SESAME · Sex-specific and multi-generational effects of an optimized diet

It is a well-accepted concept that organisms aren’t shaped by their genes alone, but respond variedly to different environments. In recent years it has become evident that these responses to environments are in fact heritable and can be transmitted across generations. In rapidly changing environments this may have important consequences for the ability of populations to adapt and avoid extinction. To date, we know very little about the role of non-genetic mechanisms on adaptation and evolutionary processes, a gap that needs to be filled if we want to be able to understand and predict how climate change is going to affect natural populations. Here, I will harness an emerging framework for the study of dietary ecology, in which diets that maximise components of reproduction and longevity can be created, based on the amino acid content of the translated exome (i.e., the DNA sequence of the coding portions of genes) of an organism. This so-called “exome-matched” diet will help to resolve outstanding questions in the rapidly developing field of non-genetic inheritance, principally by uncovering the role of non-genetic effects in evolutionary adaptation. In addition, sex-specific effects may serve to prepare offspring for environmental conditions in a sex-specific way, but despite fundamentally different reproductive strategies the interacting roles of parental and offspring sex is so far under explored. The project builds upon my expertise with social and diet-induced effects and expands my skills into the fields of optimal nutrition and sexual conflict. Using cutting edge experimental and genomic approaches in collaboration with a major Spanish Research Centre and one of Australia’s top Universities, this project will yield high impact results in evolutionary biology, and act as a springboard for my own academic development, facilitating my transition to becoming an independent group leader.