Summary
Germline mutation rate (GMR) is a key concept in all disciplines of biology, and particularly in evolutionary biology and the biomedical sciences. GMR varies both across and within species, but what drives this variation is unclear. Theories predict that GMR variation is shaped by environmental selection pressures, by effective population sizes, and by prevailing life-history traits (across species) and parental age at reproduction (within species). However, our understanding is extremely limited because within-species GMR variation has been investigated only to some extent in humans, and larger comparative genome-level datasets in other clades have not yet been pursued.
I propose to start filling this gap by studying GMR in attine fungus-growing ants and a set of outgroup. non-attine ants. The attine ants, a ca. 55 MY old monophyletic lineage, are ideal for understanding GMR variation across and within species because their basic ecology is similar (obligate dependence of farmed fungi for food) but their life-histories diversified enormously from the base to the crown of their phylogenetic tree, which presently has 15 recognized genus-level branches and >230 species.
Against a background dataset of ~20 high quality genomes, I propose to obtain genome-wide GMR estimates for 12 attine ants and 7 non-attine ants while controlling for confounders of phylogeny, colony size, life-span and effective population size. In addition, I will do an in-depth analysis of a single leafcutter ant species with long-lived queens and stored sperm of the same age, where I can also control for parental age. I will implement the MutANTs project at the Centre for Social Evolution in Copenhagen, an internationally renowned research hub for interdisciplinary omics research on ants, with Professors Guojie Zhang and Jacobus Jan Boomsma as joint hosts. I expect that in the two years available MutANTs will yield the first comparative data to predict GMRs across and within species.
I propose to start filling this gap by studying GMR in attine fungus-growing ants and a set of outgroup. non-attine ants. The attine ants, a ca. 55 MY old monophyletic lineage, are ideal for understanding GMR variation across and within species because their basic ecology is similar (obligate dependence of farmed fungi for food) but their life-histories diversified enormously from the base to the crown of their phylogenetic tree, which presently has 15 recognized genus-level branches and >230 species.
Against a background dataset of ~20 high quality genomes, I propose to obtain genome-wide GMR estimates for 12 attine ants and 7 non-attine ants while controlling for confounders of phylogeny, colony size, life-span and effective population size. In addition, I will do an in-depth analysis of a single leafcutter ant species with long-lived queens and stored sperm of the same age, where I can also control for parental age. I will implement the MutANTs project at the Centre for Social Evolution in Copenhagen, an internationally renowned research hub for interdisciplinary omics research on ants, with Professors Guojie Zhang and Jacobus Jan Boomsma as joint hosts. I expect that in the two years available MutANTs will yield the first comparative data to predict GMRs across and within species.
Unfold all
/
Fold all
More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/840414 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2020 |
| End date: | 31-08-2022 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 219 312,00 Euro - 219 312,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
Germline mutation rate (GMR) is a key concept in all disciplines of biology, and particularly in evolutionary biology and the biomedical sciences. GMR varies both across and within species, but what drives this variation is unclear. Theories predict that GMR variation is shaped by environmental selection pressures, by effective population sizes, and by prevailing life-history traits (across species) and parental age at reproduction (within species). However, our understanding is extremely limited because within-species GMR variation has been investigated only to some extent in humans, and larger comparative genome-level datasets in other clades have not yet been pursued.I propose to start filling this gap by studying GMR in attine fungus-growing ants and a set of outgroup. non-attine ants. The attine ants, a ca. 55 MY old monophyletic lineage, are ideal for understanding GMR variation across and within species because their basic ecology is similar (obligate dependence of farmed fungi for food) but their life-histories diversified enormously from the base to the crown of their phylogenetic tree, which presently has 15 recognized genus-level branches and >230 species.
Against a background dataset of ~20 high quality genomes, I propose to obtain genome-wide GMR estimates for 12 attine ants and 7 non-attine ants while controlling for confounders of phylogeny, colony size, life-span and effective population size. In addition, I will do an in-depth analysis of a single leafcutter ant species with long-lived queens and stored sperm of the same age, where I can also control for parental age. I will implement the MutANTs project at the Centre for Social Evolution in Copenhagen, an internationally renowned research hub for interdisciplinary omics research on ants, with Professors Guojie Zhang and Jacobus Jan Boomsma as joint hosts. I expect that in the two years available MutANTs will yield the first comparative data to predict GMRs across and within species.
Status
CLOSEDCall topic
MSCA-IF-2018Update Date
28-04-2024
Images
No images available.
Geographical location(s)
Structured mapping
Unfold all
/
Fold all
EU-Programme-Call
Horizon 2020
H2020-EU.1. EXCELLENT SCIENCE
H2020-EU.1.3. EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
H2020-EU.1.3.2. Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
H2020-MSCA-IF-2018
MSCA-IF-2018
