ChemKing (“Chemical Diversity across the Plant and Insect Kingdom”, Academy of Finland project no 341836) is the latest Academy project of the Natural Chemistry Research Group.
Juha-Pekka Salminen (University of Turku) leads a project that aims to develop and use new tools for accurately analysing the chemical diversity found in the plant and insect kingdom. The project will build predictive models for emerging herbivore pests in changing landscapes and climates. For insect chemistry, the project will uses a new innovation, the MetaboKIT tool, which can reveal the most important chemical parameters of plants against insects and the abilities of insects to handle plant defences. The tools to be developed can also be used to link changes in global biodiversity to subsequent changes in nature’s chemical diversity.
This project is funded by the Academy of Finland (2021-2025) and has one project researcher (Dr. Marica Engström) and one PhD student (Niko Luntamo) and several undergraduates.
See Academy of Finland for the press release.
