Data-Gouv-ML/pcri-actions-marie-curie-participations-et-projets-laureats huggingface dataset:
Projet CHOCOLATE4LIFE (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2017)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Anthropocentric destruction of natural ecosystems, such as tropical rainforests, has created an urgent need to balance agricultural production with biodiversity. To achieve sustainability, we must manage ecosystems to prioritise both species that both maximise ecosystem support for crops (“ecosystem service species”) and those that maximise biodiversity (“keystone species”). The framework of community models offers an ideal platform for managing a balance between keystone and ecosystem service species, but two principle components remain: 1) a method for rapidly identifying key species and quantifying interactions between species, and 2) quantitative methods that can fit dynamic community models to such novel data. To overcome the first issue, I will characterize species interactions by implementing state-of-the-art diet metabarcoding, in which the prey of hundreds of animals as well as the plant taxa consumed by prey can be simultaneously identified through predator faeces. With my host at the University of Glasgow, these data will enable me to develop a step-change in food-web modelling. Using Bayesian statistical inference I will construct models in which the strength of connections among species will dynamically adapt to changes in their abundance. With species identifications from metabarcoding, I will build multi-trophic food web models of African shade cacao plantations to address three objectives: 1) identify keystone trees that maximize richness of birds and arthropods (i.e., biodiversity); 2) determine ecosystem service species that maximize predation of damaging pest arthropods and 3) identify “crossover species”: those with both ecosystem service and keystone properties. This cutting edge approach will provide an ecosystem-level understanding of factors affecting the relationship between biodiversity and agricultural production, allowing sustainable management and many further applications in agriculture, ecology, disease control and beyond.

Mots clés : africa, arthropods, bayesian modelling, biodiversity, birds, ecosystem services, cacao, food web models, keystone species, sustainable agriculture, tropical rainforest

Participants :
- University of Glasgow (Royaume-Uni) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 195454.8 €
Projet MACSECH (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Anthropogenic aerosol emissions from growing urban agglomerations contribute to air pollution with impacts on climate change and on human health. The composition of aerosols over megacities is partly unknown, although important to accurately understand and prevent these impacts. Satellite-based remote sensing provides a unique opportunity to spatially monitor the atmospheric composition in the lowermost troposphere. We propose to analyze complementary information on gases and aerosols in order to provide estimates of aerosol concentration at the surface with their composition, specifically over megacity regions. Current aerosol concentration and chemical composition will be assessed by combining: 1) Local snapshots of aerosol concentration and composition at high spatio-temporal resolution from aircraft campaigns, 2) Global retrievals of aerosol optical properties from satellite measurements, and 3) Numerical atmospheric simulations. This project focuses on three regions (with different emission regulations) where scientific aircraft campaigns have been carried out, namely Europe (strict regulation), East Asia (regulation implementation in progress) and West Africa (no regulation). Based on modelling sensitivity studies, we will evaluate the benefits of emission reduction strategies on human health and anthropogenic climate change. Applied to future regulations, our methodology will provide a comprehensive analysis to advise policymakers on sustainable choices.

Mots clés : megacity, aerosol, air quality, atmospheric composition, health impact, remote sensing, numerical, modelling

Participants :
- University of Bremen (Allemagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 174806.4 €
Projet AMAZON_MERCURY (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Anthropogenically-induced environmental pollution has had a dramatic influence on the natural world, including worldwide decreases in species richness and abundance, ecosystem homogenization, genomic modifications, and altered nutrient cycles. Particularly, human-induced environmental pollution of mercury can bioaccumulate in aquatic ecosystems and cause neurological, physiological, immunological and reproductive damage to wildlife, making it both a European, and global threat. However, the evolutionary impact of long-term exposure to mercury has yet to be studied despite evidence that exposure to mercury can negatively affect survival. Avian piscivores and insectivores, important bioindicators in highly diverse aquatic ecosystem, can be ideal for studying mercury impacts. This project will investigate the evolutionary changes induced by long-term exposure to mercury pollution in wild populations of important avian bioindicators in the Amazon using powerful advanced genomic analyses. It combines the latest Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) methods with avian ecology and evolution, ecotoxicology, immunology and endocrinology, to generate new insights into the costs of environmental pollution, and the subsequent adaptations that allow for species to survive sublethal exposure to mercury. In order to document long-term changes, historical specimens will be used to assess past genomic variation and mercury levels to be used as a baseline against which differentiating selection patterns are searched. The results will reveal the effects of anthropogenic change on important avian bioindicators and identify the missing link between causative mechanisms and phenotypes, thereby availing these methods for further research. By capitalizing on the development and application of cutting-edge genomics techniques, these findings can identify adaptive and susceptive genotypes to indicate whether selection allows for the survival of species in the face of acute environmental change.

