Project description
Studying bacteria associated with algae and carbon storage
Algae are vital in capturing CO2 from the atmosphere, contributing to the global carbon cycle. While a large portion of this carbon is consumed by marine life, a considerable amount remains in the ocean, helping the storage of CO2 and mitigating its accumulation in the atmosphere. This stored carbon largely comes from complex sugars produced by algae that are crucial for its survival. However, research has often neglected specialised bacteria that feed on these sugars. The ERC-funded ERODERS project will investigate the interactions between these specialised bacteria and the algae producing these complex sugars. ERODERS will reveal how these bacteria support algal health and their role in processes for carbon sequestration in marine environments.
Objective
Marine algae fixing CO2 into organic matter is central to the global carbon cycle. While the food chain and marine bacteria consume roughly half of the fixed carbon, a harder-to-degrade fraction remains in the ocean, naturally sequestering CO2 and lessening climate change effects. This remaining fraction is mainly derived from algal complex glycans that provide structural support, defense against microbial pathogens, and can be a carbon source for the algae microbiome. The specialized bacteria feeding on complex glycans are integral to the algae microbiome, yet, have been historically dismissed.
ERODERS focuses on the unidentified mechanisms supporting the interactions between bacteria feeding on complex fucose-containing sulfated polysaccharides (FCPS) and the (host) algae that produce them. I propose that specialized bacteria have co-evolved with algae and have a key role in unlocking glycans that maintain the algae microbiome and simultaneously modify the structure of glycans that participate in carbon sequestration processes. Bacteria belonging to the Verrucomicrobiota and Planctomycetota phyla are the only groups living on algae that carry the enzymes to consume FCSPs. Using a combination of cutting-edge approaches (multi-omic, visualization, and physiologic examination), we will expand into the unknown diversity and population structure of FCSP degrading bacteria on micro and macroalgae. To tease apart the effects on algae health, we will incubate the model brown algae Ectocarpus with FCSP-degrading bacteria under laboratory conditions and examine both the response of incubated bacteria and the impact on the algae growth and its microbiome.
This proposal presents a unique opportunity to unveil the microbial diversity and mechanisms that link bacteria to the metabolism of complex glycans involved in carbon sequestration processes and the evolutionary significance shaping the relationship between bacteria hosts with implications from marine to gut ecosystems
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
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.
This project's classification has been validated by the project's team.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology phycology
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules carbohydrates
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes prokaryotic genomes
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.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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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
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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.
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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) ERC-2024-STG
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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.
80539 MUNCHEN
Germany
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