Project description
From lab to sea: defining mechanisms shaping antagonistic diatom-bacteria interactions
Phytoplankton form the base of the marine food web, playing a key role in carbon cycling and sustaining aquatic food chains. Yet their interactions with bacteria, including pathogens, remain poorly understood. The ERC-funded DIACIDAL project aims to investigate these microscopic interactions with an emphasis on diatoms, among the most productive phytoplankton types on Earth. The project will use cutting-edge molecular methods, biosensors and high-performance imaging, coupled with environmental sampling. In doing so, DIACIDAL aims to better understand bacterial killing and the diatom defence mechanisms shaping these interactions, as well as how they affect bloom dynamics and ecosystem health. The project is expected to lead to new biotechnology applications, for example new antimicrobial and anti-fouling compounds with practical uses.
Objective
Interactions between phytoplankton and bacteria play key roles in mediating carbon and nutrient fluxes in the oceans, yet the mechanistic basis and environmental impacts of such interactions are poorly understood. DIACIDAL addresses crucial unknowns in our understanding of the interactions of one of the most globally abundant phytoplankton, the diatoms, and their bacterial pathogens. This proposal builds on my teams recent advances developing an innovative sampling pipeline to isolate environmentally relevant bacterial pathogens of diatoms. This work suggests that bacterial pathogenicity towards diatoms is more prevalent than recognised previously. Moreover, we have important new evidence that diatoms can sense bacterial pathogens to evade their attack. Our new framework will be coupled with cutting-edge molecular tools that I have pioneered to study diatom signalling, including biosensors to track real-time signalling responses in single diatom cells. These tools have already made important breakthroughs in our understanding of how diatoms sense their environment. Exploiting these advances, we will use culture-dependent (Tn-Seq, comparative omics, and imaging) and new single-cell culture-independent approaches. By focussing on a model interaction, we will decipher mechanisms mediating bacterial pathogenicity towards diatoms, and elucidate how diatoms sense and evade their pathogens. This will reveal novel effectors and defence signalling systems. Finally, we will leverage the new tools and insights to quantify the prevalence of bacterial pathogenicity and diatom defence in natural ecosystems. This innovative, multidisciplinary program will advance understanding of mechanisms governing bloom dynamics, inform ecosystem models, and shed light on a poorly characterised environmental stressor confronting phytoplankton communities. This also has potential to unlock new translational opportunities for biotechnology e.g. novel antimicrobial and anti-fouling compounds.
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.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors biosensors
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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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.
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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
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2024-COG
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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.
EX4 4QJ Exeter
United Kingdom
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