Two scientists at the James Hutton Institute and the University of Dundee's Division of Plant Sciences have been two €1.4 million (£1.1m) research grants by the European Research Council (ERC). Dr Jorunn Bos of the Cell and Molecular Sciences group and Dr Edgar Huitema of the Division of Plant Sciences are based both based at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee. The grants will support their research on important pathogens and pests of crops over the next five years.

Dr Bos's research team will focus on understanding the molecular mechanisms that determine aphid host range. Many aphid species are restricted to one or few host plants, while some aphids, many of which are of agricultural importance, can infest a wide range of plant species. The researcher aims to unravel the molecular mechanisms underlying this variation in aphid host range and claims her project will ultimately lead to a better understanding of economically important plant-aphid interactions.

She explained, "This is important fundamental research that promises to lead to innovative discoveries that are crucial to the future development of novel and sustainable aphid control strategies. It is also highly complementary to ongoing research at the James Hutton Institute which is aimed at combatting plant diseases and pests."

Dr huitema's research will "help devise and apply innovative approaches that can dramatically change the ways we try to understand and combat important crop diseases," the Dr said.

He continued, "My lab will seek to study the processes associated with disease in plants in unprecedented detail and then use this information to generate better solutions to prevent crop loss. For this work, we will use Phytophthora capsici, an important pathogen of vegetable crops as our model. If successful, we may be able to apply this approach to other related pathogens such as Phytophthora infestans (the causal agent of late blight on potato and tomato).”

The research grants are awarded by the European Research Council to support researchers early on in their careers and establish an independent research group in an EU member State, enabling them to move scientific understanding forward in the bloc.

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