The overarching goal of our research is to define the regulatory principles underlying associations of microbial communities with hosts from diverse taxonomic groups.
Novel insights into above topics have already been obtained by the members of the CRC 1182. Our consortium is thus in an ideal position to join forces to deepen our understanding of the metaorganism and validate our findings across the different model systems. In summary, the CRC 1182 “Origin and Function of Metaorganisms” will focus on a research field of high current interest, namely the evolutionary dynamics within metaorganisms and the molecular interactions involved.
To achieve such an integrated view on the metaorganism, our consortium will focus on three main themes:
Impact of symbiosis on life history decisions at the base of the metazoan evolution: lessons from placozoans and Hydra
Project C1 (PIs Bosch, Gruber-Vodicka) aims to explore the impact of microbes on senescence and life history switches in two stem bilaterians: Hydra and placozoans using a comparative approach. This includes focusing on the role …
Memory mechanisms of undernutrition in the gut ecosystem
The overarching goal of project C2 (PIs Roeder, Rosenstiel) is to understand the long-lasting (memory) effects of undernutrition on the physiological host-microbial interplay in two different model organisms: Drosophila and mouse. Building on accumulated findings, …
New approaches to understanding eco-evolutionary dynamics in metaorganisms
Project C4 (PIs Rainey, Hentschel) aims to explore the role of mobile genetic elements (MGEs) as regulators of host-associated microbial community composition and function. The project will build on the established Metaorganism Evolution Experiment (MEE) …
Functional impact of recent shifts in human lifestyle on hostmicrobiome interactions
The newly added project C5 is led by the three new PIs Groussin, Poyet and Rühlemann. They will join their expertise to investigate the impact of shifts in human lifestyle and associated changes in community …