Descripción del proyecto
Estudiar cómo los animales conquistaron la tierra a partir de sus antepasados marinos
Los entornos marinos son la cuna de todos los animales. Durante su evolución, experimentaron cambios revolucionarios en la forma en la que respiran, se reproducen, se mueven y huelen, un proceso que ocurrió varias veces a lo largo de la historia y que, en último término, llevó a los animales terrestres a superar en número a los acuáticos. Comprender la terrestrialización es esencial para dilucidar la biodiversidad animal y la adaptación biológica. Sin embargo, se desconocen en gran parte las bases genéticas que controlan este proceso en los animales. El objetivo del proyecto SEA2LAND, financiado con fondos europeos, es corroborar la teoría de que los animales poseen un conjunto de herramientas genéticas de terrestrialización altamente plástico que les ha permitido adaptarse a las condiciones ambientales extremas de los ecosistemas terrestres.
Objetivo
All animals share a common origin: a marine one. To conquer land from marine environments, animals changed radically the way they breath, reproduce, move or smell. And they did it multiple times in the history of Earth, with terrestrial animals massively outnumbering aquatic ones. Understanding terrestrialization is therefore key to comprehending animal biodiversity and biological adaptation. Despite the relevance of such an episode, the genetic underpinnings orchestrating terrestrialization in animals are largely unexplored. The project will test the hypothesis that animals are equipped with a highly plastic ‘terrestrialization genetic toolkit’ that allowed their adaptation to the extreme environmental conditions in terrestrial ecosystems. We will focus on two pivotal questions: which genes facilitated life on land and how do they differ between aquatic and terrestrial animals?, and how did animals reshape their genomes to adapt to dry land? Moreover, we will study two case examples of critical processes common to all terrestrial animals -breathing and protection against UV light- to illuminate what molecular and biochemical changes allowed terrestrial animals to breathe and repair their DNA after UV light damage. To achieve this, we will (i) identify the gene repertoire orchestrating the extreme physiological and metabolic changes in aquatic and terrestrial lineages, (ii) characterize the dynamics of these genes to understand the role of gene loss, duplications and horizontal gene transfer, and (3) discover the adaptive mutations that led respiratory pigments and DNA repair proteins to gain their functions via molecular engineering techniques to resurrect their ancestral ‘paleophenotypes’. This project will deliver fundamental insights into a core question in evolutionary biology: what shaped the land animal genetic toolkit. Furthermore, it will provide insights into the evolution of key proteins relevant to human health and industry.
Ámbito científico
Not validated
Not validated
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
28006 Madrid
España