Project description
Uncovering microbiome mechanisms that affect reproduction
Bacteria need transmission to colonise new environments. Animal microbiomes are crucial for health from birth: they influence reproductive outcomes, though mechanisms remain unclear. Advances in meta-omics help us understand these effects, and gnotobiotic organisms allow for controlled study of host-microbiota interactions. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the MATES project will combine two approaches to uncover the mechanisms of mutualism in a developing research area. It aims to establish observational systems to study interactions and mating in the internally fertilising fish, Poecilia reticulata. The focus is on how host contact affects the transmission and assembly of the reproductive microbiome, and how these factors influence the fitness of the host-microbiome relationship.
Objective
"Bacteria, like animals, rely on transmission to spread and colonise new environments. In this context, the microbial communities that inhabit and/or transiently interact with animal hosts, collectively known as the “microbiome”, are key to animal health and fitness. The assembly of the microbiome in the hosts begins at birth and later undergoes a variety of dynamic processes influencing its establishment, function and evolution. Newly, research has theoretically recognized the importance of the microbiome associated with reproductive organs and fluids in influencing a range of reproductive processes and outcomes in males and females. The study of such communities founding the ""reproductive microbiome"" and the ease with which they could be tracked between hosts’ reproductive systems therefore offers key advantages for measuring the role of host-mediated transmission in microbiome assembly and variation. Still, we lack an understanding of the ecological mechanisms influencing such variation. Advances in meta ’omics are sparking interest in how microbiomes impacts physiology, propensity to disease and in turn natural and sexual selection. In addition, gnotobiotic organisms provide unique opportunities to study host-microbiota interplay with a level of experimental control that is not achievable in human studies. Coupling these two approaches should allow to pinpoint key mechanisms underlying this mutualistic relationship in a research field that is still in its infancy. In this light, we will make use of accurate observational systems that have been established to monitor interactions and mating events in the internally fertilising fish Poecilia reticulata, to measure the contribution of host contact to reproductive microbiome transmission and assembly, and how how this in turn shapes host-microbiome feedback effects on their mutual fitness. Here, we propose a research project that will fully address these challenges, providing a shift in host-microbiome research."
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine physiology
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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35122 Padova
Italy
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