Objective
The oceans play a major role in determining world climate. In part this is due to the production of oxygen and the consumption of carbon dioxide (CO2) by very small, single celled photosynthetic organisms, the picophytoplankton. Picophytoplankton biomass is dominated by eukaryotes comprising cells <5 micrometres in size. These small photosynthetic eukaryotes (PPEs) hence play a critical role in global CO2 fixation but also in carbon cycling. Work to date has focused on the genetic characterisation of this PPE community which is identifying the major players involved, but there is a real dearth of information on the factors controlling PPE community structure. Given their major ecological role it is critical that we begin to understand and identify the factors controlling their diversity and distribution. While the most common consumer strategy, namely parasitism, is usually left out of aquatic trophic food web functioning, recent results highlight the potential importance of this process in ocean systems. The approaches to be developed for this research goal will couple lab-based and environmental analyses using state-of-the-art molecular ecological techniques. We will determine specific associations between parasites and their photosynthetic eukaryotic hosts using the powerful technology of flow cytometric sorting, coupled with clone library construction and fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH). We will also compare the effects of a more traditional loss factor, viral lysis, with that of parasitism, using electron microscopy of thin sections to assess viral presence and burst-size. Finally, we will link potential changes in parasite diversity and host specificity with environmental.Hence this project will provide essential new information on the diversity and ecological role of parasites in natural marine systems, which should allow a much greater understanding of carbon and energy flow in marine 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.
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 physical sciences optics microscopy electron microscopy
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
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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.
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.
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.
FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008
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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.
Coordinator
CV4 8UW COVENTRY
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.