HGTCODONUSE | The evolutionary significance of synonymous variations: Can codon usage preferences drive the propagation of antibiotic resistance?

Summary
The intensive use of antibiotics provided an unprecedented improvement in infectious disease treatments but at the expense of creating ideal conditions for the selection of widespread resistance. Propagation of antibiotic resistances is favoured by horizontal gene transfer and by bacterial life in multispecies community. However, compositions of resistome and bacterial communities are often correlated, suggesting that propagation of resistances does not occur at random. This project will test the hypothesis that mismatch in codon preferences between the transferred genes and the receiving genome is a fundamental factor shaping resistome structure and evolution. Such central role of codon preferences may have been hitherto overlooked. The project combines mutant collection characterization, experimental evolution approaches –one in a multispecies context and one in a variable environment context-, full genome sequencing of evolved populations, phylogenomics and mathematical modelling integrating the experimental results of the other approaches, and generating a predictive tool about the evolutionary outcome of various real-life situations.
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More information & hyperlinks
Web resources: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/682819
Start date: 01-06-2016
End date: 31-05-2022
Total budget - Public funding: 1 992 366,00 Euro - 1 992 366,00 Euro
Cordis data

Original description

The intensive use of antibiotics provided an unprecedented improvement in infectious disease treatments but at the expense of creating ideal conditions for the selection of widespread resistance. Propagation of antibiotic resistances is favoured by horizontal gene transfer and by bacterial life in multispecies community. However, compositions of resistome and bacterial communities are often correlated, suggesting that propagation of resistances does not occur at random. This project will test the hypothesis that mismatch in codon preferences between the transferred genes and the receiving genome is a fundamental factor shaping resistome structure and evolution. Such central role of codon preferences may have been hitherto overlooked. The project combines mutant collection characterization, experimental evolution approaches –one in a multispecies context and one in a variable environment context-, full genome sequencing of evolved populations, phylogenomics and mathematical modelling integrating the experimental results of the other approaches, and generating a predictive tool about the evolutionary outcome of various real-life situations.

Status

CLOSED

Call topic

ERC-CoG-2015

Update Date

27-04-2024
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Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
ERC-2015
ERC-2015-CoG
ERC-CoG-2015 ERC Consolidator Grant