Lake Tanganyika Cichlids (Cichlidae)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) project in the group of Prof. Walter Salzburger at the University of Basel, Switzerland

DIFFER – Determinants of genetic diversity: Important Factors For Ecosystem Resilience

Genetic diversity plays an instrumental role in adaptation to environmental changes and to ecosystem resilience. However, our knowledge of the determinants of genetic diversity is still limited. A wide range of potential determinants have been proposed such as population size, mutation, selection, speciation rate, recombination, life history and ecological characteristics. The EU-funded DIFFER project proposes a combination of advanced genomic techniques with a highly suitable model system to examine the role of all the above-mentioned potential determinants of genetic diversity. The project will focus on the more than 200 endemic cichlid fish species of East Africa’s Lake Tanganyika that offer an ideal base for comparative analyses due to their unique features.

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Publications

Heuertz M, Carvalho SB, Galindo J, Rinkevich B, Robakowski P, Aavik T, Altinok I, Barth JMI, Cotrim H, Goessen R, González-Martínez SC, Grebenc T, Hoban S, Kopatz A, McMahon BJ, Porth I, Raeymaekers JAM, Träger S, Valdecantos A, Vella A, Vernesi C, Garnier-Géré P. The application gap: Genomics for biodiversity and ecosystem service management. Biological Conservation (2023) 278: 109883 doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109883 Download pdf.     Go to journal.