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Global apiculture is facing an unprecedented crisis of increasing parasite pressure and a loss of hon-eybee biodiversity. SMARTBEES unites a team of experts with the necessary skills to build a bright and sustainable future. The SMARTBEES concept is low risk and high impact, using established protocols and state-of-the-art methods. Including world leading researchers from outwith the traditional honeybee sphere (e.g. acarology, genetic breeding and insect immunology). We will identify crucial facets of honeybee resistance to colony losses, Varroa and viruses. We will provide a step-change in the current mechanistic understanding of these traits, and will characterise the genetic background of the resistance mechanisms in honeybees. We will develop breeding strategies to increase the frequencies of these valuable traits in local honeybee populations, considering the variable need of both common and endangered subspecies and local beekeeping practises. Breeding efforts concentrating on very few races may endanger genetic diversity, to avoid this SMARTBEES will promote multiple local breeding efforts, to conserve local resilient populations and will develop molecular tools for describing and safeguarding future populations. SMARTBEES recognizes responsibility to protect our natural honeybee heritage. SMARTBEES will commission extension science, and work in cooperation with stakeholders to attain conservation by utilisation. SMARTBEES will establish a network of apiaries for performance testing, to encourage local uptake of resistant traits. These will be run mainly by beekeepers, thereby improving the local acceptability and dissemination, and support the long-term sustainability of the apicultural sector. SMARTBEES recognises the need to horizon scan for new threats, and the consortium includes the current EU reference laboratory to that end. SMARTBEES is an opportunity to make a lasting difference to the health, resilience and genetic diversity of our honeybees.
PROMISE strives for multidimensional networking thus fostering integration. The primary strategic objective of PROMISE is to improve and increase the integration, collaboration and knowledge transfer between the new member states, old member states (EU15) and candidate countries through a collaborative workplan of exchange of expertise and regional training and dissemination actions, to tackle common food safety threats. PROMISE strives for sustainability through involvement of risk communicators. A further strategic objective is to integrate stakeholders like public health authorities and national food safety authorities from the old and new member countries in order to ensure the exploitation of research results into standardisation and harmonisation efforts. PROMISE will enhance the knowledge on pathogen transmission. While legal imports are well monitored for contamination and alerts are registered through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed RASFF notification systems, gates into the EU-27 could exist where food supply chains are not controllled. These uncontrolled imports present the risk that new strains of traditional pathogens will be transferred from third countries into the European Union. Analysing, assessing and interpreting this risk of introducing new strains of pathogens is one of the main objectives of PROMISE.
GRACE pursues two key research objectives: Firstly, it aims to provide comprehensive reviews of the existing evidence on the health, environmental and socio-economic impacts of GM plants - considering both risks and possible benefits. GRACEs review strategy will go beyond what has been done before. Reviews will be conducted in a systematic, transparent and inclusive way based on procedures originally developed for evidence-based medicine (systematic reviews). The results will be made accessible to the public via an open access database and other channels. Secondly, GRACE will test various types of animal feeding trials and alternative methods without the use of animals in order to determine how suitable they are and what useful scientific information they provide for health risk assessments of GM food and feed. At present there are different views at the EU level and between Member States on the need for and scientific value of such studies. The project will also check whether extended feeding trials can improve risk assessments compared to in-vitro, in-silico and omics methods available today. Transparency and user and stakeholder involvement and scrutiny are key features of GRACE. The project will be working closely with representatives from a broad range of stakeholder organisations as well as with professional risk assessors and risk managers. This includes planning and preparing the research activities as well as discussing the results and drawing conclusions. For this purpose, the GRACE project will organise workshops and conduct interviews and surveys and prepare feed-back reports to ensure that the information and the views of stakeholders can feed into this project. IFZ is leading the work package for user and stakeholder involvement and will also work on the core review process.
