Project description
Unravelling the complex dynamics of chromosomal inversions
Understanding the genetic basis of adaptation is essential for predicting how species respond to environmental changes and for conserving biodiversity. Chromosomal inversions (segments of the genome with reversed order) can maintain beneficial combinations of genetic variants by preventing recombination and play a major role in local adaptation. Yet, genetic exchange ('gene flux') between alternative arrangements can still occur. It may help to remove harmful mutations and create new adaptive combinations, but the frequency of gene flux, how it interacts with selection, and its overall consequences for adaptation are still poorly understood. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the INV_ADAPT project will investigate these processes using the three-spined stickleback as a model system to uncover the evolutionary dynamics of chromosomal inversions.
Objective
Understanding the genetic mechanisms that generate and preserve diversity is a central goal in biology. Chromosomal inversions, segments of a chromosome that are reversed in order, play a key role in the formation of locally adapted forms across a broad range of different species. They suppress recombination in heterozygotes, thereby maintaining large genomic blocks consisting of sets of locally adaptive alleles that can further diverge and evolve independently. Yet, exchange (‘gene flux’) between alternative arrangements can occur. It may be crucial for maintaining inversion polymorphisms and facilitating adaptation by reducing mutational load and generating novel allele combinations. However, the frequency of gene flux events, how they interact with selection, and their overall consequences for evolutionary dynamics and adaptation are still poorly understood. This project will investigate the frequency of gene flux events and their interplay with selection in a model system for adaptation, the threespine stickleback. In this ancestrally marine species, freshwater forms have independently evolved multiple times over very short timescales, despite ongoing gene flow from marine populations. Three ancient chromosomal inversions appear to play key roles in this process. However, in some freshwater systems, such as large lakes, the marine inversions persist, raising questions about their adaptive value in these environments. This project will use an ambitious multi-scale approach, from studying gene flux events in a single meiosis to large-scale global patterns to uncover the evolutionary dynamics of these special genomic regions and more generally advance our knowledge of the genetic architecture of adaptation.
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 genetics heredity
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics chromosomes
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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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)
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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-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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3012 Bern
Switzerland
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