Project acronym CORALWARM
Project Corals and global warming: The Mediterranean versus the Red Sea
Researcher (PI) Zvy Dubinsky
Host Institution (HI) BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY
Country Israel
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS8, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary CoralWarm will generate for the first time projections of temperate and subtropical coral survival by integrating sublethal temperature increase effects on metabolic and skeletal processes in Mediterranean and Red Sea key species. CoralWarm unique approach is from the nano- to the macro-scale, correlating molecular events to environmental processes. This will show new pathways to future investigations on cellular mechanisms linking environmental factors to final phenotype, potentially improving prediction powers and paleoclimatological interpretation. Biological and chemical expertise will merge, producing new interdisciplinary approaches for ecophysiology and biomineralization. Field transplantations will be combined with controlled experiments under IPCC scenarios. Corals will be grown in aquaria, exposing the Mediterranean species native to cooler waters to higher temperatures, and the Red Sea ones to gradually increasing above ambient warming seawater. Virtually all state-of-the-art methods will be used, by uniquely combining the investigators expertise. Expected results include responses of algal symbionts photosynthesis, host, symbiont and holobiont respiration, biomineralization rates and patterns, including colony architecture, and reproduction to temperature and pH gradients and combinations. Integration of molecular aspects of potential replacement of symbiont clades, changes in skeletal crystallography, with biochemical and physiological aspects of temperature response, will lead to a novel mechanistic model predicting changes in coral ecology and survival prospect. High-temperature tolerant clades and species will be revealed, allowing future bioremediation actions and establishment of coral refuges, saving corals and coral reefs for future generations.
Summary
CoralWarm will generate for the first time projections of temperate and subtropical coral survival by integrating sublethal temperature increase effects on metabolic and skeletal processes in Mediterranean and Red Sea key species. CoralWarm unique approach is from the nano- to the macro-scale, correlating molecular events to environmental processes. This will show new pathways to future investigations on cellular mechanisms linking environmental factors to final phenotype, potentially improving prediction powers and paleoclimatological interpretation. Biological and chemical expertise will merge, producing new interdisciplinary approaches for ecophysiology and biomineralization. Field transplantations will be combined with controlled experiments under IPCC scenarios. Corals will be grown in aquaria, exposing the Mediterranean species native to cooler waters to higher temperatures, and the Red Sea ones to gradually increasing above ambient warming seawater. Virtually all state-of-the-art methods will be used, by uniquely combining the investigators expertise. Expected results include responses of algal symbionts photosynthesis, host, symbiont and holobiont respiration, biomineralization rates and patterns, including colony architecture, and reproduction to temperature and pH gradients and combinations. Integration of molecular aspects of potential replacement of symbiont clades, changes in skeletal crystallography, with biochemical and physiological aspects of temperature response, will lead to a novel mechanistic model predicting changes in coral ecology and survival prospect. High-temperature tolerant clades and species will be revealed, allowing future bioremediation actions and establishment of coral refuges, saving corals and coral reefs for future generations.
Max ERC Funding
3 332 032 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-06-01, End date: 2016-05-31
Project acronym DEPICT
Project Design principles and controllability of protein circuits
Researcher (PI) Uri Alon
Host Institution (HI) WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
Country Israel
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS2, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary Cells use circuits of interacting proteins to respond to their environment. In the past decades, molecular biology has provided detailed knowledge on the proteins in these circuits and their interactions. To fully understand circuit function requires, in addition to molecular knowledge, new concepts that explain how multiple components work together to perform systems level functions. Our lab has been a leader in defining such concepts, based on combined experimental and theoretical study of well characterized circuits in bacteria and human cells. In this proposal we aim to find novel principles on how circuits resist fluctuations and errors, and how they can be controlled by drugs: (1) Why do key regulatory systems use bifunctional enzymes that catalyze antagonistic reactions (e.g. both kinase and phosphatase)? We will test the role of bifunctional enzymes in making circuits robust to variations in protein levels. (2) Why are some genes regulated by a repressor and others by an activator? We will test this in the context of reduction of errors in transcription control. (3) Are there principles that describe how drugs combine to affect protein dynamics in human cells? We will use a novel dynamic proteomics approach developed in our lab to explore how protein dynamics can be controlled by drug combinations. This research will define principles that unite our understanding of seemingly distinct biological systems, and explain their particular design in terms of systems-level functions. This understanding will help form the basis for a future medicine that rationally controls the state of the cell based on a detailed blueprint of their circuit design, and quantitative principles for the effects of drugs on this circuitry.
