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Early Microbial Evolution

Projektbeschreibung

Kartierung der mikrobiellen Genomevolution

Das Verständnis der Mechanismen hinter der Entstehung der wichtigsten prokaryotischen Gruppen bleibt begrenzt. Die Entstehung von Arten und höheren Taxa unter den Prokaryonten sollte ökologische Interaktionen mit der Umwelt in Verbindung mit natürlicher genetischer Variation voraussetzen, einschließlich stammspezifischer Geninnovationen und stammspezifischer Genübernahmen. Phylogenomische Studien können jedoch aufgrund der Rolle des lateralen Gentransfers keine Vorhersagen über den Gengehalt von 99 % des Genoms machen. Das ERC-finanzierte Projekt eMicrobevol wird alle evolutionären Daten nutzen, die Genome zu bieten haben – Genbäume, Genverteilungen und Split-Verteilungen über Baumgruppen hinweg –, um die Geschichte der 99%igen Komponente der mikrobiellen Genomevolution zu kartieren und die Rolle des lateralen Gentransfers bei der Entstehung höherer mikrobieller Taxa zu erklären.

Ziel

From the primordial emergence of the earliest cells to the ongoing diversification of modern microbiota, the mechanisms that underlie the origin of major prokaryotic groups are still poorly understood. In principle, the origin of both species and higher taxa among prokaryotes should entail similar mechanisms — ecological interactions with the environment paired with natural genetic variation involving lineage-specific gene innovations and lineage-specific gene acquisitions. Because eukaryotes started out as a prokaryote lineage, the same holds true at the prokaryote-eukaryote transition. Prokaryotic higher taxa are currently circumscribed by phylogenomic studies encompassing 30-40 proteins for information processing that are universal to all genomes, or nearly so. The core is useful in taxonomy but comprises only about 1% of an average genome. It does not predict gene content in the remaining 99% of the genome, because of the role of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in generating diversity within and between prokaryotic groups. Especially in groups with large pangenomes or broad ecological diversity, the core itself does not reveal which gene innovations underlie the origin of major groups, but gene distributions might. This proposal aims to harness all the evolutionary data that genomes have to offer — gene trees, gene distributions, and split distributions across sets of trees — to chart the history of the 99% component of microbial genome evolution and the role of LGT in the origin of higher microbial taxa. The focus is on three important questions: i) What are the quantitative and lineage specific relative contributions of gene transfer from endosymbionts vs. gene transfers from other prokaryotes during eukaryotic genome evolution, ii) Are there significant differences in verticality in comparisons of genome evolution in prokaryotes vs. eukaryotes and how can we statistically better quantify them, and iii) What was the biological nature of the earliest prokaryotes.

Finanzierungsplan

ERC-ADG - Advanced Grant

Gastgebende Einrichtung

HEINRICH-HEINE-UNIVERSITAET DUESSELDORF
Netto-EU-Beitrag
€ 2 393 447,50
Adresse
UNIVERSITAETSSTRASSE 1
40225 Dusseldorf
Deutschland

Auf der Karte ansehen

Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf Düsseldorf, Kreisfreie Stadt
Aktivitätstyp
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Gesamtkosten
€ 2 393 447,50

Begünstigte (1)