Project description DEENESFRITPL A genomic investigation of Lake Baikal amphipods With more than 340 species, amphipods in Lake Baikal make up 20 % of the world’s freshwater amphipods and have one of the largest species flocks. Despite this iconic status, their adaptive radiation has not yet been subject to detailed genomic investigation. Which is what the EU funded HybridSpecLBA project will do. The project, having already demonstrated excessive amounts of parallel adaptation among the transcriptomes of species of this adaptive radiation, will use genomic approaches to test whether the previous results could be explained by hybridisation and adaptive introgression. This study has groundbreaking potential in providing a direct test of a potential catalysing role of hybridisation in fast speciation in this system. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective "The adaptive radiation of amphipods in Lake Baikal has brought forward more than 340 species (20% of the world’s freshwater amphipods), making it one of the largest species flocks after the famous African cichlid radiations, and one of the only large radiations in temperate climates. Despite this iconic status the radiation has not yet been subject to detailed genomic investigation. During my PhD I was able to demonstrate excessive amounts of parallel adaptation among the transcriptomes of species of this adaptive radiation. In this project, I will use genomic approaches to test whether the previous results could be explained by hybridisation and adaptive introgression. These processes have been shown to occur in other adaptive radiations, but their functional role in rapid diversification is still debated. My preliminary results indicate that hybridization between two independent lineages of Baikalian amphipods emerged in the period when fast speciation started. Furthermore, I found intriguing signals of positive selection on introgressed loci.Additional data and specific methodology developed in this project will enable me to disentangle the processes governing speciation in this group. Profiting from strong relevant experience of the host laboratory I will re-analyze available transcriptomic datasets together with newly sequenced genomes. I will map precise directions of hybridization at the phylogenetic tree, describe functional associations of introgressed loci, test selection signatures associated with introgression, and estimate the extent to which repeatable ecomorphological traits are underpinned by ""reusable"" elements of ancestral genomes. This research has groundbreaking potential in providing a direct test of a potential catalysing role of hybridization in fast speciation in this system." Fields of science natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesatmospheric sciencesclimatologyclimatic zonesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes Programme(s) HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01-01 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2021 Call for proposal HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-AG-UN - HORIZON Unit Grant Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT ANTWERPEN Net EU contribution € 175 920,00 Address Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerpen Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Antwerpen Arr. Antwerpen Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
