Descripción del proyecto
Dilucidar el papel del estrés en la evolución de la poliploidía
A pesar de la existencia de muchas especies poliploides, las duplicaciones hologenómicas no son evidentes en su genoma. La opinión general es que las duplicaciones hologenómicas han favorecido la aparición de especies poliploides, pero tuvieron lugar en momentos concretos de la evolución en condiciones de estrés o cambios ambientales. El proyecto DOUBLE-TROUBLE, financiado con fondos europeos, se propone estudiar por qué el medio ambiente afecta a la poliploidía y, para ello, trabaja con la hipótesis de que las especies poliploides tienen una ventaja de supervivencia o de eficacia biológica en comparación con las especies no poliploides. Sus investigadores llevaran a cabo experimentos evolutivos combinados con modelización a fin de dilucidar el potencial adaptativo de las especies poliploides en condiciones de estrés o durante épocas de cambio climático.
Objetivo
Thousands of species are polyploid. However, the long-term establishment of organisms that have undergone ancient whole genome duplications (WGDs) has been exceedingly rare and when we analyse the genomes of plants and animals, we can, at most, find evidence for a very limited number of WGDs that survived on the longer term. The paucity of (established) ancient genome duplications and the existence of so many species that are currently polyploid provides a fascinating paradox. There is growing evidence that the majority of ancient WGDs were established at specific times in evolution, for instance during periods of environmental change and periods of mass-extinction. The reason for this ‘stress’-polyploidy relationship has been the subject of considerable speculation and several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this observation: (a) stressful conditions promote polyploid formation; (b) polyploidisation causes a niche shift allowing polyploids to grow in conditions that are unsuitable for their non-polyploid ancestors; and (c) polyploids have an increased evolvability and consequently adapt faster to a changing environment. Here, we want to unravel the mechanistic underpinnings of why and how polyploids can outcompete non-polyploids. We will address these questions by replaying the ‘genome duplication tape of life’ in two different model systems, namely Chlamydomonas and Spirodela. We will run long-term evolutionary (and resequencing) experiments. We will complement these experiments with in-silico experiments based on so-called digital organisms running on artificial genomes. Complementary modelling approaches will also be employed to study the effects of polyploidy from an eco-evolutionary dynamics perspective. By integrating the results obtained from these in vivo and in silico experiments, we will obtain important novel insights in the adaptive potential of polyploids under stressful conditions or during times of environmental and/or climate change.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-ADG - Advanced GrantInstitución de acogida
9052 ZWIJNAARDE - GENT
Bélgica