Skip to main content
ISMPMI Congress 2025 Main banner
Icon Legend
This session is not in your schedule.
This session is in your schedule. Click again to remove it.

Poster

Session: Session 1 Presenting Authors at Posters (Odds)

P-123 - In search of fungal targets for VHH-antibody-based antifungals

Monday, July 14, 2025
13:30 - 15:15  
Location: Confex Hall 3
Management of diseases and emerging diseases

    Presenting Author(s)

  • SQ

    Si Qin

    Postdoctoral researcher
    University of California
    Davis, California, United States

    • Author(s)

  • EF

    Enrico Ferrarini

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • EL

    Elena Lahmeyer

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • LM

    Ludo Muller

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • JT

    Joeri T'Syen

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • MC

    Mike Csukai

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • CB

    Carlo Boutton

    Biotalys NV
    Ghent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

  • IS

    Ioannis Stergiopoulos

    Professor
    University of California Davis, Department of Plant Pathology
    Davis, California, United States

Biocontrol is key to integrated pest management, enabling a reduction in chemical usage. VHH antibodies are derived from the heavy chain antibodies of Camelidae species and have gained substantial interest in the pharmaceutical field. Biotalys NV uses VHH antibodies to develop AGROBODYTM bioactives against plant pests and pathogens. To design effective antifungal AGROBODYTM bioactives, it is crucial to validate the localization, accessibility, and essentiality for fitness and virulence of their protein targets in pathogens. We are targeting Cercospora species, which cause leaf spot diseases on multiple crops, and use the grey mold fungus Botrytis cinerea as a model to study the role of target genes in fungal growth and infection. This is done using site-specific genome editing and gene silencing through exogenous application of double-stranded RNAs to the fungus. Additionally, we investigate the intrinsic function of the target proteins and their role in plant-microbe interaction, validate their cellular localization, and assess the effectiveness of the AGROBODYTM bioactives in plant assays. To date, we have knocked out several protein targets in B. cinerea and are establishing a gene editing system in the sugar beet pathogen C. beticola. Our work focuses on fungal biology and early-stage plant infection dynamics, an area that is understudied. We envisage that innovative AGROBODYTM biocontrols will contribute to sustainable and consumer-friendly production processes.