Objective
The human large bowel is colonized by a community of microbes, the microbiota, which has a significant impact on human health and nutrition through the production of short chain fatty acids, and by interactions with the host immune system. The major nutrients available to these organisms are dietary glycans that are not metabolized by mammalian enzymes in the small intestines. Dietary and nutraceutical strategies can, potentially, be deployed to encourage the dominance of beneficial microbes in the microbiota (e.g. those producing health promoting SCFAs such as propionate and butyrate, and bacteria that have an anti-inflammatory impact through its interaction with the human immune system), ensuring that this microbial ecosystem has a positive influence on human health. This approach, however, is greatly restricted by a critical lack of understanding of the mechanisms by which complex glycans are metabolized by the microbiota. Significantly, the wealth of genomic and metagenomic microbiota sequence data now available, presents an exciting and unparalleled opportunity to make decisive advances in our understanding of glycan metabolism in the human large bowel. This project seeks to capitalize on this genomic information, in harness with recent functional data from my lab., to understand the mechanisms by which complex glycans are metabolized by the human microbiota. At a generic level, by providing insight into glycan resource allocation in the microbiota, this ERC advanced fellowship will make a significant contribution to protein evolutionary biology. The microbiota represents a highly concentrated reservoir of microbes that is continuously exposed to an extensive repertoire of diverse and highly complex glycans, the metabolism of which is essential for bacterial survival.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-ADG_20120314
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
NE1 7RU Newcastle Upon Tyne
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.