Objective Mutation and recombination are fundamental biological processes that determine adaptability of populations. The mutation rate reflects the equilibrium between the need to adapt, the burden of mutation load, the “cost of fidelity”, and random drift that determines a lower limit in achievable fidelity. Recombination fulfills an essential mechanistic role during meiosis, ensuring proper chromosomal segregation. Recombination affects the rate of creation and loss of favorable haplotypes, imposing 2nd-order selection pressure on modifiers of recombination.It is becoming apparent that recombination and mutation rates vary between individuals, and that these differences are in part inherited. Both processes are therefore “evolvable”, and amenable to genomic analysis. Identifying genetic determinants underlying these differences will provide insights in the regulation of mutation and recombination. The mutational load, and in particular the number of lethal equivalents per individual, remains poorly defined as epidemiological and molecular data yield estimates that differ by one order of magnitude. A relationship between recombination and fertility has been reported in women but awaits confirmation.Population structure (small effective population size; large harems), phenotypic data collection (systematic recording of > 50 traits on millions of cows), and large-scale SNP genotyping (for genomic selection), make cattle populations uniquely suited for genetic analysis. DAMONA proposes to exploit these unique resources, combined with recent advances in next generation sequencing and genotyping, to:(i) quantify and characterize inter-individual variation in male and female mutation and recombination rates,(ii) map, fine-map and identify causative genes underlying QTL for these four phenotypes,(iii) test the effect of loss-of-function variants on >50 traits including fertility, and(iv) study the effect of variation in recombination on fertility. Fields of science social sciencessociologydemographyfertilitynatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsmutation Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-AG-LS2 - ERC Advanced Grant - Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Call for proposal ERC-2012-ADG_20120314 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Host institution UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE EU contribution € 2 258 000,00 Address PLACE DU 20 AOUT 7 4000 Liege Belgium See on map Region Région wallonne Prov. Liège Arr. Liège Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Isabelle Halleux (Dr.) Principal investigator Michel Alphonse Julien Georges (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITE DE LIEGE Belgium EU contribution € 2 258 000,00 Address PLACE DU 20 AOUT 7 4000 Liege See on map Region Région wallonne Prov. Liège Arr. Liège Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Isabelle Halleux (Dr.) Principal investigator Michel Alphonse Julien Georges (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data