Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Ecological and evolutionary forces shaping microbial diversity in freshwater blooms

Objective

"Bacterial communities dominate the living biomass on Earth and contribute significantly to all global cycles of matter and energy. However, due to the high genetic heterogeneity of the ecosystems and their richness in diverse microbial species, our knowledge of bacterial communities remains limited. Therefore, in order to understand any bacterial community's ecology and predict how these communities and their respective ecosystems will respond to environmental changes, we need (i) to identify the different ecologically distinct microbial populations (or ""clusters"") that compose it, and (ii) to determine the interactions between clusters, and how they evolve. To address these challenging goals, this study will use the model system of Microcystis, the cyanobacterium that is mainly responsible for toxic algal bloom in lakes worldwide. The goal of this project is to (i) determine how (and if) Microcystis is specialized into different ecologically and genetically distinct clusters, (ii) to track how the Microcystis populations (or clusters) respond to environmental changes (pH, temperature, pollution from fertilizer runoff) and biological factors (viruses that prey on bacteria). This will allow us to understand how Microcystis populations change and adapt over time, helping us to predict and prevent harmful blooms. Using a unique multidisciplinary approach mixing ecology and evolution, and combining observations from natural time-courses in lakes, in situ experiments in microcosms within lakes, and in vitro experiments, this project will provide an unprecedented understanding of how changing regimes of natural selection, imposed by environmental and biological factors, shape microbial communities on the scales of populations, genomes and genes. This project will provide major advances in bloom understanding, in prediction by the identification new genetic biomarkers and in prevention by defining the conditions under which phage therapy might be a practical strategy."

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.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Programme(s)

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.

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.

MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

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

(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 255 349,80
Address
THE QUEEN'S DRIVE NORTHCOTE HOUSE
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom

See on map

Region
South West (England) Devon Devon CC
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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.

€ 255 349,80

Partners (1)

My booklet 0 0