Objective
Kin selection theory predicts that cooperation should evolve among kin to reduce the costs of helping and the incentive to cheat. Altruistic behaviour provides individuals with either direct or indirect fitness benefits. As a necessary prerequisite, individuals need to recognise kin to direct their help towards them. Thus, kin recognition is a key feature of many social animals. Ultimate benefits of altruism are well studied, but proximate mechanisms explaining the maintenance and early evolution of kin recognition are still poorly understood. Social spiders provide an intriguing model system to investigate this issue, as some species show kin recognition but a less pronounced complexity of social interactions than that of eusocial insects. Social spiders only hunt and feed communally. Groups of close relatives perform better resulting in a higher individual fitness. Behavioural differences do not explain the better performance. Using proteomic analyses, this project will explore the possibility that a kin-specific investment in the extra-oral digestion and/or a kin-specific compatibility of the digestive enzymes is/are responsible for the better performance of related spiders. Our study object will be the sub-social spider Stegodyphus lineatus (Eresidae) in which kin recognition has been found. This species is an excellent study organism to help resolving one of the long-lasting questions in evolutionary biology, how cooperation can be evolutionarily stable.
We will apply different proteomic analyses to identify the enzymatic compounds of the spiders’ digestive fluids and compare their relative composition among related and unrelated individuals. As the genome of our study species has recently been sequenced we will compare the diversity of proteins with the diversity of the according alleles. This will allow conclusions on whether differences are proteomic, genetic or both, and eventually whether this can explain the adaptive advantage of kin recognition.
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 evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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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.
FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF
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.
Coordinator
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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.