Objective
The long-term establishment of ancient organisms that have undergone whole genome duplications has been exceedingly rare. On the other hand, tens of thousands of now-living species are polyploid and contain multiple copies of their genome. The paucity of ancient genome duplications and the existence of so many species that are currently polyploid provide an interesting and fascinating enigma. A question that remains is whether these older genome duplications have survived by coincidence or because they did occur at very specific times, for instance during major ecological upheavals and periods of extinction. It has indeed been proposed that chromosome doubling conveys greater stress tolerance by fostering slower development, delayed reproduction and longer life span. Furthermore, polyploids have also been considered to have greater ability to colonize new or disturbed habitats. If polyploidy allowed many plant lineages to survive and adapt during global changes, as suggested, we might wonder whether polyploidy will confer a similar advantage in the current period of global warming and general ecological pressure caused by the human race. Given predictions that species extinction is now occurring at as high rates as during previous mass extinctions, will the presumed extra adaptability of polyploid plants mean they will become the dominant species? In the current proposal, we hope to address these questions at different levels through 1) the analysis of whole plant genome sequence data and 2) the in silico modelling of artificial gene regulatory networks to mimic the genomic consequences of genome doubling and how this may affect network structure and dosage balance. Furthermore, we aim at using simulated robotic models running on artificial gene regulatory networks in complex environments to evaluate how both natural and artificial organism populations can potentially benefit from gene and genome duplications for adaptation, survival, and evolution in general.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics chromosomes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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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
9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT
Belgium
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.