CGL2010-21250 - Genómica de Conservación: combinando la

Conservation genomics is a new field that is developing out of the merging of conservation genetics with ecological and evolutionary genomics. Genomic approaches, which have rapidly revolutionised all fields of biology recently, can offer important insights into a number of challenges in conservation biology. The use of genomic techniques in ecological and evolutionary studies can identify functionally important genomic variation, estimate demographic and genetic parameters in a conservation context, and help to elucidate mechanisms behind important conservation genetic processes, such as inbreeding depression. Integrating conservation genetics and ecological and evolutionary genomics will revolutionize conservation genetics in three important ways: 1) high throughput sequencing techniques will result in markers at high genome-wide density, allowing insight in genome-wide genetic variation, including sequence variation in functional genes and their regulators, at unprecedented detail; 2) the step from analyses of sequence diversity to transcriptional analyses of gene activity will allow the study of the mechanisms that are involved in (mal)adaptation in threatened populations; and 3) new genomic technologies allow to step up from the population level, the focus of conservation genetics, to community and species levels, the realm of metagenomics. The ConGenOmics programme is a European network platform for the exchange of knowledge and facilities in the context of conservation genomics. By organizing workshops, summer schools, collaborative expert meetings and an exchange program at pan-European level, the ConGenOmics programme aims to further develop the field of conservation genomics and to aid in the knowledge transfer of the technological advances and challenges among European research groups focusing specifically on applications of genomic technologies in conservation biology.
Researchers interested in the interface between genomics and conservation can attend expert meetings, research schools and apply for various travel grants to expand their knowledge on how to use ecological and evolutionary genomic techniques in conservation