Objective
Nutritional mutualisms between tropical arboreal ants and their gut bacteria are an essential part of the web of interactions that underpin the keystone role of ants as predators of arthropods in tropical forest canopies. These ecologically-important symbioses are unstudied, apart from a few highly specialised examples. Furthermore, ant-bacterial-plant symbioses are convenient model systems to investigate insect-bacterial symbioses because the diets of tropical plant-associated ants are often highly variable among closely related species and even among colonies in a single species. They offer greater scope for studying questions about functional diversity than do other insect-bacterial symbioses, such as those between Buchnera and aphids -a strictly phloem-feeding insect group that have provided the foundation from which exploration of diversity can now begin.
Study of ant-bacterial-plant symbioses may elucidate new roles for bacteria and new mechanisms for their effects. The immediate goal is to establish the core patterns of bacterial diversity in ant guts at different levels, from intra-population variation in the African plant-ant Aphomomyrmex (mediated by yet another partner in the interaction, hemipterans), to inter-population and interspecific variation in Aphomomyrmex and its sister taxon Petalomyrmex, and finally to a comparison of bacterial symbionts of the pantropical lineage to which these ants belong. Patterns in diversity at multiple levels will provide clues about the functioning and the evolutionary history of ant-bacterial symbioses. The long-term goal is to characterise functional diversity of ant-gut bacteria. Although closely related bacterial species can have different ecological niches, phylogenetic affiliation of the bacteria identified as symbionts can provide enough clues about their ecology and metabolic capacities to form a solid base from which detailed studies of their functional significance can proceed.
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 bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
You need to log in or register to use this function
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.
FP6-2005-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
MONTPELLIER
France
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.