Project description
The evolution of gene regulation
Differential gene expression during embryogenesis drives cell differentiation and determines animal development. The coordinated expression of genes is intrinsically complex in nature and is controlled by genes linked to each other through regulatory interactions. The precise function and evolution of these gene regulatory networks remain unclear despite their central role in animal development. The EU-funded RipGEESE project brings together three European research institutions and through a multidisciplinary approach aims to address this knowledge gap from a molecular and phylogenetic perspective. The knowledge generated will unravel unprecedented aspects of the phenotypic diversity encountered in the animal kingdom.
Objective
Animals display a bewildering diversity of morphological structures and adaptations that represent dramatic body plan transformations. Forming these diverse body shapes requires the coordinated expression of hundreds of genes in a cell-specific manner; a monumentally complex task that is controlled by gene regulatory networks (GRNs): genes linked to each other by regulatory interactions, which modulate the gene expression in every cell of an organism. Despite their central role in determining animal form and function, it is as of yet unclear how GRNs evolve and how they are linked to the origin of morphological innovation. This project builds on the combined knowledge and expertise of the applicant and three European research institutions in order to tackle this knowledge gap using cutting-edge techniques, and an innovative, multidisciplinary approach that merges molecular, bioinformatic, and phylogenomic methods.
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: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinator
BS8 1QU Bristol
United Kingdom