Background

As a leader in crop protection solutions, Syngenta is dedicated to the development of novel and effective solutions to protect crops from insects. Understanding insect physiology is key to the development of effective crop protection solutions, and we need your help to do so.

While there have been significant advances in sample tissue preparation for imaging in mammals and other organisms, analyzing crop pest insect tissue via microscopy and downstream mass spectrometry-based analyses remains underrepresented in the literature. Considering the diversity in the crop pests of interest, variable texture and hardness (outer vs. inner tissue) of insect bodies, a robust methodology for such integrated workflow is lacking.

Improving the capability and throughput of insect pests (adult and larvae) histological sections preparation that enables downstream high resolution imaging coupled to high sensitivity MS-based proteomics analyses can significantly enhance scientific understanding of insect biology. Having such robust workflow will enable spatio-temporal omic mapping of pest insect tissues.

Our primary interest is in an integrated workflow starting with sectioning techniques and protocols, including the use of specialized equipment and methods to obtain high-quality sections for label-free microscopy imaging and subsequent proteomic analyses. Other similar methods of insect omics mapping will also be considered.

Syngenta is open to research collaborations or partnerships to develop such capability for an enhanced tandem workflow spanning sample preparation down to MS-based characterization.