Projects
Host-symbiotic microbial community interaction and adaptation to environmental stress in the water flea Daphnia KU Leuven
Every organism is host to a diverse and dynamic symbiotic microbial community (SMC). The wide array of genotypes presented by SMCs and their ability to adapt rapidly to novel conditions combined with host control over the microbiota could help to maximize host fitness. Further, the nature and outcome of these symbiotic interactions are often context-dependent. Using exposure to toxic substances of natural and anthropogenic origin as key ...
Integration of Plant Organellar Communication Under Environmental Stress Ghent University
Environmental challenges such as drought and intense sunlight negatively affect plant growth, which can decrease agricultural production and cost the European economy billions of euros. Therefore it is important to understand how plants cope with drought stress. Researchers have found that different parts of the plant cell can respond to environmental stress using different molecular signals that collectively affect behavior of the plant. ...
Acute effects of the physical and social environment on anxiety and perceived stress and their impact on walking levels in people with epilepsy Ghent University
Many people with epilepsy (PWE) do not meet the physical activity (PA) guidelines. However, PA has antiepileptic and anxiolytic effects, which is of utmost importance for PWE, since stress and anxiety are very common triggers of seizures. Walking is an accessible and feasible way to be active. The physical and social environment positively influences walking levels in the general population. Therefore, this project will examine how PA (more ...
Unraveling the effects of maternal metabolic stress on the uterine environment: focusing on the importance of extracellular vesicles for pre-implantation embryo development in a dairy cow model. University of Antwerp
NUCLEAR OXIDATIVE STRESS SIGNALING (NUCLEOX): DECODING ROS SIGNALS DURING STRESS Ghent University
Cellular homeostasis is driven by reduction-oxidation (redox) systems. A fine-tuned interaction between reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and a diversified antioxidant system shapes the redox state of cells, which is highly responsive to environmental perturbations in plants. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is the most efficient signalling ROS molecule due to its relative stability and ability to migrate within and between cells. ...
Stress and stress regulation in children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities KU Leuven
The project’s main aim is to unravel the role and mechanisms of stress regulation in children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). First, the way in which these children experience sensory stimuli and respond to them, as well as how these contribute to their general stress level will be studied. Secondly, it will be evaluated in which way high quality interactions which are attuned to the needs of persons with PIMD can ...
For better and for worse: Examining Environmental Sensitivity in adolescence at multiple levels of analysis and across development. KU Leuven
Children and adolescents differ in their ability to perceive and process information about their environment, that is in their environmental sensitivity (Pluess et al., 2018). Approximately 20 to 30% of individuals appear generally more sensitive than others, which means that they are more susceptible to characteristics of their developmental context (Pluess, 2015), such as the quality of parenting (Slagt et al., 2016). The overarching aim of ...
The calm before the storm? Biotic responses to climate and environmental change in the final chapter of the Cretaceous Period Vrije Universiteit Brussel
caused the sudden biodiversity decline known as the CretaceousPaleogene boundary mass extinction, various studies have
suggested that gradual, but distinct, environmental changes related
to the terminal Cretaceous phase of the Deccan Traps Large Igneous
Province led to an accumulation of ecological stress in the last 0.5
million years before the ...
Environmental modulation of meiotic recombination and ploidy reduction in plants – relevance, molecular factors and hormonal regulation Ghent University
In eukaryotic organisms, meiosis is an essential part of sexual reproduction as it shuffles the parental genetic information and forms the basis for haploid spore formation. The level of genetic exchange between parental chromosomes in meiosis is tightly regulated and involves the orchestrated action of several ‘recombination’ proteins. Recent studies in yeast and metazoans have revealed an additional role for the environment. More ...