Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
H2020Staff exchange2017–2022

VirFree · Virus free Fruit Nurseries

Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2017-01-01 → 2022-10-31
EU contribution
€630,000
Participants
17
Scheme
MSCA-RISE

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Virus free Fruit Nurseries

Fruit trees and grapevine are propagated vegetatively, therefore they suffer from pathogens such as viruses and viroids, several of which cause severe yield losses and reduce the productive life of the affected plants. In the countries involved in VirFree the agricultural sector has significant contribution to the national income and agriculture affects a significant portion of their society activities. Therefore, addressing the phytosanitary issue of these crops is of paramount importance. The most efficient way to combat viruses/viroids is the use of high-quality pathogen-tested propagative material. The VirFree consortium was formed in this direction and brought together academia and private companies to collaborate through their expertise on the following objectives: 1) to identify new viral and viroid strains or species affecting fruit trees and grapevine, 2) to optimise existing and develop novel detection methods and 3) to improve propagation and sanitation methods for producing high quality plant material of fruit trees and grapevine. In this project diagnostic tools that are currently used in certification programs have been combined with cutting edge technologies such as High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) and Nanobodies. Overall, new knowledge was obtained, and pipelines have been optimised for the identification of woody plant infecting viruses through HTS. Moreover, new virus-specific diagnostic assays were developed, and emphasis was given on the adjustment of the micropropagation process towards fruit tree species of interest to the consortium, and the production of a best-practices protocol. The knowledge obtained has been shared among the partners of VirFree and further communicated to the broader scientific community, nurseries and elsewhere through various dissemination processes. Most importantly training of a new generation of researchers has been done through their secondments in close contact to the needs of both industrial and academic sectors. In this direction, also the three training schools that took place throughout the course of VirFree have significantly fostered the skills of the participating young researchers thus strengthening their potential.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Fruit trees and grapevine are propagated vegetatively and are often grafted. As a result they suffer from a high number of pathogens such as viruses and viroids, a number of which are causing severe yield losses and reduce the productive life of the affected plants. As these pathogens cannot be controlled by the application of chemicals, the most efficient way to combat them is the production and commercialization of high quality pathogen-tested propagative material. Nevertheless, this procedure is not simple and both academia and private sectors are working towards its improvement. In this direction was built the herein interdisciplinary proposal which brings together academia and private companies to collaborate through their expertise on the following objectives: 1) to identify new viral and viroid strains or species affecting fruit trees and grapevine, 2) to optimise existing and develop novel detection methods and 3) to improve propagation and sanitation methods for producing high quality (virus-tested) plant material of fruit trees and grapevine. In this project diagnostic tools that are currently used in certification programs will be combined with cutting edge technologies such as NGS and Nanobodies. The project has eight academic partners within the EU and associated countries, three within Third Countries and five non-academic partners. The knowledge obtained will be shared among the partners of the proposal and further disseminated to academic institutions, nurseries and other private sectors. Most importantly training of a new generation of researchers will be done in close contact to the needs of both industrial and academic sectors. In conclusion, the results of this proposal will enrich the knowledge on viruses/viroids associated with different diseases, improve the sensitivity of their detection methods, lead to new detection products and further contribute to the improvement of the disseminated propagative material of fruit trees and grapevine.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • ARISTOTELIO PANEPISTIMIO THESSALONIKIS · THESSALONIKICoordinatorGreece
  • AGRITEST SRL · ValenzanoItaly
  • BETA FIDAN DOKU KULTURU ISLAH ARGEZIRAAT TARIM SULAMA HAYVANCILIK GIDA TURIZM INSAAT SANAYI TICARET LIMITED SIRKETI · AdanaTürkiye
  • BIOPOLIS SL · PaternaSpain
  • BIOREBA AG · ReinachSwitzerland
  • CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE CNRS · ParisFrance
  • CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE · RomaItaly
  • IDRYMA TECHNOLOGIAS KAI EREVNAS · IRAKLEIOGreece
  • INSTITUTE OF PLANT PROTECTION CHINESE ACADEMY OF AGRICULTURE SCIENCES · BEIJINGChina
  • INSTITUTO SUPERIOR POLITECNICO DO KWANZA SUL · SumbeAngola
  • INSTITUTO VALENCIANO DE INVESTIGACIONES AGRARIAS · MoncadaSpain
  • MUSTAFA KEMAL UNIVERSITY · Antakya HatayTürkiye
  • STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY · StellenboschSouth Africa
  • TEKIRDAG NAMIK KEMAL UNIVERSITESI · TekirdağTürkiye
  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELLA BASILICATA · POTENZAItaly
  • UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA · PretoriaSouth Africa
  • XILOGIANNIS BROSS UN.CO · ArtaGreece

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union