KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Vincent Bulone, Vaibhav Srivastava, Rajender Kumar
The first work package aims to deciphering cell wall polysaccharide structure and biosynthesis in oomycetes as a target for disease control.
The leader of this work package is KTH with UniMi as partner.
The work package is divided in 3 tasks:
Task 1.1: In vitro culture of the obligate parasite Plasmopara viticola and cell wall characterization.
Task 1.2: Metabolic reconstruction of the cell wall biosynthetic pathways of the different oomycete parasites.
Task 1.3: Characterization of cell wall biosynthetic enzymes.
The second work package aims to identificaty specific peptide aptamers through the yeast-two hybrid (Y2H) strategy.
The leader of this work package is UniMi with KTH as partner.
The work package is divided in 2 tasks:
Task 2.1: Generation of two yeast two-hybrid libraries: one of short linear peptide and one of cyclic peptide.
Task 2.2: Two-hybrid library screening to identify aptamers able to bind to the target protein.
The third work package aims to select of a subset of suitable aptamers on the basis of their biochemical properties. The aptamers will be produced, analysed and biochemically characterized.
The leader of this work package is UPSud with UniMi, KTH and BIU as partners.
The work package is divided in 3 tasks:
Task 3.1: Aptamer synthesis.
Tasks 3.2: Validation of aptamers targeted against cell wall biosynthetic enzymes.
Task 3.3: Synthesis of peptidomimetics derived from peptide aptamers.
The sixth work package aims to validate peptide aptamer efficacy in vitro through selection of peptide aptamers that inhibition pathogen growth.
The leader of this work package is UniMi with SIPCAM OXON S.p.A., KTH and UDLR as partners.
The work package is divided in 3 tasks:
Task 6.1: Biological activity of aptamers: in vitro assay on pathogens growing on synthetic media and leaves.
Task 6.2: Intracellular targets and cell-penetrating peptides.
Task 6.3: Microscopy analysis to investigate the effects of aptamers on pathogen cell wall.