The provision of public goods (including landscape services) in rural areas is recognized as one of the key topics for the future of agriculture and rural policy. Agriculture plays a major role in landscape management through its complex interlinkages with landscape features. In turn, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) remains an important driver of landscape management due to its importance as a determinant of farming activities in the EU. The main objective of the CLAIM project is to provide the knowledge base to support an effective CAP policy design in the direction of improved landscape management, particularly providing insights into the ability of landscape to contribute to the production of added value for society in rural areas. CLAIM is focused in particular on understanding and enhancing the contribution of landscapes management to socio-economic development and agricultural competitiveness in rural areas. This will be based on a pragmatic consideration of landscape services and their analysis through a mixed-method approach, taking into account the wider EU policy strategies (in particular related to innovation and the bioeconomy). The main expected result of the CLAIM project is an evidence-based policy support framework on the different and possible contributions of agriculture and the CAP to landscape management. The framework will be mainly developed and validated through a set of 9 case studies, a strong involvement of stakeholders at different territorial levels and a wide coverage of the perspectives of EU and candidate countries. The framework will finally take the practical form of a web-based manual to be implemented in accordance to stakeholders needs and indications.
Objective: MAGICPAH aims to explore, understand and exploit the catalytic activities of microbial communities involved in the degradation of persistent PAHs. It will integrate (meta-) genomic studies with in-situ activity assessment based on stable isotope probing particularly in complex matrices of different terrestrial and marine environments. PAH degradation under various conditions of bioavailability will be assessed as to improve rational exploitation of the catalytic properties of bacteria for the treatment and prevention of PAH pollution. We will generate a knowledge base not only on the microbial catabolome for biodegradation of PAHs in various impacted environmental settings based on genome gazing, retrieval and characterization of specific enzymes but also on systems related bioavailability of contaminant mixtures. MAGICPAH takes into account the tremendous undiscovered meta-genomic resources by the direct retrieval from genome/meta-genome libraries and consequent characterization of enzymes through activity screens. These screens will include a high-end functional small-molecule fluorescence screening platform and will allow us to directly access novel metabolic reactions followed by their rational exploitation for bio-catalysis and the re-construction of biodegradation networks. Results from (meta-) genomic approaches will be correlated with microbial in situ activity assessments, specifically dedicated to identifying key players and key reactions involved in anaerobic PAH metabolism. Key processes for PAH metabolism particularly in marine and composting environments and the kinetics of aerobic degradation of PAH under different conditions of bioavailability will be assessed in model systems, the rational manipulation of which will allow us to deduce correlations between system performance and genomic blueprint. The results will be used to improve treatments of PAH-contaminated sites.
The consortium will discover and carry to the stage of development candidates, plant derived small molecules with potential as new cosmetic and agrochemical agents. These compounds will derive from plants originating from major biodiversity hotspots in Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The starting point of the project will be a diversity-oriented natural product library of 500 compounds from the existing compound repositories of three project partners. Screening of this compound library in assay panels for agrochemical (antifungal, herbicidal, insecticidal) and cosmetic properties (UV-protection, anti-aging, anti-hyper-pigmentation) will rapidly identify promising scaffolds. This knowledge will serve as entry points for a chemotaxonomy and chemo-diversity oriented collection of plants which are thought to contain structural variants and decorations of these scaffolds. A liquid library of 3600 extracts will be generated and screened. Stringent prioritization and profiling procedures will generate 300 compounds as focused sub-libraries around the privileged scaffolds. A state-of-the-art technology platform for miniaturized natural product discovery will be used for the purpose. Evaluation of these sub-libraries will lead to 30 compounds which will undergo advanced testing to qualify 5 compounds as development candidates for novel agrochemical and/or cosmetic agents with new or improved properties over existing active ingredients. An additional outcome of the project will be an extract library with a unprecedented level of associated spectroscopic information and metadata, to be used for future purposes. The high-caliber consortium brings together international leaders in small molecule natural products, bio-prospection, leading industries in agro-chemistry, cosmetics, and spectroscopic data management and analysis. Prime Contractor: University Athens (National and Kapodistrian Univ.); Athen; Graces/Hellas.
