Adaptations to temperature regimes in sponges: Genomic insights into the developmental and physiological evolutionary changes of early-branching metazoans

Información del proyecto

ADAPTOMICS

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 750937

DOI

10.3030/750937

Proyecto cerrado

Fecha de la firma de la CE 27 Febrero 2017

Fecha de inicio 1 Junio 2017

Fecha de finalización 31 Mayo 2019

Financiado con arreglo a

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Coste total

€ 195 454,80

Aportación de la UE

€ 195 454,80

Coordinado por

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
United Kingdom

Objetivo

Species which inhabit the Antarctic have evolved to exist in some of the most challenging conditions found anywhere on the planet. Marine creatures must cope with sea temperatures generally ranging between 0 to -1.8 degrees Celsius and a food supply which fluctuates widely from summer to winter, rendering their survival difficult. Nevertheless, species have found the means to thrive in such conditions. Their adaptation to cold environments will have included a host of genetic changes, and to date we still know little about the nature of these molecular adaptations, the way these act in vivo, and the exact benefits such changes confer.

I aim to investigate the molecular differences between congeneric species of sponge adapted to vastly differing thermal environments and find the means by which these species adapt to cold conditions. This will be approached in several ways, starting with transcriptomic sequencing of six species of sponges of genera Axinella, Mycale and Phorbas. These are abundant in the Antarctic, Caribbean and Mediterranean seas, and play essential roles in the benthic ecosystems in which they are found. Transcriptomic analyses will be supplemented by genomic sequencing, RNA in situ hybridization, molecular ecological and functional approaches.

This will allow me multiple means of assaying the molecular and population-level diversity of these sponges, and, specifically, how they have evolved to live in such cold environments. More broadly, these findings will allow us to begin to determine whether the same adaptive molecular mechanisms to extreme cold are used repeatedly across sponge and animal phylogeny. Any evidence of convergent evolution to extreme cold will suggest constraints on the means of adaptation. Similarly, novel molecular changes would be of great interest to a wide variety of fields. Our findings will therefore add substantially to a nascent area of enquiry, and provide a firm basis for future work both in these species and beyond.

Ámbito científico (EuroSciVoc)

• ciencias naturales › ciencias biológicas › morfología biológica › morfología comparativa
• ciencias naturales › ciencias físicas › astronomía › ciencias planetarias › planetas
• ciencias naturales › ciencias biológicas › ecología › ecosistemas
• ciencias naturales › ciencias biológicas › genética › ARN
• ciencias naturales › ciencias de la tierra y ciencias ambientales conexas › ciencias de la atmósfera › climatología › cambios climáticos

Programa(s)

• H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions PROGRAMA PRINCIPAL
  
• H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
  

Tema(s)

• MSCA-IF-2016 - Individual Fellowships
  

Régimen de financiación

MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF

Convocatoria de propuestas

H2020-MSCA-IF-2016

Coordinador

NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM

• Aportación neta de la UEn: € 195 454,80
• Dirección: CROMWELL ROAD ; SW7 5BD London ; Reino Unido
• Región: London › Inner London — West › Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham
• Tipo de actividad: Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments)
• Coste total: € 195 454,80