Project description
Studying the evolution of venom in marine snails
Understanding how traits emerge in organisms is a key challenge in evolutionary biology. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the VENORIGN project addresses this by studying venomous marine snails, specifically the Conoidea group, which includes cone snails. These snails have undergone significant evolutionary changes, shifting from non-venomous to venomous. VENORIGN investigates the rapid genomic and morphological changes driving this transition, focusing on the venom toxins responsible. By comparing venomous and non-venomous species, the project will identify the processes behind venom acquisition and loss. The findings will clarify the evolution of venom in these snails and offer a broader understanding of how novel traits evolve across various species, including human pathogens.
Objective
The VENORIGN project aims to understand the evolution of novelty in biology. A major goal of contemporary evolutionary biology is to decipher the molecular basis of major phenotypic innovations in organisms, such as winged flight in birds and echolocation in whales. However, most cases of evolutionary novelty involve complex interactions among multiple genes, each with only minor effects. To address this challenge, we turn to venomous marine snails, specifically the Conoidea group, which includes cone snails and related species. Venom in these snails is linked to a limited set of proteins called toxins, representing the primary genetic changes responsible for the shift from non-venomous to venomous animals. The long-standing interest in cone snail toxins provides a unique context for studying this transition. Yet, the origins of the conoidean venom system and the processes governing multiple venom losses remain poorly understood. This project tests the hypothesis that the origin and loss of conoidean venom resulted from rapid genomic and morphological changes and will investigate these genetic and morphological alterations driving venom's emergence and disappearance. Using cutting-edge methods spanning morphology, taxonomy, genomics, and transcriptomics, we will analyze venomous and non-venomous conoidean and related species. This comprehensive comparison will reveal the processes governing venom acquisition and loss, shedding light on the principles of evolutionary novelty. Our work extends beyond venomous snails, offering a novel model to understand the molecular foundations of significant evolutionary changes. These findings will contribute to our understanding of how novel traits emerge in various biological systems, including human pathogens and agricultural development.
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.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesgenetics
- natural sciencesbiological scienceszoologymammalogycetology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesevolutionary biology
You need to log in or register to use this function
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinator
0313 Oslo
Norway