Mots clés : rapid evolution, adaptation, heavy metals pollution, anthropogenic impact, epigenetics

Participants :
- University of California System (Etats-Unis) — Partner, organization partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- University of Copenhagen (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 286921.92 €
Projet Phage POWER (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Environment and Geosciences
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health concern that forebodes a dramatic scenario for the coming decades. This crisis is worsened by the ability of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to spread their antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) between and within microbial communities by horizontal transfer, and especially by conjugation in wastewater environments. Therefore, these environments are hotspots and potential control points in the spread of clinically relevant ARGs. Viruses that attack plasmid-bearing bacteria via plasmid-encoded structures have been described. They were mainly isolated several decades ago where they were instrumental in understanding plasmid biology, but many of them are no longer available and have not been documented comprehensively. It has been demonstrated that they reduce the rate of conjugation in pure culture studies; however, their effect in microbial communities is still unknown. Can we leverage some of these natural ‘enemies’ of plasmids to mitigate the spread of AMR in the diverse microbial communities that are typical of biological water treatment? Can we fight evolution with evolution? This is the ambition of this proposal. The research will be divided into four packages: plasmid collection, phage isolation, phage characterization and phage efficiency assessment. Plasmids involved in the epidemic dissemination of carbapenem and multiple antibiotic resistance will be studied. Phages will fluorescently labelled and used to measure the reduction in transfer rate of ARGs in environmental bacterial communities by fluorescence activated cell sorting. The multidisciplinary nature of the project is strong, involving a combination of environmental microbiology, molecular biology, metagenomics and virology. This innovative approach will increase the skills of the experienced researcher, both research-related and transferable ones, leading to improved career prospects, and contributing to solving the global crisis of AMR.

Mots clés : antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial resistance genes, conjugative plasmids, bacteriophages

Participants :
- Technical University of Denmark (Danemark) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 219312.0 €
Projet NanoBioRS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is responsible for 25,000 deaths per year in the EU and costs EUR 1.5 billion annually. Methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and S. epidermidis remain a serious problem in the treatment of periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). After surgery, bacteria may attach to the surface of prosthetic joints to form biofilms. The fate of an available surface can be conceptualized as a race between tissue cell integration and bacterial adhesion to that same surface. If the race is won by tissue, then the surface is occupied and defended and is thus less available for bacterial colonization. The integration of the synthetic routes for smart molecular coatings doped with anti-staphylococcal agents that promote tissue growth, their biological responses and biointerface interactions into functional nano bio-responsive systems (NanoBioRS) able to avoid PJI is an unexplored opportunity for innovation. In order to tackle PJI and to contribute to avoid the development and spread of antimicrobial resistance, NanoBioRS aims to engineer smart coatings equipped with three frontlines: (i) Increased adhesiveness of their interface to favour tissue cell integration. (ii) Smart responses to eradicate MSSA, MRSA and S. epidermidis using antimicrobials that are not prompt to resistance development. (iii) Means of avoiding biofilm and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) of AMR. Thiol-modified polymers, surface-tethered stimuli-responsive polymer brushes and antimicrobial/antifouling agents will render coatings with eukaryotic cell adhesive, smart bacterial contact-kill and anti-biofilm properties, respectively. Endonucleases will be used to avoid biofilm and HGT of AMR. Implant surfaces will be modified with NanoBioRS. Nanoscale characterization will allow for the understanding of biointerface interactions taking place during eukaryotic cell colonization and bacterial invasion of implants.

