Genetic factors contributing to White Nose Syndrome tolerance in North American and European Myotis-bats

Projektinformationen

EVOL-WNS

ID Finanzhilfevereinbarung: 706196

DOI 10.3030/706196

Abgeschlossenes Projekt

EK-Unterschriftsdatum 25 Februar 2016

Startdatum 1 November 2016

Enddatum 31 Oktober 2018

Finanziert unter

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Gesamtkosten € 183 454,80

EU-Beitrag € 183 454,80

Koordiniert durch

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL
United Kingdom

Ziel

White-Nose Syndrome (WNS) is a fungal disease affecting bats during hibernation. Since 2007, an estimated 6 million bats in North-America have died of the infection, which causes bats to prematurely consume the fat reserves deposited for winter hibernation. The infected bats arouse from hibernation more frequently; probably due to epidermal damage caused by Pseudogymnoascus destructans (Pd), a psychrophilic fungus. Pd originates from Europe, however, European bats appear to be tolerant to the infection. Tolerance has also been recently observed in remnant populations in the U.S where these WNS-survivors have co-existed with the fungus since 2006. The mechanisms leading to adaptation or tolerance remain unknown. Here we aim to investigate genetic factors that may contribute to Pd-tolerance in the most frequently infected genus of bats, Myotis. By using DNA-samples from two Myotis species from North America (Myotis lucifugus) and Europe (Myotis brandtii), we should observe selection in gene orthologs between European bats and bats in WNS-survivor populations. The selection profiles should differ from archived WNS-susceptible bats, sampled before the onset of the wildlife disease. Once we have identified suitable candidate genes with PoolSeq and detection of selective sweeps, we will validate the results by comparing the transcriptomes of both infected WNS-susceptible and infected WNS-survivor M. lucifugus and infected M. brandtii in the last quartile of their hibernation. The results will demonstrate the pan-species and population-wide effects of a real-time bottleneck and help us understand the mechanisms promoting tolerance to the pathogens. The proposal will provide training in technical and transferable skills to allow the experienced researcher to gain a tenured position and achieve impact through conservation measures that help predict bat population survival rates and hibernation strategies.

Wissenschaftliches Gebiet

• natural sciences › computer and information sciences › knowledge engineering › ontology
• medical and health sciences › health sciences › infectious diseases
• natural sciences › biological sciences › microbiology › mycology
• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › immunology
• natural sciences › biological sciences › genetics › genomes

Programm/Programme

• H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme
• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Thema/Themen

• MSCA-IF-2015-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF)

Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung

H2020-MSCA-IF-2015

Finanzierungsplan

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Koordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL

• Netto-EU-Beitrag: € 183 454,80
• Adresse: BROWNLOW HILL 765 FOUNDATION BUILDING ; L69 7ZX Liverpool ; Vereinigtes Königreich
• Region: North West (England) › Merseyside › Liverpool
• Aktivitätstyp: Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
• Gesamtkosten: € 183 454,80