Projects
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Amr Kataya , Mohamed Fathi Abdallah , Ingerd Skow Hofgaard , Hanna Friberg , Salim Bourras , Xiang Su , Mallikarjuna Rao Kovi , Kristiina Mäkinen , Ville-Petri Friman , Kristiina Himanen , Baoru Yang , Gunnar Andersson , Sari Rämö , Espen Sannes Sørensen , Rebecca Sim , Natasa Desnica & Jens Laurids Sørensen
The global occurrence of toxic fungal secondary metabolites (mycotoxins) in edible crops poses a serious threat to agriculture and food safety sectors. Nordic cereals are particularly vulnerable to mycotoxigenic Fusarium species, resulting in significant yield losses and contamination with a plethora of well-known mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol (NIV), HT-2 and T-2 toxins, as well as emerging mycotoxins such as enniatins. Despite ongoing breeding efforts, cultivars that combine high yield with stable resistance under Nordic environmental conditions remain limited. Achieving such stability requires a detailed understanding of the regulatory layers governing resistance traits, fungal virulence, mycotoxin accumulation, and the strong genotype × environment (G×E) interactions that occur under specific Nordic climatic conditions, such as cool, wet springs.
To bridge research on plant and fungal biology, LIPFUSA_NORDIC (LIPid metabolism and FUSarium interactions in Nordic Agriculture) will integrate expertise in plant cellular biology and image-based disease phenotyping, plant pathology, mycology, breeding technology, genomics and AI/ML modeling, analytical chemistry, ecological engineering, and food and feed safety. The network will generate insights essential for developing joint project applications in resistance breeding and integrated strategies to reduce Fusarium infection and mycotoxin accumulation, while also addressing tradeoffs and ecological traits using the complementary expertise of the partners. By identifying key mechanisms driving fungal virulence and in-planta formation of toxins and their masked/modified forms, the network aims to deliver mechanistic insights from molecules to cultivars that are currently lacking but are crucial for predictive, resistance-oriented breeding and sustainable disease management in Nordic cereal production.
The LIPFUSA_NORDIC network involves partners from Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Iceland. The LIPFUSA_NORDIC consortium includes: • Aarhus University
• Aalborg University
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
• Swedish Veterinary Agency
• University of Helsinki
• University of Turku
• Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE)
• Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO)
• Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
• Graminor AS
• Matís ohf. Icelandic Food and Biotech R&DDescription
01/03-2026 → 01/03-2028
Kim Hebelstrup , Olga Agata Oxholm , Lotte Bach Larsen , Ulla Kidmose & Esben Olesen
Human consumption of barley has many beneficial effects, such as reduction of cholesterol and stabilization of blood sugar levels. Barley is not a frequent element in our diet, and has typically only been eaten marginally as a starchy product - e.g. porridge. Otherwise, barley is predominantly used for malt beer or as feed for animals. So far, barley has not been used often in bread making due to its poor baking properties. We know that the baking properties of a dough depend on the protein structure in the dough. But no one has ever mapped the entire network of proteins in dough that give these physical and baking properties. In this project, the structure of the protein network in dough is mapped in order to explain differences in the baking quality of different barley varieties compared to wheat. We use state-of-the-art methodologies within new breeding methods, protein analyzes and use special naked barley varieties to gain previously unknown knowledge of how proteins in dough form networks during breadmaking. This knowledge will contribute to the green transition, as barley has a much lower need for nitrogen input (fertilisation) than wheat, as well as promoting Nordic agriculture and ensuring new, healthier bread products, as it is well described that due to a higher fiber content than both wheat and rye, barley and oats have a very high health potential.Description
09/01-2023 → 30/07-2026
