Project description
Decoding the sex-specific evolution of genetic recombination
Genetic diversity is driven by meiotic recombination, but its rates vary significantly between sexes. Known as heterochiasmy, this phenomenon shapes inheritance and reproductive success, but its evolutionary drivers are largely unknown. The ERC-funded RECOSEX project is developing a new approach in which the house sparrow serves as a natural model to link genetic variation with molecular function. To analyse its fitness impacts on both sexes and map the genomic landscape of recombination, researchers will use advanced multi-omic technologies. The findings will provide insights that can be extended across passerine birds and ultimately transform our understanding of how diverse recombination patterns evolve. This information is vital to our deeper understanding of life’s complexity.
Objective
Meiotic recombination is a fundamental feature of sexual reproduction with great evolutionary importance. Its molecular mechanisms are remarkably conserved, yet its rates and distribution along chromosomes are hugely variable across eukaryotes. Understanding this diversity remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Individual sex is a major source of variation in autosomal recombination. This “heterochiasmy” can differ in direction and strength within and between closely related species, chromosomes, and genomic regions. Understanding its causes and consequences has direct importance for evolutionary and molecular biology, yet how and why heterochiasmy has evolved remains unknown. A major barrier is that evolutionary studies rarely consider that recombination occurs in distinct cellular processes (oogenesis vs. spermatogenesis), with striking sex-differences in its underlying genetic basis, genome structure, and fitness impacts. Therefore, understanding the causes and consequences of heterochiasmy is a crucial step to understanding the evolution of recombination itself.
RECOSEX will be the first study to explicitly test hypotheses of heterochiasmy evolution. Our newly established model of recombination, the house sparrow, provides an unparalleled opportunity to link genetic variation, molecular function, and selection on heterochiasmy in a natural population. My team will capitalise on rapidly developing “multi-omic” technologies to reveal (i) the sequence-level landscape of heterochiasmy and its genomic and functional basis, (ii) fitness consequences and selection on recombination in both sexes, and (iii) the evolutionary dynamics of heterochiasmy across Passerine birds. RECOSEX will give new and comprehensive insights into a fundamental biological process directly associated with genetic inheritance and reproductive success, and will transform our understanding of how and why the huge diversity of recombination both within and between species has evolved.
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 human-validated.
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 human-validated.
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.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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-2025-COG
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EH8 9YL Edinburgh
United Kingdom
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