CATRIN joins the AURORA project for more efficient controlled agriculture
The VALOR-LIGHT Valorization of Light-Activated Medicinal Plant By-Products for Novel Biotechnologies and Edible Crop Production) project, which was successful in the call for proposals by the European university network Aurora, is intended to contribute to more efficient and sustainable cultivation of medicinal plants in controlled environments, especially in hydroponic cultivation systems. Under the leadership of the University of Innsbruck, scientists from CATRIN, Palacký University will participate in the project with other international partners.
The main task of the researchers will be to develop technologies that ensure the necessary production of medicinal plants, protect the environment and consumers from the possible negative effects of fertilisers and pesticides and comply with the principles of the circular economy. The scientists will focus on four main areas – the use of specific beneficial micro-organisms as effective bioprotectants and biostimulants to improve the production of phytoactive substances from medicinal plants, the use of waste from medicinal plants as a source of (photo)antimicrobial substances, development of organometallic networks and other nanomaterials as suitable carriers of natural (photo)antimicrobials for use in controlled agriculture and testing of plant (photo)antimicrobials encapsulated in nanomaterials as innovative light-activated pesticides in plant production. The proposed methods will be tested on mint (Mentha canadensis), tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.
The team will be involved in a total of three research areas. “Thanks to our unique research infrastructure in the form of phenotyping lines, we have extensive experience in non-invasive monitoring of plants in a controlled environment. We can test the effects of different biostimulants to enhance plant traits and different ways of applying them. In this project, we will focus on plants used in pharmacology and will try to increase the efficiency of production of phytoactive compounds by using different innovative approaches,” said CATRIN team leader Lukáš Spíchal.
In collaboration with colleagues from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, they will test the effectiveness of organometallic networks and other nanomaterials as suitable carriers of natural (photo)antimicrobial agents. “The carriers developed by the Slovakian partners will be tested as carriers for light-activated pesticides. Our common goal is to reduce the amount of pesticides used and their burden on the environment. If we can get pesticides directly into plants using such carriers, their use could be significantly more efficient and environmentally friendly,” Spíchal explained.
His team will also be in close contact with the Italian University of Naples Federico II and its experts in the use of beneficial microorganisms. “These are bacteria and fungi that are not pathogenic. If they colonise the plant, on the contrary, they prevent the development of pathogens. The partners in Naples will develop these organisms and we in Olomouc will test different carriers for transporting these beneficial microorganisms in different model plants and crops,” Spíchal added. Another member of the research consortium is the University of Duisburg-Essen.
The project is based on a multidisciplinary collaboration between partners involved in the Aurora University Network. The project is a stepping stone to joint participation in large international projects such as Horizon.
An overview of all successful projects from the Aurora call is available at https://aurora-universities.eu/seven-innovative-projects-selected-after-first-aurora-call-for-incentive-and-collaborative-research-projects/. VALOR-LIGHT is one of the two projects supported in the Health & Well-being category.