Objective
Legionellae are opportunistic human pathogens infecting thousands of people annually in Europe. These bacteria are ubiquitous in many natural and man-made water systems, where they survive as free-living organisms in biofilms or intracellularly within a variety of protozoa. Free-living amoebae are the main route for spread and replication of legionellae in the environment, and infection of humans generally occurs via amoebae as vectors. Amoebae are frequently associated with bacterial endosymbionts, and recent data suggests that these symbionts interfere with replication of legionellae in amoebae thereby protecting the amoeba host from legionellae-induced lysis. The aim of this proposal is to further investigate this phenomenon of symbiont-mediated defense in protozoa, and to assess its implications for the ecology and transmission of legionellae. To shed light on the molecular and physiological interactions during infection of symbiont-containing amoebae with Legionella pneumophila, co-infection experiments will be performed and analyzed by state-of-the-art molecular methods including transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, isotope profiling and chemical imaging techniques. Infection experiments will first be performed under controlled laboratory conditions to understand the interaction between amoeba, their bacterial symbionts and L. pneumophila, to analyse the molecular cross-talk, and to determine the mechanism of competition between the bacterial partners in this association. Subsequently, mesocosm experiments simulating environmental conditions will help to understand the impact of bacterial symbionts of amoebae on L. pneumophila spread and replication in the environment. Taken together, the comprehensive analysis of symbiont-mediated defense in amoebae will provide a new perspective on the ecology of L. pneumophila and lead to a better understanding of the role of amoebae and other microbes in water-borne disease outbreaks.
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 biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology protozoology
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences ethology biological interactions
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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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.
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.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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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.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2014
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
1010 WIEN
Austria
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.