Objective
Insects vary in their susceptibility to viral infection, and this variation affects disease transmission by vectors and the survival of beneficial insects. Identifying the genes that cause this variation will provide insights into both the molecular interactions between insects and their parasites, and the processes that maintain this variation in populations. We propose to do this in Drosophila, where genome-wide association studies are now possible thanks to the publication of large numbers of genome sequences. Furthermore, new techniques allow the sequence of Drosophila genes to be precisely altered, which will allow the exact molecular changes affecting resistance to be confirmed experimentally. Using these powerful techniques, we will first identify genes that affect resistance to a diverse panel of different viruses, which will allow us to understand the molecular and cellular basis of how resistance to different groups of viruses evolves in nature. Next, we will repeat this analysis using different isolates of the same virus, to identify the molecular basis of the ‘specific’ resistance commonly observed in invertebrates, where different host genotypes are resistant to different parasite genotypes. Once we have identified the polymorphisms that affect resistance, we can then use these results to examine the evolutionary processes that maintain this variation in populations: are alleles that increase resistance costly, how has natural selection acted on the polymorphisms, and is there more variation if the virus has naturally coevolved with Drosophila than if the virus was isolated from another insect. Finally, by hybridising D. melanogaster to D. simulans, we will extend these experiments to identify genes that cause species to differ in resistance, which will reveal the molecular basis of how resistance evolves over millions of years and how viruses adapt to their hosts.
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 virology
- natural sciences biological sciences evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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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.
ERC-2011-StG_20101109
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.
Host institution
CB2 1TN CAMBRIDGE
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.