Using the sense of smell to combat insect pests: two projects funded by the Institut de Chimie de Nice

ARDECO project

ARDECO - Anticipating the Withdrawal of Phytosanitary Substances through the Development of a Distributed, Operational, Generic and High-Speed Chemical Ecology Infrastructure - is a research project worth almost €7 million to develop a national chemical ecology infrastructure. It is a project in response to the PARSADA AAP , a strategic action plan of the French Ministry of Agriculture to anticipate the potential European withdrawal of active substances and develop alternative techniques for crop protection. It involves a dozen partners from academia, biotech companies and the agricultural sector. Sébastien Fiorucci's project at the Institut de Chimie de Nice will benefit from around 700k€ of funding, including the recruitment of postdocs and engineers, as well as funds to equip itself with computing resources. A joint operation with the 4DOMICS project and MSI this year will enable a major upgrade of the university supercomputer. This future platform will enable very large-scale molecular simulations to be carried out to identify new semiochemicals - molecules active on insect behavior. The aim of the project is to demonstrate the effectiveness of chemical mediators and to generalize the approach so as to eventually open up the platform to other insects (pests or auxiliaries), in conjunction with the various agricultural sectors.

InvORIA project

The InvORIA project -Reverse chemical ecology using high-throughput screening and guided AI of insect olfactory receptors- was obtained in collaboration with INRAE and CEA as part of the Transformation AAP of theEXPLOR'AE France 2030 program. The budget is also substantial, with a total of ~1.8M€, including over 500k€ for the Institut de Chimie de Nice. The research objective is more fundamental and aims to gain a better understanding, at the molecular level, of odor recognition mechanisms in insects. It is therefore highly complementary to the ARDECO project in that it aims to predict the function of insect olfactory receptors by developing an innovative approach combining artificial intelligence (AI) and high-throughput experimentation. The expected spin-offs are significant in fields as varied as crop protection, human and animal health, pollination and bioconservation, via the targeted control of insect olfactory behavior.

Contact: Sébastien Fiorucci