Objective: The NanoLyse project will focus on the development of validated methods and reference materials for the analysis of engineered nano-particles (ENP) in food and beverages. The developed methods will cover all relevant classes of ENP with reported or expected food and food contact material applications, i.e. metal, metal oxide/silicate, surface functionalised and organic encapsulate (colloidal/micelle type) ENP. Priority ENPs have been selected out of each class as model particles to demonstrate the applicability of the developed approaches, e.g. nano-silver, nano-silica, an organically surface modified nano-clay and organic nano-encapsulates. Priority will be given to methods which can be implemented in existing food analysis laboratories. A dual approach will be followed. Rapid imaging and screening methods will allow the distinction between samples which contain ENP and those that do not. These methods will be characterised by minimal sample preparation, cost-efficiency, high throughput and will be achieved by the application of automated smart electron microscopy imaging and screening techniques in sensor and immunochemical formats. More sophisticated, hyphenated methods will allow the unambiguous characterisation and quantification of ENP. These will include elaborate sample preparation, separation by flow field fractionation and chromatographic techniques as well as mass spectrometric and electron microscopic characterisation techniques. The developed methods will be validated using the well characterised food matrix reference materials that will be produced within the project. Small-scale interlaboratory method performance studies and the analysis of a few commercially available products claiming or suspect to contain ENP will demonstrate the applicability and soundness of the developed methods.
EnviGuard is a response to the growing need for accurate real time monitoring of the seas/ocean and the aquaculture industries need for a reliable and cost-effective risk management tool. The implementation of the EnviGuard system will allow for early detection of harmful algae blooms (HAB), chemical contaminants, viruses and toxins thus preventing economic losses. The modular EnviGuard system will be made up of three different sensor modules (microalgae / pathogens, i.e. viruses & bacteria / toxins & chemicals), that are connected to the common interface 'EnviGuard Port' which collects and sends the information to a server. The data will be accessible through a website in real-time. The modularity of the system enables an individual setup for each purpose thus offering a tailor-made solution for each future client.
MariaBox will develop a wireless marine environment analysis device for monitoring chemical and biological pollutants while installed into a buoy, a maritime means of transport or a mooring. The device, based on novel biosensors, will be of high-sensitivity, portable and capable of repeating measurements over a long time, allowing permanent deployment at sea. The word 'MARIA' is the plural of the Latin 'mar' (sea) and expresses the wide applicability that this system offers in multiple locations where low-cost and real-time in situ analytical monitoring devices are required. The approach includes: a) a sensing and analysis box, b) a modular communication system, c) a flexible power system, d) a software platform, and e) a cell phone application. The box will transmit the collected data in real time through different channels according to local needs and geographical location: radio, GSM/GPRS/3G, WiFi, WiMAX or satellite link. The unit will be designed to be remotely controlled and will implement the OTA programming and OTA configuration features which will allow the user to update the firmware of the MariaBox unit and modify various configuration parameters wirelessly. Remote updates are a key factor in deployment scalability since it offers the only possibility of easily updating or reprogramming the devices after the initial deployment. Therefore, the maintenance costs are significantly reduced. Biosensors will be developed for 5 man-made chemicals and for 4 categories of microalgae toxins relevant to shell fish and fish farming. The novel biosensors will contribute to new standards for environmental analysis. The analytes selected for the biosensors are in line with 1) the Article 16 of the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), 2) the Decision 2455/2001/EC and 3) The Commission Directive 2009/90/EC. The system developed will be demonstrated and validated in four different scenarios in selected locations in Norway, Spain, Cyprus and Ireland.
Das Projekt zielt darauf ab die genetischen Ressourcen von Leguminosen in Europa zu untersuchen um Ihre nachhaltige Produktion und Nutzung zu fördern. Neue Sorten und neue Lebens-und Futtermittel sollen die Proteinproduktion in der EU wettbewerbsfähiger und nachhaltiger machen. Kurzfristige Ziele S & T: 1. Bewertung lokaler genetischer Ressourcen von Erbse (Pisum sativum L.), Ackerbohne (Vicia faba L.) und Augenbohne (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) für die Entwicklung von neuen Sorten für Lebens- und Futtermittel und die weitere Verwendung in der Zucht; 2. Entwicklung neuer Lebens- und Futtermittel aus verfügbaren europäischen Sorten von Erbse, Ackerbohne und Augenbohne; 3. Auswahl geeigneter Rhizobienstämme und arbuskulären Mykorrhizapilze zur Unterstützung der Stickstofffixierung und Entwicklung von neuen, kommerziellen Sporen-Impfstoffen; 4. Bewertung des Einflusses von Leguminosen auf die Bodeneigenschaften in nachhaltigen, regional-spezifischen Anbausystemen. Projektschwerpunkt an der BOKU sind die Wurzelsysteme.
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