Digging up hidden treasures for novel antibiotics
Dr. S. (Sandra) Irmisch (Universiteit Leiden)
New antibiotics and medicines counteracting antibiotic resistance are urgently needed. However, few new antibiotic discoveries are being made from microorganisms. Plants produce hundreds of thousands of unique, structurally diverse small molecules, some of which are used as medicines. While plants are sources of some of our most important anticancer and antipain medications, their potential as sources of antibiotics has not been well investigated. Here we will discover novel antibiotics and compounds counteracting antibiotic resistance from underexplored sources, specifically below-ground bulb-like organs of plants. This will open new doors in pursuit of medicines from plants with potential to benefit human health.
Exploiting natural diversity to identify genetic resistance against Xanthomonas campestris
Dr. J.S. (Sebastian) Pfeilmeier (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
The pathogen Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris is the causal agent of the main disease of cabbages causing serious crop losses worldwide. Little is known about defense mechanisms against this microbe. The bacterium is unique in its entry strategy as it uses water pores at leaf margins to colonize the veins. We propose to conduct a genome-wide association study exploiting the diversity of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana (a cabbage relative) to discover novel genes important for disease resistance. Thereto, we will use an in-house developed plant imaging platform to track the disease progression and severity over time in individual plants.