Modelling stress-induced transposon activity

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Overview

The project aims to perform a bioinformatic and experimental analysis of dynamics proliferation of transposons (TE) in the presence of environmental stress conditions. Within the project we intend to develop a computational model describing the relationship between changes in the genomes of organisms, caused by the activity of mobile genetic elements, and the level of their adaptation to a changing environment.

We also plan to perform experimental analysis based on plant genomes: we will examine the activity of transposons in higher organisms by a comparative study on the number and distribution of selected families of transposons in the Medicago truncatula genome. The data will come from cultured plant cells exposed to physiological stress.

Moreover, we intend to develop algorithms and data structures to represent knowledge about the activities of the various TE families. Next, we will focus on inferring optimal evolutionary scenarios that enable us to identify the chronology of transposon activity.

The obtained experimental data will be used for verification of the TE proliferation model and to allow for testing hypotheses concerning the impact of TE activity on the adaptation of organisms.