Levering AI for discovery of green insect chemocommunication disruptors for sustainable crop protection
Principal investigator
Sensory chemicals play an essential role in all life. Insects rely heavily on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as signalling molecules for communication. Semiochemicals, pheromones and allelochemicals regulate social behaviour, reproduction, foraging, defence and navigation of insects. Understanding VOCs’ interactions with olfactory receptors is crucial for designing novel disruptors of chemical communication of insects. The proposed research LAIDYGRID aims to identify plants, volatile plant metabolites, and their green synthetic analogues with chemocommunication-disrupting activity on brown marmorated stink bug, H. halys, an invasive agricultural pest causing substantial economic damage to a wide range of crops, including apples, pears, peaches, soybeans, and vegetables. The LAIDYGRID approach is based on developing comprehensive workflow that integrates AI/ML techniques with both structure- and ligand-based molecular modelling methods, and its experimental validation through in vivo behavioural bioassays and in vitro toxicological assessment. The proposed research is interdisciplinary and based on the state-of-the-art methods from the fields of AI/ML modelling, molecular docking, pharmacophore modelling and MD simulations, plant extract preparation and analysis, click chemistry, in vitro toxicological screening and in vivo laboratory, semi-field and field bioassays to assess the impact of VOCs on stink bug behaviour. By combining computational models with empirical validation, along with effective dissemination and communication of results, LAIDYGRID will advance research in insect chemical communication and support the development of efficient, environmentally friendly strategies to mitigate the impact of H. halys on agriculture.