Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/Z504257/1
Temporal Metagenomics of Population Declines
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Dr K Guschanski, University of Edinburgh, Sch of Biological Sciences
- Grant held at:
- University of Edinburgh, Sch of Biological Sciences
- Science Area:
- None
- Overall Classification:
- Unknown
- ENRIs:
- None
- Science Topics:
- None
- Abstract:
- Human actions are having a staggering impact on all life on the planet, leading to the new geological epoch, the Anthropocene. One of the greatest hallmarks of the Anthropocene is biodiversity loss, including rapid population declines of vertebrate populations, which often lead to loss of genetic diversity. Host-associated microbiomes, collection of microorganisms that live in and on the host, are central to host survival, as they provide many essential biological functions, ranging from digestion to immunity to reproductions. Disruptions of microbial communities can have severe consequences, reducing host fitness and causing disease. Microbiomes are themselves impacted by host genetics and the environment. Recognising this intimate connection between the hosts and their microbiomes, this project asks a central question: How did human-driven population declines during the last two centuries impact host-associated microbiomes and what consequences does it have for the hosts? Surprisingly, despite the fundamental importance of microbiomes, their role has rarely been considered in the context of widespread population declines. The few existing studies suggest that small, isolated populations show reduced microbial diversity and altered community composition. Experiments confirm these observations and link the resulting microbiome changes to negative fitness consequences for the host. However, the cross-sectional approach applied to wild study systems so far suffers from the inability to distinguish the microbiome responses to recent change from long-term processes that are not related to population declines. Doing this requires microbiomes from the past that pre-date the population declines. These have been unattainable until very recently because most host-associated microbiomes decompose after host death. However, microbial 'time travel' is now possible via metagenomic analysis of dental calculus, a unique microbial fossil that persists virtually unchanged through time, is abundant on teeth of diverse mammals, and is readily available from museum specimens across the last 200 years, the period of greatest human impact. By applying ancient DNA techniques and jointly analysing host genomes and microbiomes from the same individual, this project will generate fundamental new knowledge about host-microbiome co-evolution during population declines. First, by comparing microbiomes from the same population from before and after population decline (and in non-declined control populations) in 12 mammalian species, this project will investigate if population declines lead to changes in host-associated microbiomes and evaluate the relative contribution of host genomics and the environment to this change. Second, through individual-level joint analyses of host genomics and the microbiomes, we will explore the association between host heterozygosity, inbreeding and genetic load - typical genomic markers of population decline - and microbiomes and how these translate into population-level changes. Finally, we will identify specific host genes and microbial species that change through time in a concerted fashion and are related to presence of oral disease in wild mammals. This project will provide fundamental insights into anthropogenic impacts on microbiomes of wild mammals, with implications for wildlife conservation, animal and human health.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/Z504257/1
- Grant Stage:
- Awaiting Start Confirmation
- Scheme:
- Research Grants
- Grant Status:
- Accepted
- Programme:
- Pushing the Frontiers
This grant award has a total value of £783,604
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| DI - Other Costs | Indirect - Indirect Costs | DA - Investigators | DA - Estate Costs | DI - Staff | DI - T&S | DA - Other Directly Allocated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £163,320 | £201,913 | £22,447 | £73,739 | £296,078 | £12,605 | £13,503 |
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