Summary
Cells use circuits of interacting proteins to respond to their environment. In the past decades, molecular biology has provided detailed knowledge on the proteins in these circuits and their interactions. To fully understand circuit function requires, in addition to molecular knowledge, new concepts that explain how multiple components work together to perform systems level functions. Our lab has been a leader in defining such concepts, based on combined experimental and theoretical study of well characterized circuits in bacteria and human cells. In this proposal we aim to find novel principles on how circuits resist fluctuations and errors, and how they can be controlled by drugs: (1) Why do key regulatory systems use bifunctional enzymes that catalyze antagonistic reactions (e.g. both kinase and phosphatase)? We will test the role of bifunctional enzymes in making circuits robust to variations in protein levels. (2) Why are some genes regulated by a repressor and others by an activator? We will test this in the context of reduction of errors in transcription control. (3) Are there principles that describe how drugs combine to affect protein dynamics in human cells? We will use a novel dynamic proteomics approach developed in our lab to explore how protein dynamics can be controlled by drug combinations. This research will define principles that unite our understanding of seemingly distinct biological systems, and explain their particular design in terms of systems-level functions. This understanding will help form the basis for a future medicine that rationally controls the state of the cell based on a detailed blueprint of their circuit design, and quantitative principles for the effects of drugs on this circuitry.
Max ERC Funding
2 261 440 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-03-01, End date: 2015-02-28
Project acronym MATHFOR
Project Formalization of Constructive Mathematics
Researcher (PI) Thierry Coquand
Host Institution (HI) GOETEBORGS UNIVERSITET
Country Sweden
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE6, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary The general theme is to explore the connections between reasoning and computations in mathematics. There are two main research directions. The first research direction is a refomulation of Hilbert's program, using ideas from formal, or pointfree topology. We have shown, with multiple examples, that this allows a partial realization of this program in commutative algebra, and a new way to formulate constructive mathematics. The second research direction explores the computational content using type theory and the Curry-Howard correspondence between proofs and programs. Type theory allows us to represent constructive mathematics in a formal way, and provides key insight for the design of proof systems helping in the analysis of the logical structure of mathematical proofs. The interest of this program is well illustrated by the recent work of G. Gonthier on the formalization of the 4 color theorem.
Summary
The general theme is to explore the connections between reasoning and computations in mathematics. There are two main research directions. The first research direction is a refomulation of Hilbert's program, using ideas from formal, or pointfree topology. We have shown, with multiple examples, that this allows a partial realization of this program in commutative algebra, and a new way to formulate constructive mathematics. The second research direction explores the computational content using type theory and the Curry-Howard correspondence between proofs and programs. Type theory allows us to represent constructive mathematics in a formal way, and provides key insight for the design of proof systems helping in the analysis of the logical structure of mathematical proofs. The interest of this program is well illustrated by the recent work of G. Gonthier on the formalization of the 4 color theorem.
Max ERC Funding
1 912 288 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2015-03-31
Project acronym NEXTGENMOLECOL
Project Next Generation Molecular Ecology
Researcher (PI) Hans Ellegren
Host Institution (HI) UPPSALA UNIVERSITET
Country Sweden
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), LS8, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary There is an immediate need to increase our understanding of the genetic basis for fitness differences in natural populations (Ellegren and Sheldon Nature 452:169-175, 2008). Fortunately, technological developments within genome research, notably the recent ability to retrieve massive amounts of DNA sequence data based on next generation sequencing , will make possible completely novel investigations of the link between genotypes and phenotypes in non-model organisms. With our background as major players in molecular ecology and evolutionary genomics of non-models for the last 15-20 years, we are excellently placed to take on a leading role in this process, developing a Next Generation Molecular Ecology . This research program will combine studies of candidate genes with large-scale gene expression analysis, several mapping approaches and comparative genomics to study the genetic basis of trait evolution in wild bird populations. First, we will search for and analyse loci involved with reproductive isolation and adaptive population divergence in a well-known system for speciation research the pied flycatcher and the collared flycatcher. A milestone of this program will be genome sequencing of the two flycatcher species. Second, we will track the genetic basis of behaviour using a unique breeding population of zebra finches and benefitting from the recently obtained genome sequence of this species. Third, we will identify the targets for adaptive evolution during avian evolution using comparative genomics. Overall, the program will be able to reveal the molecular genetic architecture behind phenotypic variation. The potential for scientific break-through in this interdisciplinary program should be significant.
