Project description
Somatic evolution and longevity in corals
How do corals maintain genome integrity and extreme longevity? Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CORALOMICS project will answer this question. It is testing the role of multipotent progenitor cells, spatial cell lineage organisation and tissue turnover in shaping somatic mutation patterns. It will also use DNA methylation as a marker of cellular ageing and fate. To do this, the study will combine spatially resolved genome and methylome sequencing, single-cell sequencing to assess mutational load and gene expression states, and computational modelling to integrate these datasets. This approach will map somatic evolution processes across coral colonies. Project work will reveal principles of ageing and genome maintenance in modular organisms and improve understanding of coral resilience under environmental change.
Objective
Corals are foundation species that build reef ecosystems, supporting vast marine biodiversity, yet the cellular mechanisms underlying their extreme longevity remain poorly understood. As colonial, modular organisms, corals are capable of indeterminate size and lifespan, raising fundamental questions about how genome integrity is maintained. In unitary animals, somatic mutations drive age-associated decline and malignancy, but in corals, modularity allows deleterious mutations to be compartmentalized, and beneficial variants to spread or even enter the germline. This challenges canonical germline–soma separation and positions corals as a powerful system to study somatic evolution.
I hypothesize that intra-organismal genetic diversity in corals is shaped by persistent multipotent progenitors, spatial patterning of cell lineages, and turnover dynamics. DNA methylation, a robust biomarker of cellular age and fate, provides an additional layer of information.
I will deploy a multi-pronged genomics strategy: (i) genome and methylome sequencing of spatially mapped samples to respectively infer mutational landscapes and epigenetic aging signatures, (ii) single-cell sequencing to quantify mutational load and transcriptional states, and (iii) integrative computational modeling. This integrative approach will establish how somatic evolution operates in modular animals, linking cellular mechanisms to colony longevity, potential for somatic inheritance, and adaptive capacity under environmental change.
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 marine biology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes
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Keywords
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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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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27570 Bremerhaven
Germany
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