Projects

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Conservation biology of fragmented wild orchid populations: integrating genetics and ecology in a spatial context. KU Leuven

Olivier Honnay
Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation
At present, many of the research regarding the consequences of habitat fragmentation for plant species in general, and for orchids in particular, lacks an integrated, multidisciplinary approach which hampers the identification of the diverse, often antagonistic, processes and feed-back loops that affect the survival of small and isolated plant populations. Here, we propose to integrate demographic modelling, population genetics and pollination ...

Population-based next generation sequencing to elucidate the complex genetics of Alzheimer dementia. University of Antwerp

Kristel Sleegers
VIB CMN - Neurodegenerative Brain Diseases Group
Alzheimer dementia (AD) is a very common, incurable disease. Because of changing demographics, the prevalence of AD increases rapidly. Recently, nine novel genes were identified that contribute to the risk to develop AD, and due to large scale international collaborations, several more are in the pipeline. This PhD project aims to identify the genetic polymorphisms in these genes that cause the increase in AD risk. To this end, next generation ...

Complex genetics of Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. University of Antwerp

Kristel Sleegers
VIB CMN - Neurodegenerative Brain Diseases Group
Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative brain diseases are strongly disabling and ultimately fatal. Due to changing demographics and in the current absence of a cure, these diseases pose a considerable threat to both personal and public health. This project proposes to come to a better understanding of these genetically complex diseases, and to translate this knowledge into useful tools for molecular diagnostics and risk prediction. To ...

Understanding key-bottlenecks during habitat restoration: the interplay between availability of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and plant population genetic diversity. KU Leuven

Olivier Honnay
Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation
Increasing land-use intensity across Europe has brought along the loss of many natural habitats and a rapid decrease in biodiversity. There is an urgent need for solutions to alleviate these negative effects, and the restoration of degraded habitats is generally considered to be the key to halting further biodiversity loss. The restoration of self-sustainable plant populations is critical for successful habitat restoration. Two of the most ...

The effects of environmental stress on lineage sorting and population genetic structuring of keystone phytoplankton taxa Ghent University

Wim Vyverman
Department of Biology

The overall objective of this project is to contribute to a better understanding of the importance of population genetic diversity and ecophysiological differentiation within and between species for predicting (i)the resistance of phytoplankton populations to environmental change and (ii) possible trajectories of community change resulting from changing external drivers of aquatic ecosystems, in particular climate change and ...

The genetic legacy of the contemporary Belgian population using the phylogographic approach. KU Leuven

Ronny Decorte
Forensic Biomedical Sciences, Department of Imaging & Pathology, Ecology, Evolution and Biodiversity Conservation
Understanding the genetic structure of human populations is of fundamental interest to medical, forensic, historical and anthropological sciences. One of the most informative genetic markers for a human genetic study is the sex-determining Y-chromosome, which is very useful to detect population differentiation and complex historical migrations in regional areas. Moreover, the Y-chromosome creates a unique opportunity to link an informative ...

Unraveling the genetic basis of epilepsies - a population based approach. University of Antwerp

Albena Jordanova
VIB CMN - Molecular Neurogenomics, Neurogenetics Group
This project proposal aims to study the genetics of epilepsies in the population of European Romas (Gypsies). For this purpose the Neurogenetics group, Department of Molecular Genetics and the group of Prof. Luba Kalaydjieva, Center for Medical Research, Western Australian Institute for Medical Research will joint their patient collections, data and expertise to gain original knowledge of interst for the whole scientific community and for the ...

Genetic and environmental determinants of the circulation in a Flemish population - a discovery trial from microvessels to larger arteries KU Leuven

Jan Staessen
Hypertension and Cardiovascular Epidemiology, Centre for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
In this doctoral dissertation, we investigated the genetic and environment determinants of the micro- and macro-circulation. Since the diameter of the retinal microvessels was a new phenotype in our study, we first calculated the reproducibility to ensure quality and we ascertained that we could reproduce the correlates of these traits as reported in the literature. Next, we assessed the heritability and familial aggregation of the retinal ...

Population genomics of freshwater sardines in Central African lakes, and its translation into fisheries policy Hasselt University

Zoology: Biodiversity and Toxicology
Small sardine-like freshwater fishes hold the potential to feed millions of people in the Global South. Yet, the biological mechanisms underlying the adaptation and resilience of these fishes to climate change and fishing pressure are poorly understood. Genetic approaches can provide valuable insights into stock structure, demography and adaptability of fish populations, which can be used to prevent overfishing. Despite the importance of this ...

POPCAT POLICY: Development of a municipal (stray) cat policy guide and 5 lecture series on responsible municipal (stray) cat population policy. Ghent University

Christel Moons
Department of Nutrition, Genetics and Ethology

In order to strengthen the (stray) cat population policy of cities and municipalities guidelines will be developed that will support them in managing colony cats, neighbourhood stakeholder communication and monitoring of issues at stake. This project aims to provide support by identifying good practices of catching, releasing and caring for stray cats in the professional field and by researching and bringing the literature together in a ...