Objective
"Symbiosis is the close and long-term interaction between different biological species. Insects are among the best model systems for studying symbioses as their immune systems appear to be relatively tolerant to invasion and their niches are often so specialized that microbial symbionts can satisfy important metabolic needs. Laboratories across the world often specialize either in the molecular biology of host-symbiont interactions in specific insect models, or in the evolutionary biology of parasitic or mutualistic symbioses taking a broader approach. This proposal is meant to build bridges between these domains, by applying advanced molecular methods to resolve fundamental evolutionary questions of symbiosis in a social insect model system. My research will focus on an almost completely unknown component of the symbiosis between attine ants and their fungus-gardens: the bacterial communities in the guts of these ants that likely fulfill complementary roles in the symbiosis. Objectives are to identify these bacteria, to localize them when they are tissue-specific, and to compare their functional roles across several attine genera that represent different stages of advancement of the symbiosis. I will use qPCR, FISH and TEM to identify putative symbionts, metatranscriptomic techniques to characterize the cumulative bacterial genes that are expressed in the ant guts, and qRT-PCR and RNAi to clarify some of the functional roles of ant and microbial genes that are expressed in the guts. The research that I propose is highly multi-disciplinary, as it combines a wide range of state-of-the-art molecular techniques with conceptual hypotheses from social evolution theory. This combination is feasible because my training in molecular microbiology of fruit-fly and aphid symbionts is combined with the renowned expertise of my host in the evolutionary biology of attine fungus-growing ants. The work proposed will be facilitated by annotated genomes of these ants being available."
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 evolutionary biology
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology bacteriomes
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology
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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.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IEF
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
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
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.