Project description
Cave-dwelling organisms reveal secrets of convergent evolution
Extreme conditions like those found in subterranean environments exert strong selective pressure on cave-dwelling organisms, which respond by developing similar phenotypic and physiological traits that help ensure survival. The EU-funded SPYCAVER project will address the question of whether these environmental selective pressures determine patterns of genomic convergent evolution in cave-dwelling organisms. The research fellow will apply field research, available ecological and phenotypic data, and newly generated genomic information to discover the genomic basis of adaptation to different subterranean microhabitats, the speciation mechanisms in subterranean species and the causes of phylogenetic constraint on microhabitat preference. The project's results will provide an unprecedented understanding of convergent evolution, with far-reaching implications for medicine and conservation biology.
Objective
Predicting evolution is one of the major aims of evolutionary biologists. Convergent evolution—the independent outcome of similar traits in distinct lineages—occurs frequently in nature at every level of biological organization in distinct evolutionary lineages. In this context, convergence has been considered to play contrasting roles in shaping biodiversity patterns. The success of colonizing and thriving in a new environment strongly depends on the existence, or lack, of specialized traits that ensure survival in it, a phenomenon referred to as environmental filtering. Thus, organisms adapted to extreme environmental conditions provide an ideal framework to study repeatability in evolution and, ultimately, to test for predictability, the ability to match a priori specialized traits to specific environmental conditions. Subterranean extreme environmental conditions exert strong selective pressure on strict cave-dwelling organisms which, respond by evolving a similar suit of phenotypic and physiological traits. The main aim of this project is to investigate whether environmental selective pressures, determine patterns of genomic convergent evolution in obligate cave-dwelling organisms. I will use an interdisciplinary approach, integrating field research, available ecological and phenotypic data, and newly generated genomic information to investigate the genomic bases of convergent evolution in cave-dwelling organisms. For this, I propose to investigate i) the genomic basis of adaptation to different subterranean microhabitats, ii) the speciation mechanisms in subterranean species, and iii) the causes of phylogenetic constrain on microhabitat preference. This project will give an unprecedented understanding of repeated evolution. Additionally, the results obtained may have far-reaching implications for medicine and conservation biology, of great relevance to several H2020 Focus 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: 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.
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.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
-
H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
See all projects funded under this programme
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.
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.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2020
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
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.
75794 PARIS
France
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.