To study how parasites evolve to break the defenses of their hosts, the National Institutes of Health has granted UC Riverside nematologist Simon “Niels” Groen a $1.9 million Outstanding Investigator Award.
Roundworm parasites infect humans, livestock, and crop plants. Insights into why certain worms can evade host immune protections could help preempt a ticking time bomb: the decreasing effectiveness of pesticides and antibiotics for infections.
Over the next five years, Groen will use the funds to conduct a study in two parts. The first part of the project will examine hundreds of tomato and rice plants, both those grown on farms and those growing in the wild. These are not plants artificially bred for immunity, but Groen expects many will have developed defenses against infectious roundworms, also called nematodes.
“We will learn the molecular mechanisms by which plants defend themselves. This includes the production of defensive chemicals, some of which could be harnessed as novel drugs or antibiotics in humans and livestock,” Groen said. “We can then share this information with biomedical researchers and crop breeders.”
This aspect of the project will also help increase food security, particularly in parts of Africa and Asia where nematodes pose a problem for farmers. Much research has been done on above-ground insect pests, but less work has been done below ground, where nematode infections attack the most economically important crops.
“Nematodes make up the most devastating threat to soybeans. For rice and tomatoes, nematodes may cause up to 20% loss of yield. That’s a lot of people who don’t get to eat,” Groen said.
University of California, Riverside news release
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