Insect Doctors Research
At this INSECT DOCTORS page you can find the Research Projects of the hired PhD candidates within the INSECT DOCTORS programme.
The PhD projects intended to start in April or May 2020. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic most of the PhD students had to start later. They are all enrolled in double degree constructions involving universities in two countries.
Research Projects per Work Package
The research is divided over three science themes and each consists of 5 Research Projects. The country of the hiring organisation is placed witihin brackets. By clicking on the titles of the projects more information will be come available.
1. Pathogen-host interactions (Research Projects 1-5)
Discovering interactions between pathogens and insect hosts, and determining abiotic and biotic triggers for disease outbreaks.
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Project 1 Nudivirus replication mechanism (NL)
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Project 2 Behavioural manipulation and co-evolutionary processes between fungi and flies (DK)
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Project 3 Interactions between pathogens infecting crickets: who paves the way for the other? (DK)
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Project 4 Microsporidia infection and virulence at varying population densities (UK)
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Project 5 Impact of multiple biotic and abiotic stressors on pathogenesis in mealworms and wax moths (DK)
2. Covert infections and pathogen detection
(Research Projects 6-10)
Understanding the molecular mechanisms behind latency / persistence (covert infections) and how to discover / detect pathogens to prevent disease outbreaks.
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Project 6 Molecular mechanisms behind maintenance of covert DNA virus infections in Lepidoptera (NL)
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Project 7 - Tsetse fly associated covert viruses and endosymbionts (NL)
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Project 8 - Covert infections with RNA viruses in the Mediterranean fruit fly (ES)
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Project 9 Virus discovery in reared insects (FR)
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Project 10 Development of diagnostics tools for pathogen detection in a variety of mass reared insects (DE)
3. Increasing insect resistance against pathogens
(Research Projects 10-15)
Focussing on the interactions between pathogens and
the insect microbiome and how nutritional adaptations can increase fitness of
reared insects.
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Project 11 Exploring nutritional adaptation of host-specific and generalist insect-pathogenic fungi (DK)
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Project 12 The role of microbiota in host resistance against bacterial and fungal pathogens in wax moths (DK)
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Project 13 Food and probiotics in insect health and pathogen resistance (FR)
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Project 14 Microbiota mediated food protection against lepidopteran pathogens (FR)
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Project 15 Experimental evolution of insect gut symbionts to improve fitness under SIT and transgenic mass release (UK)