Objective
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are RNAs of ~21-24 nucleotides with pivotal regulatory roles in various developmental and physiological pathways. They inhibit the translation of mRNAs and thus constitute a “tuning” system for controlling post-transcriptional expression. While the understanding of miRNAs function in bilaterians such as flies, nematodes and mammals is expanding rapidly, little is known about miRNAs in other animals. The starlet sea anemone, Nematostella vectensis is a rising model which enables developmental biology studies in the non-bilaterian phylum Cnidaria under lab conditions. Recently, 40 miRNAs were found in N. vectensis but only one of them is a clear homologue of a bilaterian miRNA (miR-100). As the cnidarian miRNA collection seems significantly smaller than the bilaterian one, it is possible that the evolution of translation-control through miRNAs is responsible for the increase in morphological complexity observed between the basal cnidarians and highly diversified bilaterians (e.g. vertebrates and insects). We aim to study the miRNA expression patterns and function in Nematostella. Specifically, we will use in-situ hybridization, morpholino injection and transgenic manipulations to fulfill these aims. Once we have identified a miRNA whose knockdown results in a noticeable phenotype we will use various bioinformatic and experimental approaches to reveal and verify its target mRNAs. Since the last common ancestor of bilaterians and cnidarians has lived approximately 600 million years ago, common features in miRNAs and modulation of translation revealed in this work may be considered ancient. Intriguingly, it is possible that since this ancestor probably had simple body morphology and few cell types, the cnidarian miRNAs and their function resemble those of the common ancestor.
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 developmental biology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics nucleotides
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology mammalogy
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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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-2009-IEF
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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
1010 WIEN
Austria
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.