Objective
Highly diverse communities of endophytic fungi ― fungi that colonize plant tissues without causing symptoms of disease ― live cryptically in all higher plants ranging from mosses to flowering plants. While knowledge of the biodiversity and biogeography of endophytes is rapidly increasing, the mechanisms that maintain their diversity and control their dispersal among plants in natural ecosystems are widely unknown. Specifically the concerted functions of mutualistic and antagonistic plant-insect interactions on endophyte diversity and dispersal are little understood. In a comparative approach using myrmecophytes (ant-plants) and closely related non-myrmecophytic plant species, the function of defending ants as well as insect pollinators and herbivores on endophyte dispersal will be analyzed in a Peruvian lowland tropical rainforest. This study will be the first ever to examine the dispersal ecology of fungal endophytes among plants while considering the function of mutualistic and antagonistic insects in a natural ecosystem. Applying next generation sequencing of endophytes from plant and insect samples collected at the study site together with isolating living endophytes for morphological and molecular characterization will permit the novel analysis of environmental and evolutionary factors influencing the diversity and community composition of these cryptic organisms. This project will use state of the art techniques in molecular community ecology and dispersal modeling and will address important questions of wide relevance for general distribution mechanisms of fungal endophytes. The proposed research will be combined with high quality training in population genetic and phylogenetic methodology, provided by world leading experts in these areas.
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 microbiology mycology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences mathematics pure mathematics mathematical analysis functional analysis
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences physical geography
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
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-2010-IOF
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
9000 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.