Objective The long-term establishment of ancient organisms that have undergone whole genome duplications has been exceedingly rare. On the other hand, tens of thousands of now-living species are polyploid and contain multiple copies of their genome. The paucity of ancient genome duplications and the existence of so many species that are currently polyploid provide an interesting and fascinating enigma. A question that remains is whether these older genome duplications have survived by coincidence or because they did occur at very specific times, for instance during major ecological upheavals and periods of extinction. It has indeed been proposed that chromosome doubling conveys greater stress tolerance by fostering slower development, delayed reproduction and longer life span. Furthermore, polyploids have also been considered to have greater ability to colonize new or disturbed habitats. If polyploidy allowed many plant lineages to survive and adapt during global changes, as suggested, we might wonder whether polyploidy will confer a similar advantage in the current period of global warming and general ecological pressure caused by the human race. Given predictions that species extinction is now occurring at as high rates as during previous mass extinctions, will the presumed extra adaptability of polyploid plants mean they will become the dominant species? In the current proposal, we hope to address these questions at different levels through 1) the analysis of whole plant genome sequence data and 2) the in silico modelling of artificial gene regulatory networks to mimic the genomic consequences of genome doubling and how this may affect network structure and dosage balance. Furthermore, we aim at using simulated robotic models running on artificial gene regulatory networks in complex environments to evaluate how both natural and artificial organism populations can potentially benefit from gene and genome duplications for adaptation, survival, and evolution in general. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticschromosomesnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomes Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-AG-LS2 - ERC Advanced Grant - Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Call for proposal ERC-2012-ADG_20120314 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-AG - ERC Advanced Grant Host institution VIB VZW EU contribution € 2 217 525,00 Address SUZANNE TASSIERSTRAAT 1 9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT Belgium See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent Activity type Research Organisations Principal investigator Yves Eddy Philomena Van De Peer (Prof.) Administrative Contact Rik Audenaert (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all VIB VZW Belgium EU contribution € 2 217 525,00 Address SUZANNE TASSIERSTRAAT 1 9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT See on map Region Vlaams Gewest Prov. Oost-Vlaanderen Arr. Gent Activity type Research Organisations Principal investigator Yves Eddy Philomena Van De Peer (Prof.) Administrative Contact Rik Audenaert (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data