Exploring the Molecular Imprint of Microbe-Induced Plant Resistance in Plant-Associated Communities

Introduction

Plant-beneficial microbes can modulate the plant immune system, enhancing plant resistance to insect pests. This phenomenon, known as Microbe-Induced Plant Resistance (MIR), has emerged as a sustainable pest control strategy.

Key Findings

Strikingly, my latest results indicate that MIR-immune responses elicited in plants cascade upwards, leaving a molecular imprint in surviving insect herbivores (a MIR-imprint). This suggests that MIR-triggered responses in plants could travel beyond the plant and be incorporated into plant-associated communities.

Research Gap

However, the inclusion of the effects of MIR-elicited responses across different members of the trophic chain—from plants to herbivores, their natural enemies, and the soil microbiome—has been neglected in MIR research.

Project Goals

The overall goal of MIMIR is to unravel how, and to what extent, MIR immune responses triggered in plants are transduced and incorporated in plant-associated communities.

Methodology

MIMIR will use a multidisciplinary approach combining:

1. Multi-omics high-throughput techniques
2. Computational biology
3. Functional genomics
4. Mesocosm experiments

This approach will address three main challenges:

1. Disentangling molecular regulation of the onset and functioning of the MIR-imprint in insect herbivores.
2. Unraveling how and to what extent the MIR-imprint crosses to the third trophic level (natural enemies) and its impact on species interactions.
3. Deciphering how and to what extent MIR imprints the rhizosphere microbiome, generating a soil MIR-memory with impacts on aboveground insects.

Expected Outcomes

MIMIR will foster a detailed understanding of how MIR-triggered responses travel from the plant to plant-associated communities, and to what extent they are incorporated into the agroecosystem, launching the field into new and exciting directions.

Broader Implications

In a broader context, MIMIR will provide multiple crucial insights into the fundamental question of how species interact in complex systems, a question of high relevance for the global challenge of food security.