Mots clés : thiomers, surface thedered polymer brushes, stimuli responsive, tissue regeneration, anti staphylococcal, anti biofilm, anti horizontal gene transfer

Participants :
- Universität Innsbruck (Autriche) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 279250.56 €
Projet Vanrestrep (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2016)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Antimicrobial resistance is a critical health issue today. Important pathogens have become resistant to many or all available antibiotics and limited new antibiotics are in the pipeline. Vancomycin is used as a ‘last resort’ antibiotic treatment for many bacterial infections, but worryingly vancomycin resistance (VR) has spread to major hospital-acquired pathogens such as Enterococcus faecium and Staphylococcus aureus. Most pathogen VR gene clusters likely came from actinomycetes, the natural producers of glycopeptides and most other antibiotics of natural origin. Induction of VR in the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor is highly influenced by nutritional conditions, in particular by the phosphate (Pi) concentration in the medium. My previous work has shown that VR in S. coelicolor is blocked with Pi concentrations above 0.2%; suggesting a key role of this nutrient in VR repression. Furthermore, I have isolated a mutant strain (SCO2594::aac(3)IV) lacking this Pi control over VR. This mutant has cell wall synthesis defects and up-regulates a putative small non-coding RNA (sRNA) located in the promoter region of the vanSR regulatory genes. This project aims to understand the mechanisms of Pi regulation of the S. coelicolor van cluster, and to expand this study to other nutrients that may also control VR. A main focus is on the role of sRNAs in the regulation, as they offer potential novel targets for future clinical exploitation such as “antisense RNA therapy”. The work also aims to understand the role of SCO2594 in VR and to identify new players involved in the process. The proposed project represents an excellent opportunity for the researcher to develop new skills whilst helping to ramp up the development of new antimicrobial platforms in the Salas lab.

Mots clés : glycopeptides, vancomycin, antibiotic resistance, streptomyces, srna, cell wall, nutrient regulation, phosphate metabolism, transcriptional regulation

Participants :
- University of Oviedo (Espagne) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 158121.6 €
Projet RvD3-RAVIS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2014)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Aortic valve stenosis is a progressive inflammatory disorder with poor prognosis if left untreated. Currently the only available treatment is invasive surgical replacement of the valve, therefore new therapeutic strategies are needed. Resolution of inflammation is an active process orchestrated by endogenous specialized proresolving lipid mediators (SPM). These include the resolvins that actively promote catabasis via their potent actions in anti-inflammation, proresolution, tissue regeneration and pain reduction. Recently the complete stereochemistry of resolvin D3 (RvD3) was established. Given its highly potent anti-inflammatory and proresolving actions in murine models and with human cells its role and actions in aortic stenosis (AS) remains to be uncovered. Thus, a goal of this proposal is to elucidate endogenous resolution programs in human aortic valves and define the role and action of RvD3 in AS and calcification. To address this the candidate will employ LC-MS-MS based LM metabololipidomics combined with clinically relevant parameters as well as biochemical and cellular assessments in samples from AS patients. In addition, RvD3 will be used as treatment in a novel preclinical model of murine AS. Implementation of the proposed project will maintain and enhance the candidate’s position at the forefront in the field of resolution biochemistry with advances into valvular pathology. Unraveling the role of RvD3 and resolution programs in aortic inflammation and resolution may enhance current understanding of the molecular mechanism contributing to chronic cardiovascular inflammation and introduce a novel concept for the pathology AS. Furthermore, it may lead to novel therapeutic strategies with a potential to slow or halt the hemodynamic progression of stenosis via turning on resolution programs.

