ARRS Lead Agency: »FunContrAPest: Novel Fungal proteins for biopesticidial Control of challenging invasive alien Agricultural Pests« 

The proposed project will be a co-operation between leading research institutions from Slovenia and Hungary in the field of biology and agriculture. Their lead scientists with strong complementary expertise as well as their most talented young researchers will join efforts towards the development of new, safe, but also effective bio-pesticides against major invasive alien insect pests. Such problematic insects are for example the western corn rootworm, which is a beetle whose larvae heavily damage maize roots, or the spotted wing drosophila which is a fly that destroys fruits and berries, or the brown marmorated stink bug which attacks fruits and nuts but is also a problem in urban areas. Currently a lot of pesticides are used to combat those insects, which may affect farmers, consumers, or the environment especially honey bees. The idea of the project is to develop novel types of bio-pesticides from edible mushrooms which contain a large variety of unique protein complexes, many of them yet unknown, but some offering promising safe and novel approaches to pest management even under harsh climatic conditions. We will therefore study those proteins in detail and test them against the invasive insect pests. We will also assess their biosafety. This will lay the base for future developments of new integrated pest managements solutions providing farmers with more options, and ultimately leading to safer food and better protection of nature. The project is co-financed by Slovenian and Hungarian tax payers via their research funding agencies. The collaboration will strengthen cross-border research, institutional cooperation and scientific excellence of Slovenia and Hungary. 

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