COOPERATIONS

We are performing the de novo transcriptomic analysis of the oak processionary moth (OPM) with Prof. Dr. med. Timo Buhl and his post-doc Dr. Prasad Dasari (website of the group). The urticant hairs of OPM caterpillar is causing severe allergies but the proteins responsible for this are not yet identified. Since no genomic resources are available for this moth species, our collaborators provided us caterpillars at different stages (before and after their hair becomes allergenic) and we performed RNA-seq to identify specific genes upregulated in the allergenic stage to narrow down the list of candidate allergenic proteins (Zicola et al 2024).

In cooperation with the laboratory of Prof. Dr. Michael Rostás and his former master student Doga Cedden (website), we showed that small RNAs fed to a beetle fed with double-stranded small RNAs (Cedden et al 2023) can increase their mortality, providing an alternative to classical insecticide. Our post-doc Di Ju is now collaborating with the Rostás group to define which sRNAs can be used to control the cabbage flea beetle, an important pest of rapeseed.

In cooperation with Maike Stam (University of Amsterdam), we work on the characterization of the cis-regulatory element Vgt1, one of the main flowering time QTL in maize.