Land animal evolution: genomic landmarks on the path to terrestrial life

Información del proyecto

SEA2LAND

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 948281

DOI

10.3030/948281

Fecha de la firma de la CE 11 Diciembre 2020

Fecha de inicio 1 Febrero 2021

Fecha de finalización 31 Enero 2027

Financiado con arreglo a

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)

Coste total

€ 1 499 485,00

Aportación de la UE

€ 1 499 485,00

Coordinado por

AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - SEA2LAND (Land animal evolution: genomic landmarks on the path to terrestrial life)

Período documentado: 2024-02-01 hasta 2025-07-31

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

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 the evolutionary origin of 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? This project will deliver fundamental insights into a core question in evolutionary biology: what shaped the land animal genetic toolkit.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

To pinpoint the genes potentially facilitating terrestrialization, we collected more than 1,000 specimens from multiple marine and terrestrial species from virtually all animal phyla with terrestrial forms. Through a series of 're-terrestrialization' experiments and genomics and transcriptomics analyses, we are characterizing the 'terrestrialization genetic toolkit' in each species. Our results so far indicate that several lineages seem to have different such toolkits, but some common elements seem to be arise as central in the genetic machinery underlying such adaptation to habitat change. Further analyses will shed light on which genetic elements seem to be common (or not) in terrestrial lineages.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

This is the first time that such a vast collection of datasets from scientifically neglected animal species such as earthworms, ribbon worms, mollusks or velvet worms have been amassed and explored in a comparative manner. Through the combination of different 'omics' methodologies, we expect to pinpoint the genetic elements underlying adaptation to terrestrial environments, and how different evolutionary mechanisms acting in the gene repertoire (eg, gene gain, loss and duplication) have reshaped the genomic landscape of the ancestors of land animals. We are one step closer to understanding how animal terrestrial biodiversity originated.