Simon Stael
Plants are like sitting ducks when it comes to threats—they can’t run from bad weather or hungry insects. Instead, they have to fight back in place. When a plant gets damaged, it launches a defense at the injury site, and sometimes even in distant parts of its body, in a way similar to how humans respond to wounds. My team and I are investigating the molecular processes behind these plant defenses, with a special focus on how proteins are broken down—a process known as proteolysis—to help plants recover. Each year, crop damages leads to massive economic losses, but solving this problem isn’t easy. Although much improvement has been made, agricultural solutions can still harm the environment. Our goal is to use our research to improve pesticide selectivity—ensuring pests are controlled while beneficial insects are protected.
Damage-activated proteolysis – Think of proteins as tiny machines inside plant cells, each with a job to do. Proteolysis is like a pair of molecular scissors, making precise cuts to certain proteins. Proteolysis plays fundamental roles in cellular regulation, extending beyond protein degradation to include highly specific cleavage events that alter protein function, localization, and interactions. Our previous work has identified a class of proteases, metacaspases, that are activated upon plant wounding. These proteases catalyze the maturation of small signaling peptides that initiate immune and defense responses. Despite the essential role of wound healing in preventing plant infection and mortality, the specific contributions of proteolysis to this process remain poorly understood. That’s why we coined the term damage-activated proteolysis and are currently employing targeted and large-scale proteomic approaches to map out its role in plant self-defense.
Engineering pesticide selectivity – Have you noticed that fewer insects splatter on car windshields than in past decades? That’s part of a worrying trend called the “windshield phenomenon,” which reflects a massive decline in insect populations—by as much as 40% to 75% in some areas. While multiple factors contribute to this decline—including habitat destruction and disease—pesticide use in agriculture is a significant driver. That is problematic as insects carry out important functions at the base of most ecosystems and provide important services for agriculture, for example through pollination. Our research seeks to translate insights from damage-activated proteolysis into the development of precision-targeted pesticides. By utilizing the natural defense system of plants in response to insect herbivory we attempt to modify pesticides so that pests are targeted but beneficial insects are spared from pesticide toxicity.
By making agriculture more precise and environmentally friendly, we hope to help shape the future of sustainable food production.