Objective
Bacteriophage (phage) are ubiquitous viruses of microbes that can both rapidly kill their hosts and transfer genes between them. Phage are believed to play a major role in all ecosystems because of their potential to regulate the structure of microbial communities and drive evolutionary innovations. While phage can have a major impact on their microbial hosts, existing experimental and correlational approaches make it unclear if they generally do. Here, we aim to understand when and why phage are major players in shaping natural microbial communities as opposed to passive followers.
Previous work strongly suggests that low community complexity, wet environments that promote motility, and high nutrient conditions will all promote increased phage impacts. However, these impacts may be short-lived as a consequence of bacteria having an advantage during rapid coevolutionary arms races between bacterial resistance and phage infectivity. To balance ecological realism with experimental tractability, we will test these predictions using a unique library of 46 characterised soil bacteria isolates and associated phage in soil. While we aim for our findings to be generalisable, we focus on soil because the role of phage in soil communities is particularly unclear. We will integrate phenotypic, genomic and modelling approaches to follow the ecology and coevolution of these complex communities over many months. We will then use these data to identify ecological signatures of when phage are drivers or followers of microbial ecological dynamics, which we will then quantify in real soil communities.
The project will ultimately shed light on the ecological conditions and temporal and spatial scales under which phage are more or less important in shaping microbial ecology and evolution in natural communities. This knowledge will provide broad insights, ranging from improved predictions of ecosystem responses to environmental change to optimization of phage therapy.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
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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)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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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-2025-ADG
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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
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.