Biologisten vuorovaikutusten huippuyksikkö

Päärahoittaja

Rahoittajan antama koodi/diaarinumero: 284666

Päärahoittajan myöntämä tuki (€)

Rahoitusohjelma

Hankkeen aikataulu

Hankkeen aloituspäivämäärä: 01.01.2015

Hankkeen päättymispäivämäärä: 31.12.2018

Tiivistelmä

With this proposal we apply for funding for next three years of our research program on Biological Interactions. Our passion emanates from the common scientific and educational interests of the principal investigators who bring together their complementary skills to combine approaches from disciplines as diverse as virology, mathematical modeling, ecology, and evolution, but centering on a single concept, that of biological interactions. We investigate interactions vertically across all levels of organization (from genes to societies and species) and horizontally within each level (between genes, between individuals etc.), to quantify evolutionary responses under different selection regimes in settings that capture real-world complexity. Conjointly we examine the influences of multiway interactions on the coevolution between biological entities, such as hosts and their parasites or predators and their prey. We have used a range of approaches, capitalizing on our expertise in the use of laboratory microcosms for experimental evolution in bacteria and their predator protozoans, viral genomics to manipulate virulence in phages and their hosts, genomics to analyze the genetic underpinning of adaptive responses to selective agents, training methods to introduce novel signals, and a range of field populations subject to long-term surveys. We have generated new theory to model the outcomes under different settings. Our work has a strong element of experimental manipulation, hence allowing conclusions regarding causalities. A particular strength in our work is that we use organisms in situ in their natural environment, or freshly collected specimens ex situ. Together we have a unique blend of complementary expertise to merge evolutionary and ecological theory and molecular biology with insights from expertly designed experiments. Our research groups are highly international, representing 12 nationalities and a good blend of members at different stages in their careers. Our study objectives also have important applied value, as the fight against diseases, invasive alien species, and solving conservation problems that ultimately rely on understanding the causalities underlying ecological processes and adaptation. A key target of ours is to gain insights in the interplay between fish farming and changes in the virulence of fish pathogens, how the colony collapse disorder of honey bees can be treated in the future and how to fight antibiotic resistance.

Vastuullinen johtaja

Päävastuullinen yksikkö

Liittyvät julkaisut ja muut tuotokset

  

  

  

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• Linking Predator Responses to Alkaloid Variability in Poison Frogs (2023) Lawrence, J. P.; et al.; A1
• Safety in Numbers : How Color Morph Frequency Affects Predation Risk in an Aposematic Moth (2021) Gordon, Swanne P.; et al.; A1; OA
• Social transmission in the wild can reduce predation pressure on novel prey signals (2021) Hämäläinen, Liisa; et al.; A1; OA
• Appearance before performance? : Nutritional constraints on life‐history traits, but not warning signal expression in aposematic moths (2020) Lindstedt, Carita; et al.; A1; OA
• Geographic mosaic of selection by avian predators on hindwing warning colour in a polymorphic aposematic moth (2020) Rönkä, Katja; et al.; A1; OA
• Gray plumage color is more cryptic than brown in snowy landscapes in a resident color polymorphic bird (2020) Koskenpato, Katja; et al.; A1; OA
• Predators’ consumption of unpalatable prey does not vary as a function of bitter taste perception (2020) Hämäläinen, Liisa; et al.; A1; OA
• Social learning within and across predator species reduces attacks on novel aposematic prey (2020) Hämäläinen, Liisa; et al.; A1; OA
• Antipredator strategies of pupae : how to avoid predation in an immobile life stage? (2019) Lindstedt, Carita; et al.; A2; OA
• Can Indirect Herbicide Exposure Modify the Response of the Colorado Potato Beetle to an Organophosphate Insecticide? (2019) Margus, Aigi; et al.; A1