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:
Towards understanding an ultimately simple metaorganism: impact of symbiotic microbes on developmental processes of Hydra
Animal developmental programs occur within the context of coevolved associations with microbes. Hydra is one of the prime model systems for evolutionary developmental biologists. The fact that symbiotic interactions were discovered to be essential to …
Memory mechanisms of nutritional stress in the gut ecosystem
The C2 project focuses on the interaction of nutritional intake with the resident microbiome and the intestinal mucosa. It uses two complementary experimental systems (Drosophila (C2.1, PI Roeder) and mouse (C2.2, PI Rosenstiel)) to tackle …
New approaches to understanding eco-evolutionary dynamics in metaorganisms
The recognition that all macroorganisms live in symbiotic association with microbial communities has opened up a new field in biology. While most attention in the first CRC 1182 funding phase was placed on bacteria as …
