17-ERACoBioTech - SUSPHIRE - Sustainable Bioproduction of Pheromones for Insect Pest Control in Agriculture

该项目的目的是实现植物和真菌中昆虫信息素的生物制造，以可持续地控制农业和园艺害虫。这个项目建立在一个概念验证的基础上，在这个概念中，蛾类性信息素是在植物中产生的。信息化学物质是昆虫为了交流而释放的化学物质。其中最广为人知的是性信息素，由处女雌性产生，以吸引同类的配偶。在植物生产环境中分配昆虫性信息素用于引发目标物种的性混淆并防止繁殖，从而提供高度物种特异性的控制方法。这为传统农药提供了一种可持续的替代品，由于担心其非特异性和对生物多样性的负面影响，传统农药的使用正逐渐受到限制。昆虫性信息素已经被用作害虫控制策略;然而，化学合成是目前制造和使用有毒成分的唯一方法，并且对于某些途径来说，产生有毒副产品是不可避免的。此外，许多昆虫信息素的不寻常的化学特性意味着化学合成策略不具有成本效益。例如，蚧总科（Coccoidea）物种（蚧虫和粉蚧）是农业和园艺的侵略性害虫，并且更好的防治方法是非常期望的。然而，它们的性信息素具有不寻常的结构，化学合成既困难又昂贵。benthamiana植物产生大量的蛾性信息素。SUSPHIRE项目将改进这一初步的概念验证，并将确定和验证椰子总科信息素生物合成途径中的基因。我们的目标是优化植物和真菌中昆虫信息素的生物生产，并在实验室和田间条件下评估这些物种中产生的信息素。SUSPHIRE项目旨在为昆虫信息素的商业生产提供可持续的低成本制造平台，并降低目前商业上不可行的信息素生产成本。将这些生物技术方法引入信息素生产将扩大性信息素在农业可持续虫害控制中的使用，减少其目前对环境的影响，并提供可持续的制造平台。

The aim of this project is to enable bio-based manufacturing of insect pheromones in plants and fungi for the sustainable control of insect pests of agriculture and horticulture. This project builds on a proof-of-concept in which moth sex-pheromones were produced in plants.Some of the most aggressive pests of agriculture are insect larvae. Semiochemicals are chemicals emitted by insects for communication. The most widely known of these are sex pheromones, produced by virgin females to attract mates of the same species. Dispensing insect sex pheromones in plant production environments is used to trigger sexual confusion in the target species and prevent breeding, thereby providing a highly species-specific control method. This presents a sustainable alternative to conventional pesticides, the use of which are progressively being restricted due to concerns about their non-specificity and negative impacts on biodiversity. Insect sex pheromones are already used as a pest-control strategy; however, chemical synthesis is currently the only approach for manufacturing and the use of toxic ingredients and the creation of toxic by-products is inevitable for some pathways. Further, the unusual chemical characteristics of many insect pheromones mean that chemical synthesis strategies are not cost effective. For example, Coccoidea species (scale insects and mealybugs) are aggressive pests of agriculture and horticulture and better control methods are highly desirable. However, their sex pheromones have unusual structures for which chemical synthesis is both difficult and expensive.Previous studies by SUSPHIRE partners demonstrated that it is possible to engineer N. benthamiana plants to produce high quantities of moth sex pheromones. The SUSPHIRE project will improve on this initial proof-of-concept and will also identify and validate the genes in the Coccoidea pheromone biosynthetic pathway. We aim to optimize bioproduction of insect pheromones in plants and fungi and to evaluate the pheromones produced in these species in laboratory and field conditions.The SUSPHIRE project aims to provide a sustainable, low-cost manufacturing platform for the commercial production of insect pheromones and reduce the cost of production of pheromones that are currently commercially non-viable. The introduction of these biotechnology approaches to pheromone production will expand the use of sex pheromones for sustainable pest control in agriculture, reducing its current environmental impact and providing sustainable manufacturing platforms.