REPEATSASMUTATORS

The biological role of tandem repeats as hypervariable modules in genomes

Coordinatore	VIB    more Spiacenti, non ci sono informazioni su questo coordinatore. Contattare Fabio per maggiori infomrazioni, grazie.
Nazionalità Coordinatore	Belgium [BE]
Totale costo	1˙753˙527 €
EC contributo	1˙753˙527 €
Programma	FP7-IDEAS-ERC Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)
Code Call	ERC-2009-StG
Funding Scheme	ERC-SG
Anno di inizio	2009
Periodo (anno-mese-giorno)	2009-12-01   -   2014-11-30

 Partecipanti

#	participant	country	role	EC contrib. [€]
1	VIB  Organization address address: Rijvisschestraat 120 city: ZWIJNAARDE - GENT postcode: 9052 contact info Titolo: Mr. Nome: Rik Cognome: Audenaert Email: send email Telefono: +32 9 244 66 11 Fax: +32 9 244 66 10	BE (ZWIJNAARDE - GENT)	hostInstitution	1˙753˙527.00
2	VIB  Organization address address: Rijvisschestraat 120 city: ZWIJNAARDE - GENT postcode: 9052 contact info Titolo: Prof. Nome: Kevin Joan Cognome: Verstrepen Email: send email Telefono: +32 16 75 1393 Fax: + 32 16 75 1391	BE (ZWIJNAARDE - GENT)	hostInstitution	1˙753˙527.00

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'Living organisms change and evolve because of mutations in their DNA. Recent findings suggest that some DNA sequences are hypervariable and evolvable , while others are extremely robust and remain constant over evolutionary timescales. The long-term goal of our research is to combine theory and experiments to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying genetic robustness and evolvability. Apart from the fundamental aspects, we also plan to explore practical facets, including swift evolution of pathogens and construction of hypervariable modules for synthetic biology. In this proposal we focus on one specific topic, namely the role of tandem repeats as hypervariable modules in genomes. Tandem repeats are short DNA sequences that are repeated head-to-tail. Such repeats have traditionally been considered as non-functional junk DNA and they are therefore mostly ignored. However, our ongoing research shows that tandem repeats often occur in coding and regulatory sequences. The repeats show mutation rates that are 10 to 10.000 fold higher than mutation rates in the rest of the genome. These frequent mutations alter the function and/or expression of genes, allowing organisms to swiftly adapt to novel environments. Hence, repeats may be a common mechanism for organisms to generate potentially beneficial variability in certain regions of the genome, while keeping other regions stable and robust (Rando and Verstrepen, Cell 128: 655; Verstrepen et al., Nature Genetics 37: 986; Verstrepen et al., Nature Microbiol. 2: 15). We propose a multidisciplinary systems approach to unravel the biological role of repeats. First, we will use bioinformatics to screen various model genomes and identify, categorize and analyze all tandem repeat loci in the model eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using this data, we will select a subset of repeats and apply experimental techniques to investigate the functional consequences of mutations in these repeats.'