Objective
A major challenge in ecological research is to understand the relationships between microbial diversity and ecosystem function. Microorganisms are essential for the degradation of organic substances, of both natural and anthropogenic origin. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding who is degrading what and regarding the physiology of species and functional groups in natural environments.
The aim of this project is to use bacterial communities degrading the pesticide pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a mode l system to link the composition and species richness of the degrader community to substrate availability and degradation rates. Soil microcosms amended with 13C-labelled PCP will be established with natural and constructed bacterial communities.
Stable isotope probing and other novel molecular techniques will be combined with recent theoretical approaches to analyse bacterial community structure and diversity in relation to PCP degradation kinetics. This will yield information about the in situ physiology of PCP-degrading bacterial populations that is of great commercial value with regard to developing green solutions to pollution problems.
Moreover, the project makes it possible to test general ecological theory on relationships between diversity and resource availability and between diversity within a functional group and ecosystem functions and services. An important aspect of the project is its interdisciplinary nature, working at the interfaces between several areas of science and utilizing a range of concepts and techniques from different disciplines including soil science, theoretical ecology, molecular ecology and bioremediation.
The major training objectives are to acquire expertise in new techniques; establish and develop project management and supervisory skills; improve writing, presentation and teaching skills; establish a scientific network of researchers and commercial partners and to develop inter- and multidisciplinary skills.
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 earth and related environmental sciences soil sciences
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules nucleic acids
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology bacteriomes
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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.
FP6-2004-MOBILITY-5
See other projects for this call
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
ABERDEEN
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.