Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS
Content archived on 2024-06-18

Metagenomic analysis of viral and microbial communities from global high-latitude pristine environments as a model to understand the influence of viruses on the ecosystem

Objective

Pristine, high-latitude freshwater ecosystems represent some of the last unaltered habitats on the planet. These ecosystems commonly present limited nutrient input and are dominated by microorganisms, commonly presenting very small meso- and macroorganism communities, which translates into relatively simple natural ecosystems with short food-webs. Microorganism communities are regulated by the availability of nutrients (bottom-up control), the activity of predators (top-down control), and viral lysis. The role of the top-down control in these environments appears to be limited and, thus, the ecological role of viruses in these extreme habitats could be greater than in temperate ecosystems. This research project is based on the recognition that due to their relative simplicity, these habitats constitute a unique ecological model to understand the influence of viruses on natural microbial communities and the overall ecosystem. With this background, this research project will make use of Metagenomics and NGS techniques, as well as state-of-the-art computational approaches, to analyze the genetic diversity of viral communities, as well as the structure of viral and microbial communities, in pristine high-latitude freshwater habitats. Instead of merely cataloguing ‘what is there’, these analyses will provide several independent yet complementary pieces of information related to the role of viruses in natural environments. Collectively, the results derived from this research project will give us a wider understanding of the diversity and structure of viral communities, and the complexity of biotic interactions that they establish with the microbial community and the entire ecosystem, improving the state-of-the-art of the field. The proposed transfer of knowledge will complement and enhance the host’s limited knowledge and experience in the use of NGS and novel Metagenomics approaches to study microbial communities, augmenting their ability to produce high-impact science.

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

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.

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IIF
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.

MC-IIF - International Incoming Fellowships (IIF)

Coordinator

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
EU contribution
€ 173 370,60
Address
CALLE SERRANO 117
28006 MADRID
Spain

See on map

Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

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.

No data
My booklet 0 0