iHEAD
Research Initiative
Discover our Research
Find out more about our interdisciplinary consortium & the research conducted within the framework of iHEAD.
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The overarching objective of this initiative is to gain deeper knowledge of immunometabolism in beneficial and detrimental host-microbe interactions. Exploiting new information on metabolic regulation of immune responses in plants and animals will create a higher level of predictability of host-microbe responses and strategies for intervention. We aim to develop a collective toolkit to study functional connections between immunity and metabolism. We will use this to build a biochemical understanding of plant and animal host immune systems and their reliance on metabolites.
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iHEAD aims to capitalize on very recent advances in plant and animal innate immunity and microbiota research to develop a novel set of open-source bioinformatics tools, models and unified concepts for immunometabolism in animals and plants. This will ensure reproducibility, rapid advances, long-term success and amplification of this emerging research field in Cologne and across Germany and Europe. Interdisciplinarity is the cornerstone of the iHEAD initiative in which previously disconnected disciplines of immunity, metabolism, and modelling will be brought together for maximum synergy.
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Specific aims of the iHEAD initiative relate to:
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Emerging metabolic signals in immunity determining host-microbe interaction outcomes.
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modulation of immunity by extra- and intracellular nucleotide-based molecules and purinergic receptors
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nucleotide-driven extra- and intracellular calcium signaling and cyclic-nucleotide signal potentiation in host-microbe interactions
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chemical synthesis and exploration of synthetic nucleotide-based prodrugs as immunostimulants for application in plant and animal disease resistance (e.g., pRib-ADP/AMP, ADP-ribosylated ATP, dAdo)
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Roles of infochemicals (signaling metabolites) underpinning interdependent metabolisms in beneficial host-microbe interactions,
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characterizing host and microbe-derived metabolite signals that drive metabolic interdependence in mutualistic host-microbe interactions
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discovery and mode of action of stress-inducible infochemicals (e.g., 2’3’-cyclic nucleotides) in tuning host and microbe metabolism for stress adaptation, including malnutrition
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metabolic signals as input of root-shoot axis circuits to maximize reproductive fitness of the host and its microbiota
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Evolution of immunometabolism in plants and animals driven by pathogens or beneficial microbial communities.
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modelling of metabolic dependencies in resource competition and metabolic cross-feeding of host-microbe communities with photoautotrophic (plant) or heterotrophic (animal) hosts
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evolvability and constraints of immunometabolism in photoautotrophic or heterotrophic hosts
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Research Area II
Role of Infochemicals
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Project 3: Survey and identify host-derived molecules that have regulatory roles on microbiomes (Prof. Dr. Filipe Cabreiro).
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Project 4: A barley MLA receptor is targeted by a nonribosomal peptide effector of the necrotrophic spot blotch fungus for disease susceptibility (Prof. Dr. Paul Schulze-Lefert).
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Project 5: Interference of fungal root microbiota with TIR-mediated plant immunometabolism (Prof. Dr. Alga Zuccaro).
Research Area III
Natural & Modified Infochemicals
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Project 6: Discovery and characterization of TIR-generated infochemicals in dicots and monocots; unraveling clade and lineage-specific principles of TIR-protein immunity (Prof. Dr. Jane Parker).
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Project 7: Determination of the immunostimulatory properties of modified nucleotide-based infochemicals for potential applications to plants and testing in animal systems provided by the consortium (Prof. Dr. Stephanie Kath-Schorr).​
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Project 8: Rational modification of infochemicals and mechanisms underlying choice between distinct nucleotide-based signaling pathways ( Prof. Dr. Kath-Schorr, Prof. Dr. Parker, Prof. Dr. Behrmann).