Communication
Because keeping this project a secret would be a crime!
Because keeping this project a secret would be a crime!
Where does our sugar come from ?
A quarter of the worlds’ sugar is obtained from sugar beets, which are cultivated all around the world. It is especially important in France, and one of our biggest agricultural sector, from which is obtained the sugar we pour in our tea, coffee, or our cars, under the form of biofuel.
The aphids Myzus persicae and Aphis fabae are the most threatening pests toward B. vulgaris. They can resist most pesticides, and are the main vectors for the Beet Yellow Virus (BYV) [2]. More than a third of the crops are affected yearly, and infected plants suffer a yield loss that can reach 50%, which is why agricultors are wary of these pests as they represent a major threat toward the crops [3].
Neonicotinoids (NEOs) prevail as the sole pesticides able to repel efficiently enough the aphids to protect the crops [3]. As a result, in 2016, about 100% of sugar beet seeds were undergoing preventive treatment of NEOs [4]. However, in 2018 it was confirmed that this pesticide had adverse effects on human and pollinators health. However there usage was not totally restricted in the EU until 2023, as years of derogation were granted especially for sugar beets [5]. Now deprived of their most efficient defense, european beet and beet farmers are most vulnerable to pests.
Our iGEM project was born to adress this issue and save the Sugar Beets ! This project is carried out by 12 students of SupBiotech in France, keen on challenges, adventure and agroecology !
Our idea is to engineer precursors of small interfering RNAs (siRNA) that naturally exists in in plants as their main defense mechanism, and to target and destroy specifically viral RNA[6]. This biomimetic approach will be combined with a second one, hijacking the properties of viral capisdes and use them as vector for the RNAs to penetrate the plant.
We are 12 students, each with our own specialties. We where brought together by our common passion for agroecology and synthetic biology. Neonicotinoids and the sugar beet quickly came up while brainstorming. To better understand the associated problematics, we went to the Salon de l’Agriculture in Paris to meet experts and producers and exchange directly.
Exchanging with farmers producing sugar beet, scientists studying plant virus and aphids strengthened our resolve that countering the Beet Yellow Virus was necessary, but in the long term may lead to a sustainable replacement to neonicotinoidS. Hearing that no solution had been found in years strengthened our resolve of moving toward one we believed in. This is how our projet, Cap’siRNA, was born.
[1] Hossain R, Menzel W, Lachmann C, Varrelmann M. New insights into
virus yellows distribution in Europe and effects of beet yellows virus,
beet mild yellowing virus, and beet chlorosis virus on sugar beet yield
following field inoculation. Plant Pathol. 2021;70(3):584-593.
doi:10.1111/ppa.13306
[2] Margaritopoulos JT, Kati AN, Voudouris CC, Skouras PJ, Tsitsipis
JA. Long-term studies on the evolution of resistance of Myzus persicae
(Hemiptera: Aphididae) to insecticides in Greece. Bull Entomol Res.
2021;111(1):1-16. doi:10.1017/S0007485320000334
[3] Grimmer MK, Bean KMR, Qi A, Stevens M, Asher MJC. The action of
three Beet yellows virus resistance QTLs depends on alleles at a novel
genetic locus that controls symptom development. Plant Breed.
2008;127(4):391-397. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0523.2008.01515.x
[4] Hauer M, Hansen AL, Manderyck B, et al. Neonicotinoids in sugar
beet cultivation in Central and Northern Europe: Efficacy and
environmental impact of neonicotinoid seed treatments and alternative
measures. Crop Prot. 2017;93:132-142. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2016.11.034
[5] Zhang D, Lu S. Human exposure to neonicotinoids and the
associated health risks: A review. Environ Int. 2022;163(March):107201.
doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107201
[6] Zhan J, Meyers BC. Plant Small RNAs: Their Biogenesis, Regulatory Roles, and Functions. Annu Rev Plant Biol. 2023;74:21-51. doi:10.1146/annurev-arplant-070122-035226
