Objective
The deep-sea covers about two-thirds of the world’s ocean bottoms; yet, it is one of the least known environments of the planet. Given its harsh environmental conditions, life in high depths requires several specific metabolic adaptations. Surprisingly, little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying adaptation to such environments. Which and how many genes are involved in adaptation? What is the extent of convergent evolution across distantly related taxa? Brittle stars (Ophiuroidea) are a useful group of marine invertebrates to study for this purpose, as they are abundant in the deep-sea and they colonized this environment several times independently, thus highlighting their strong adaptive abilities. Here, I intend to investigate deep-sea adaptation using a comparative genomics approach and state of the art analytic tools. I will first use an existing dataset to examine adaptive protein evolution (genealogical discordance and positive selection), by comparing 400 genes across 800 species of shallow- and deep-water brittle stars spanning the entire Ophiuroidea diversity. I will then focus on five cryptic species complexes representative of the major bathymetric transitions, by analyzing >10,000 genes generated from exon-capture and focusing on specific candidate genes. Finally, I will investigate allele frequency shifts among depths for two species displaying a wide bathymetric range using a genome scan approach (generation of two high-quality reference genomes; whole genome resequencing for 120 individuals). With these three approaches spanning a wide phylogenetic range, I intend to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying deep-sea adaptation. This is of high importance because deciphering mechanisms of stress-driven adaptation may provide hints on the resilience of deep marine biodiversity to the ongoing environmental changes.
Keywords: deep-sea; adaptation; phylogenomics; genome scan; positive selection; exon capture; Ophiuroidea; echinoderms
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 marine biology
- natural sciences physical sciences astronomy planetary sciences planets
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology invertebrate zoology
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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-GF - Global Fellowships
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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-2017
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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.
29280 Plouzane
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.