Mots clés : resolution, inflammation, cardiovascular, aortic valve, stenosis, calcification, resolvin, metabololipidomics

Participants :
- Karolinska Institutet (Suède) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 185857.2 €
Projet MalusEdit (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2018)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Panel : Life Sciences
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Apple is one of the most important crop. Pathogens causing powdery mildew, fire blight, and scab represent serious threats to apple cultivation. These pathogens are mainly controlled by pesticides with a negative impact on the environment and possibly on the health of the consumers on the long term. Resistant cultivars are the most effective and sustainable means to control these threats. Resistance to pathogens is usually conferred to apples by the introgression of R-genes from wild cultivars but such approach is not durable. Suppression of genes used by pathogens for infection (S-genes) can reduce pathogen attack. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing was used to mutate S-genes but these attempts were limited to single genes and were based on the stable integration of the editing machinery preventing these plants from being accepted by customers. The main objective of this project is to use CRISPR/Cas9 to create a multi-resistant apple variety by the simultaneous mutation of S-genes which are responsible for susceptibility to powdery mildew and fire blight. The main challenge will be to introduce such mutations using a “transgene-free” approach which is not based on protoplast transformation. The innovative approach consists on delivering the editing machinery via Agrobacterium tumefaciens or particle bombardment to apple cells and then eliminate editing components after mutation using an inducible site-specific recombination-based system. The final goal is to obtain a multi-resistant, sustainable and transgene-free apple. The second objective of the project is to develop a method for regeneration of apple plants from protoplast which safeguard genetic stability during regeneration to allow genome editing in apple protoplasts using pre-assembled Cas9-sgRNA ribonucleoproteins.

Mots clés : malus x domestica, fire blight, powdery mildew, cisgenesis, crispr, cas9, agrobacterium mediated, transformation, particle bombardment, sustainable agricolture, plant disease resistance, s genes

Participants :
- Fondazione Edmund Mach (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 183473.28 €
Projet GETPolPhys (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2020)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Application of pulsed electric field (PEF) can reversibly increase the permeability of the cell membrane allowing the access of otherwise impermeable DNA molecules to the inside of the cell. Introduction of foreign DNA molecules encoding immuno-modulatory proteins, antibodies and antigens into cells using PEF, known as Gene Electro-Transfer (GET), is increasingly used for the modulation of the immune system or immunotherapy. While GET based immunotherapy presents itself as a potent application for treatment of cancer and vaccination against infectious diseases, it is suffering from low levels of transgene expressions in vivo. This low efficiency can largely be attributed to our lack of fundamental understanding of the mechanisms by which DNA molecules overcome the barriers of the extra-cellular matrix and the cell membrane in the presence of an electric field. In this action, I aim to provide this required fundamental understanding using principles of polymer physics, soft matter and statistical mechanics. Experiments based on these principles will be conducted in vitro and in vivo to generate results that can be directly compared to theories and models of DNA transport through the extra-cellular matrix and the cell membrane. Understanding the mechanisms within the frameworks of polymer physics will radically improve the efficiency of GET immunotherapy, because it will provide a mechanistic ground for developing optimum protocols within complex tissue environments that can, at the same time, be readily transferred across tissue types and species.


Participants :
- University of Ljubljana (Slovénie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 150040.32 €
Projet GEAS (Horizon 2020, appel à projets 2019)
Action : Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
Statut du projet : CLOSED

Aromas represent highly valuable substances that are widely applied in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. Although aromas are high in demand, their instability represents one of the major factors that significantly hinder their efficient application. Environmentally-friendly and effective production of aromas has been achieved through the development and implementation of the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction (SCCO2) technology. However, stabilization of aromas still represents an issue and many technologies that are being developed still fail to provide a clean, cost-effective process of stabilization. This project addresses these challenges. The goal of the project is to establish an efficient, green, and semi-continual procedure that combines the processes of production and stabilization of aromas by coupling the green technology of SCCO2 with the new generation of deep eutectic solvents (DESs). DESs are green solvents that possess high solubilization and absorption capacities and their advantages of being biodegradable, inexpensive, and adjustable make them excellent candidates for stabilization of aromas. Integration of the processes of production and preservation provides an innovative, stable, and safe product to be used in various industries and secures maximal exploitation of natural resources. Implementation of project solutions leads to the reduction in energy consumption, decrease in environmental damage caused by toxic solvents, and successfully meets the demands of the market for safer and green products. The project results will also represent new scientific findings in the area of application of green technologies and set the foundations for new research and projects for the scientific community.

Mots clés : green technologies, green solvents, supercritical carbon dioxide, deep eutectic solvents, aroma, volatile compound

Participants :
- Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 147815.04 €