The aim of my current project is to understand the molecular mechanisms that may allow the survival and adaptation of earthworms under the changing environmental conditions derived from Climate Change (primarily heat and hydric stress) in the short term (acclimation: physiological response and gene expression) and the long-term (adaptive response: positive selection and molecules evolution) and to identify potential molecular biomarkers for future assessment of other populations/species of earthworms or different invertebrates. Within the project we will study: i) the relationships among genomic
(SNPs) and climatic variation in earthworm populations of some species inhabiting locations with differences in precipitation and heat patterns. Those species possessing genetic variation associated to climate would have a greater chance to survive and adapt to future changes; ii) the molecular mechanisms that regulate the aestivation in earthworms, as a physiological response under heat ad hydric stress; iii) some of the potential biochemical tools of earthworms against Climate Change, through the evolutionary and functional analysis of small Heat Shock Proteins (sHSPs). The results will allow to better understand the mechanisms of adaptation and acclimation of soil invertebrates to some of the environmental challenges associated with the Climate Change, as well as identify relevant molecular markers to be used as bioindicators under those conditions. Genomic, epigenomic and transcriptomic data will be generated that
will provide an overview of the adaptive processes but will also serve as valuable genetic information sources for this ecologically relevant group of organisms.