Project description
Shedding light on the genetic defence against marine toxins
Intensifying harmful algae blooms (HABs) pose serious threats to ecosystems, human health, and coastal economies. Oxylipins, like polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs), released during HABs wreak havoc on marine life, yet their genetic effects remain elusive. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the OikoDefensome project focuses on the larvacean Oikopleura dioica. It aims to unveil the ‘Defensome’, a set of genes activated upon PUA exposure. By using advanced genomic techniques like RNA sequencing (RNASeq) and CRISPR, the project seeks to unravel marine organisms’ adaptive responses to biotoxins. This groundbreaking research promises insights crucial for safeguarding marine life amidst escalating HABs, potentially offering universal stress markers for diverse species.
Objective
Intensification of the frequency and severity of harmful algae blooms (HABs) has recently increased due to climate change and global warming, affecting environment, human health as well as local economies based on fishing and/or recreational activities. Some diatom species (representing half of the primary production of the oceans) synthesize biotoxic compounds derived from secondary metabolites known as oxylipins, which are highly produced during HABs upon cell damage. Several studies have reported that Polyunsaturated aldehydes (PUAs), among the most studied oxylipins, have negative effects on many marine organisms, reporting impairment of growth, reproduction, cell homeostasis and detoxification. However, the genetic mechanisms that regulate these physiological responses are still unknown. It has been proposed that some organisms could have a set of conserved genes that will be activated upon PUAs exposure, the so call ‘Defensome’, but few members had been described. The larvacean Oikopleura dioica is one of the many organisms affected by PUAs. In addition of being among the most abundant components of the mesozooplankton, O. dioica is an “evolutionary-knockout” for many signalling pathways being a perfect candidate to study biological adaptations by gene loss.
Using O. dioica as animal model we aim to identify conserved Defensome genes shared among marine animals and to study the developmental pathways affected by biotoxins. To achieve this goal, we will combine transcriptomics (RNASeq), chromatin accessibility (ATAC-Seq) and gene interference approaches (RNAi, DNAi, Cas9-CRISPR). The results of this project will be key for understanding the genetic adaptive response of marine embryos to the biotoxic impact of HABs on marine environments worldwide. Moreover, the discovery of a conserved set of Defensome genes across different groups of marine animals, could provide a useful set of pan-markers of environmental stress for be applied in many different species.
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.
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries fisheries
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aldehydes
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine embryology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology homeostasis
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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.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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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.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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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) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01
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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.
08007 Barcelona
Spain
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