Plant-pathogen interactions and plant genetics

Research classification (Frascati)
Agriculture, forestry and fisheries 4.1
Head of the research group
Keyword
agricultural crop diseases
plant viruses
adaptation to climate change
RNA silencing suppressors
CRISPR/Cas9
Overview
We study genetic, molecular and cellular aspectsof plant-microbe interactions. We use predominantly different cereals as well as the modelplant Arabidopsis thaliana and various tobaccospecies as experimental host plant species. Weidentify and characterize, using next-generationsequencing techniques, viruses infecting cerealcrops in Estonia and neighbouring countries. Westudy especially sobemoviruses. In plant molecular biology, our object of research is ABCE genes.In 2021 we started the EEA project “EditGrass4Food” that aims to utilize transcriptomics andfunctional genomics to increase sustainabilityin agriculture through improvement of perennial ryegrass with better adaptation to frostand drought for current and future climates.The project is developed in cooperation with the University of Latvia (as promoter), NorwegianUniversity of Life Sciences and Lithuanian Agriculture and Forestry Sciences Center.Thanks to the Estonian-French Parrot programme, we are studying the emergence anddivergence of plant viruses on cereals, basedon sobemoviruses, together with the Institut deRecherche pour le Développement (Montpellier).We started coordinating the EUPHRESCOproject entitled “Diagnosis and epidemiology ofviruses infecting cereal crops” to create an international research network of scientists interested in mapping the virus spread and improvement of the diagnostics. Currently, there are 19international partners from different countries.
Period of activity of the research group
Publications related to the research group