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Agricultural crops are exposed to fungal diseases which are controlled by synthetic and biological fungicides. The focal point of the potential project is the cuticle of agricultural crops, which serves as the initial point of contact between fungal pathogens and the fungicide. The interaction between an active ingredient and the cuticle is believed to have an impact on the effectiveness and duration of disease control. We aim to increase our understanding of the following two key aspects.
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How the composition (e.g., waxes, cutin) and structure (e.g., thickness, porosity) of plant cuticles influence the behavior/ kinetics of fungicide compounds on and in the plant.
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The behavior of fungicides on the cuticle such as binding, accumulation, transport and metabolism of fungicides (ADME, i.e. absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion) after being sprayed on plants.
We are looking to advance our understanding of how plant cuticles interact with fungicides and influence their behavior. We seek support from your expertise in plant physiology, plant biochemistry/ lipid biosynthesis, analytics (LC, GC MS) with a scientific focus or interest in the cuticle of terrestrial plants or in applied agricultural research. We are keen on developing, implementing, and utilizing methods and techniques at both laboratory and greenhouse scales. Our primary interest lies in agricultural crops, particularly wheat and soybean, but we are open to incorporating findings from non-agricultural crops as well.
- Methods to assess lipophilic molecule transport in soybean & wheat cuticles
- 3D-structural modeling of the cuticle
- Experimental approaches to observe/analyze transport processes in the cuticle/epidermis of plants
- Predictive models to evaluate fungicide kinetics and cuticle behavior
- Understanding of plant biochemistry, role and functionality of long chain fatty acids (LCFA) and other components of the plant cuticle/epidermis
- Access to suitable imaging techniques for analyzing plant parts
- ADME (adsorption, distribution, metabolization and excretion) uptake studies using agricultural plants (transfer from model plants to crops should be feasible)
- Plant cuticle research (analytics, components, functionality) and data on transport processes of small molecules in plants
- Leverages analytical techniques (e.g., GC, LC-MS)
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