Summary
There is an immediate need to increase our understanding of the genetic basis for fitness differences in natural populations (Ellegren and Sheldon Nature 452:169-175, 2008). Fortunately, technological developments within genome research, notably the recent ability to retrieve massive amounts of DNA sequence data based on next generation sequencing , will make possible completely novel investigations of the link between genotypes and phenotypes in non-model organisms. With our background as major players in molecular ecology and evolutionary genomics of non-models for the last 15-20 years, we are excellently placed to take on a leading role in this process, developing a Next Generation Molecular Ecology . This research program will combine studies of candidate genes with large-scale gene expression analysis, several mapping approaches and comparative genomics to study the genetic basis of trait evolution in wild bird populations. First, we will search for and analyse loci involved with reproductive isolation and adaptive population divergence in a well-known system for speciation research the pied flycatcher and the collared flycatcher. A milestone of this program will be genome sequencing of the two flycatcher species. Second, we will track the genetic basis of behaviour using a unique breeding population of zebra finches and benefitting from the recently obtained genome sequence of this species. Third, we will identify the targets for adaptive evolution during avian evolution using comparative genomics. Overall, the program will be able to reveal the molecular genetic architecture behind phenotypic variation. The potential for scientific break-through in this interdisciplinary program should be significant.
Max ERC Funding
2 500 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2015-09-30
Project acronym SYSTEAM
Project Systems and Signals Tools for Estimation and Analysis of Mathematical Models in Endocrinology and Neurology
Researcher (PI) Peter Stoica
Host Institution (HI) UPPSALA UNIVERSITET
Country Sweden
Call Details Advanced Grant (AdG), PE7, ERC-2009-AdG
Summary This proposal envisages a research program in the field of systems and signals that will lead to innovative and agile mathematical modeling as well as model-based signal processing and control tools for applications in biology and medicine. The project's goal is to bridge the gap between systems biology, on one hand, and medical signal processing and control engineering, on the other. Mathematical models of systems biology will be used to devise algorithms for biological data processing and computerized medical interventions. Experimental biological and clinical data will be utilized to estimate and characterize the parameters of mathematical models derived for biological phenomena and mechanisms. An extensive collaboration network of medical researchers from Sweden and abroad will provide the project team with necessary experimental data as well as with access to medical competence. The envisaged tools are expected to be applicable more generally but their efficacy will be demonstrated in two main application areas. These areas are endocrinology and neurology for which the use of formal control engineering and signal processing methods is currently deemed to be most promising. The proposed program will result in novel systems and signals tools for medical research and health care enabling multi-input multi-output modeling and analysis of endocrine regulations and providing model-based algorithms for individualized drug dose titration.
Summary
This proposal envisages a research program in the field of systems and signals that will lead to innovative and agile mathematical modeling as well as model-based signal processing and control tools for applications in biology and medicine. The project's goal is to bridge the gap between systems biology, on one hand, and medical signal processing and control engineering, on the other. Mathematical models of systems biology will be used to devise algorithms for biological data processing and computerized medical interventions. Experimental biological and clinical data will be utilized to estimate and characterize the parameters of mathematical models derived for biological phenomena and mechanisms. An extensive collaboration network of medical researchers from Sweden and abroad will provide the project team with necessary experimental data as well as with access to medical competence. The envisaged tools are expected to be applicable more generally but their efficacy will be demonstrated in two main application areas. These areas are endocrinology and neurology for which the use of formal control engineering and signal processing methods is currently deemed to be most promising. The proposed program will result in novel systems and signals tools for medical research and health care enabling multi-input multi-output modeling and analysis of endocrine regulations and providing model-based algorithms for individualized drug dose titration.
Max ERC Funding
2 379 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-04-01, End date: 2015-03-31
