, is normally absent in plants but is dramatically induced upon pathogen infection. It acts as a mobile or volatile inducer of SAR by carrying this ‘under attack’ signal to neighbouring plants, following hydrolysis by methyl esterase in it’s immediate surrounding. MeSA is synthesised by SA carboxyl methyltransferase (SAMT).
Predators - prey localisation
Predatory and parasitoid insects have a specialized sensory nervous system to detect their prey (Hatano et al, 2008). They use volatiles produced by the herbivores, reliable but at low concentration, or those produced by the plant to locate their prey. These latter are easily detectable, but are less reliable. To overcome the reliablility-detecability problem predators and parasitoids focus on the responses on stimuli created by specific interactions between the herbivore and its plant (Vet & Dicke, 1992). In response to an aphid attack, plants modify their volatile emissions and these changes are detected by the natural predators of aphids (Du et al, 1998).
Host selection occurs in three phases: habitat localization, host localization and host acceptance (Vinson, 1976). Aphid natural enemies must first locate the aphid habitat, the host plant where aphids are present. Therefore, plant-derived volatiles are used, since evidence of aphid damage is acquired. One of the important herbivore-induced plant volatiles that are used by predators is methyl salicylate (MeS) (Zu & Park, 2005). The feeding of aphids on the plant induces the de novo production of salicylic acid (one of the main components in plant defence systems) which can then be metabolised into MeS (Birkett et al, 2000).
Following habitat localization, natural enemies use short-range physical (colour, shape, movement of aphid) and chemical cues to search for a suitable herbivore on the host plant (Hatano et al, 2008). One of the chemical cues used by natural enemies of aphids is honeydew. Mostly, the natural enemies need physical contact with honeydew to change their behavior (Ide et al, 2007). In addition to aphid honeydew, the aphid alarm pheromone, (E)-β-Farnesene (EBF) is also an important semiochemical in aphid localization. It is secreted from the cornicle of many aphid species (Franscis et al, 2005) to alert surrounding aphids of the presence of natural enemies (Kunert et al, 2005). Detection of these short-range chemical cues does not lead to the aphid directly, but only indicates its presence, improving prey detection of the predators and parasitoids.
Once an aphid is located, natural enemies have to recognize it as a potential prey before they attack it. For host recognition, non-volatile chemical cues are important, in particular contact with the cornicle wax on the surface of the aphids. Predators use their antennae or their mouthparts to recognize the prey. Parasitoids use probing to assess host quality before oviposition (Hatano et al, 2008).
Figure 7ǀ This ladybug has found an aphid.
Figure 8ǀ Aphids attacked by a parasitic wasp larva transform into a "mummy" and die.
Figure 1ǀ Induced-resistance systems in plants
Plants
Plant resistance to biotrophic pathogens is classically thought to be mediated through SA signalling. Salicylic acid (SA), a phenolic phytohormone, is involved in many functions such as mediating in plant defence against pathogens. SA induces the production of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins and is involved in the systemic acquired resistance (SAR), which is a "whole-plant" resistance response that occurs following an earlier localised exposure to a pathogen. SAR is analogous to the innate immune system found in animals.
The resistance observed following induction of SAR is effective against a wide range of pathogens and the activation of SAR requires the accumulation of endogenous SA. SA modifications such as methylation and amino acid conjugation provide biological specificity in plant defence responses (Loake et al. 2007).
Methyl salicylate (MeSA), a volatile ester, is normally absent in plants but is dramatically induced upon pathogen infection. It acts as a mobile or volatile inducer of SAR by carrying this ‘under attack’ signal to neighbouring plants, following hydrolysis by methyl esterase in it’s immediate surrounding. MeSA is synthesised by SA carboxyl methyltransferase (SAMT).
Figure 1ǀ Induced-resistance systems in plants
Aphids
Methyl salicylate (MeSA), a volatile ester, is normally absent in plants but is dramatically induced upon pathogen infection. It acts as a mobile or volatile inducer of SAR by carrying this ‘under attack’ signal to neighbouring plants, following hydrolysis by methyl esterase in it’s immediate surrounding. MeSA is synthesised by SA carboxyl methyltransferase (SAMT).
