Objective
Insects pollinate 80% of crop plants in Europe and pollination services contribute €22 billion to the European economy annually. The honeybee (Apis mellifera) is the most extensively managed pollinator species, yet populations are declining. Understanding the biology of the honeybee and and factors contributing to its decline is critical for food security and maintenance of biodiversity.
The honeybee has evolved a remarkable life history strategy where only one female is responsible for the majority of reproduction. The other females, the workers, forgo reproducing to care for the queen and her offspring. The presence of a reproductive queen is communicated via pheromones, arguably the most important of which is Queen Mandibular Pheromone (QMP). This pheromone inhibits ovary activity in worker bees and in its absence worker bees can activate their ovaries and lay unfertilised eggs that will become males. QMP is detected by the antennae and brain, but it is not currently known how the signal, initiated by QMP, is passed to the ovary. In this fellowship the applicant will address this fundamental gap in our knowledge by testing her hypothesis that dopamine acts to link the brain and ovary with exposure to QMP in the honeybee. The applicant will determine the role of dopamine signalling in maximising colony productivity and harmony and whether this is altered by sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoid pesticides. The experimental approach proposed in this fellowship is highly innovative as it combines state-of-the-art techniques both for measuring gene expression (RNA-seq) and for ovary culture and transplantation in honeybees. The applicant will combine these molecular approaches with behavioural ecology and colony monitoring (new skills that she will acquire under this fellowship) to understand not just how cells within the honeybee ovary respond to QMP, but how this signal affects the whole animal, its behaviour and, ultimately, the performance of the colony.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences biological sciences zoology entomology apidology
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition
- natural sciences biological sciences ecology ecosystems
- natural sciences biological sciences biological behavioural sciences behavioural ecology
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
LS2 9JT Leeds
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.