Project description DEENESFRITPL Evolution across broad spectrum of human gut microbial species More than 200 microbial species inhabit each human gut and are important for human health, supporting nutrition, pathogen defence and immune homeostasis. Most gut microbiome studies have focused on dominant bacteria, and very little is known about the highly diverse pro- and eukaryotes of low abundance. The EU-funded EPYC project is based on the hypothesis that low abundance pro- and eukaryotes persist for multiple generations in the human host, indicating their importance. The project will characterise the evolution of long-term human-associated eukaryotes and prokaryotes, using high-precision metagenomics of elusive microbes, studying the microbial genetics of their gastrointestinal persistence, and estimating pro- and eukaryotic strain persistence across human generations. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective The EPYC project will characterize the evolution of long-term human associated eukaryotes and prokaryotes, using colonization patterns in 3 human generations.The gut microbiome is important for human health, supporting nutrition, pathogen defence and immune homeostasis, with more than 200 species inhabiting each human gut. In recent years metagenomics led to notable breakthroughs in describing this microbial diversity, yet 50-90% of species are typically present at too low abundance to be genome or strain resolved. Thus, most gut microbiome studies focused to date on dominant bacteria and very little is known of the highly diverse, yet low abundance, pro- and eukaryotes (elusive microbes). Importantly, elusive microbes are an inherent part of ecosystem successions persisting at different ages of the host. I propose that niche adaptation and persistence are key indicators of a taxa’s importance to the gut ecosystem and host health. I will determine which microbes persist for years within a human, or even a family for several generations. This should be reflected in microbial genetic adaption, also indicating which genes are likely important to successfully colonize the human gut. I hypothesize that low abundance pro- and eukaryotes are adapted to persist for multiple generations in the human host, indicating their importance, despite being largely ignored so far.To investigate this knowledge gap in EPYC, I will(O1) Enable high-precision metagenomics of elusive microbes (O2) Estimate pro- and eukaryotic strain persistence across three human generations(O3) Describe the microbial genetics of gastrointestinal persistenceEPYC will develop the next-generation of high-resolution metagenomics of an extended taxonomic range, enabling me to research microbial evolution in the human gut. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriologymedical and health scienceshealth sciencesnutritionnatural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystemsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsgenomesmedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiologyhomeostasis Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-2020-STG - ERC STARTING GRANTS Call for proposal ERC-2020-STG See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-STG - Starting Grant Coordinator QUADRAM INSTITUTE BIOSCIENCE Net EU contribution € 1 391 698,00 Address Quadram institute bioscience norwich research park NR4 7UQ Norwich United Kingdom See on map Region East of England East Anglia Breckland and South Norfolk Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Beneficiaries (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all QUADRAM INSTITUTE BIOSCIENCE United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 1 391 698,00 Address Quadram institute bioscience norwich research park NR4 7UQ Norwich See on map Region East of England East Anglia Breckland and South Norfolk Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 EARLHAM INSTITUTE United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 108 295,00 Address Norwich research park colney lane NR4 7UZ Norwich See on map Region East of England East Anglia Breckland and South Norfolk Activity type Research Organisations Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00
