Objective The introduction of agriculture represented a major breakthrough for the development of human civilisation. The accumulation of excesses of food resources enabled for the growth of more complex socio-political entities, but it also required a continuous process of selection by controlled breeding. This process, tremendously successful at increasing food production, conversely led to a consistent decline in genetic diversity. Research into ancient biomolecules, however, allows the recovery and analysis of old genetic data, which can often be resolved in both time and space, adding a new dimension to the investigation of the dynamics of plant selection and of their ‘lost’ genetic diversity. Deposits of seeds, found in archaeological contexts, represent natural time-capsules, transporting genetic information from the past to be analysed in the present. This project will investigate seeds of the Vitis vinifera species: grapevine. From grape comes wine, which arguably represents one of the most important products of plant domestication during the development of human civilisation, at least in western Eurasia. It is intimately bound up with the expansion of agriculture, trade and commerce, and it also has great importance in socio-religious, cultural and political aspects of many societies, particularly in the Mediterranean area. Ancient DNA from grape seeds will be investigated exploiting the new ‘high-throughput’ DNA sequencing techniques and the recently acquired knowledge of the grape genome. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesagricultural sciencesagriculture, forestry, and fisheriesagriculturenatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomessocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementcommerce Keywords Archaeology High throughput DNA sequencing Vitis vinifera ancient DNA ancient RNA ancient proteins archaeobotany grape microsatellites oxidative / hydrolytic damage seeds transcriptomics Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 - Marie Curie Action: "Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-IEF-2008 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET Address Norregade 10 1165 Kobenhavn Denmark See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Ivan Kristoffersen (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window EU contribution € 203 817,53
