Descripción del proyecto
Paleoproteómica para el estudio de la evolución de los homínidos
Hace unos decenios, la secuenciación de ADN antiguo revolucionó la investigación sobre la evolución y la migración de los humanos arcaicos. Los avances más recientes en paleoproteómica (secuenciación de proteínas antiguas basada en la espectrometría de masas), combinados con tecnologías bioinformáticas, han permitido un progreso similar en el conocimiento de las reconstrucciones evolutivas de base molecular para especies que se extinguieron hace millones de años. El objetivo del proyecto BACKWARD, financiado con fondos europeos, es abordar la reconstrucción filogenética de los homínidos africanos y asiáticos, ampliamente debatida, mediante el desarrollo y despliegue de una nueva generación de flujos de trabajo paleoproteómicos. Utilizará la espectrometría de masas y la bioinformática más modernas para abordar las relaciones filogenéticas entre los primeros homínidos sudafricanos y la paleobiodiversidad de homínidos del sudeste asiático. El proyecto aportará avances sustanciales en paleoantropología, paleontología, paleoecología y arqueología.
Objetivo
BACKWARD will address major unsettled debates about African and Asian extinct hominid phylogeny, by developing and deploying a new generation of palaeoproteomic workflows, relying on the most advanced mass spectrometry and bioinformatic solutions currently available. Ancient DNA (aDNA) sequencing revolutionised our knowledge on evolution, migration and admixture of archaic and anatomically modern humans. However, no hominid aDNA older than ~0.4 million years has been retrieved yet. Ancient proteins instead survive much longer than aDNA, enabling molecular-based phylogeny beyond the limits of aDNA degradation. Recently, mass spectrometry (MS)-based ancient protein sequencing, i.e. palaeoproteomics, convincingly demonstrated its transformative value, enabling molecular-based evolutionary reconstructions for species that went extinct millions of years ago. BACKWARD will use palaeoproteomics to address: (i) the phylogenetic relationships among South African early hominins, and (ii) the hominid palaeobiodiversity in Southeast Asia; two topics debated for generations, and further complicated by recent finds. This knowledge will also provide the evolutionary scaffolding needed to correctly identify and correlate the series of processes that defined human brain expansion and reorganization. BACKWARD will also screen large sets of morphologically non-informative isolated fossil fragments of bones and teeth, to identify the species and sex of the organism from which they originated. Some of these solutions will be commercially re-purposed to deliver superior performance in public and private analytic laboratories for diagnostics in forensic medicine, and in the food or pharmaceutical industry. As a key BACKWARD feature, the unique contribution provided by each participating institution will be integrated in a strong partnership to transform palaeoanthropology, palaeontology, palaeoecology and archaeology once again, as aDNA did over the last twenty years.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiological morphologycomparative morphology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNA
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencespalaeontologypaleoecology
- natural scienceschemical sciencesanalytical chemistrymass spectrometry
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
1165 Kobenhavn
Dinamarca