Menu
MapConnectionsTopicsBulgariaThe Night (K-TRIO)Marie Skłodowska-CurieFor studentsFor teachersMethodologySurprise me
HEIndividual fellowship2022–2025

DRYLIFE · Untangling the dry limit for microbial life in rock-inhabiting communities of US Western drylands

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2022-10-01 → 2025-09-30
EU contribution
€265,099
Participants
3
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF

Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.

Results in brief

Untangling the dry limit for microbial life in rock-inhabiting communities of US Western drylands

Drylands cover 46% of Earth's surface and support 40% of the global population. These vast regions are highly sensitive to climate change, with projections suggesting they could expand to 56% of the planet by 2100 due to increasing aridity. This shift threatens to severely impact biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems—especially in areas transitioning from semi-arid to hyper-arid conditions. In the harshest environments, such as hyper-arid regions, microscopic life plays an essential role. Among these, endolithic microbes—organisms that live inside rocks—stand out for their extraordinary ability to survive and adapt under extreme stress. Four main objectives are assessed in this research: 1. Exploring the diversity of microbial communities along aridity gradients, from relatively mild drylands to the most extreme deserts. This helps expand our knowledge of microbial life, reveals new species, and offers clues about how microbial communities are distributed across different regions of the planet. 2. Investigating the genetic traits that allow rock-dwelling microbes to resist intense stress. By uncovering how these organisms cope with drought, extreme temperatures, and intense solar radiation, we gain a clearer picture of how life adapts to the planet’s harshest environments. 3. Understanding how the structure of microhabitats—particularly the physical properties of rocks, such as porosity and pore size—shapes microbial communities across diverse dryland regions. 4. Defining the physical and chemical limits that allow life to persist at the very edges of habitability. This sheds light on the resilience—and fragility—of these tiny but vital organisms in a changing world. This research is advancing understanding of how microbial communities function, adapt, and survive in dryland ecosystems—offering valuable insights into biodiversity conservation as aridity continues to rise.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The effects of global warming are particularly pronounced in drylands, leading to their fast degradation and hampering the capacity to support active life. In an era of fast desertification, DRYLIFE seeks to identify those conditions that determine the dry limit for microbial life in the US Western drylands where a temperature increase up to 3°C associated to increases in aridity is expected by the end of the century. DRYLIFE will answer the key question using endolithic communities, simple and stable microbial communities dwelling inside rocks ubiquitous in drylands worldwide, as paradigmatic model system. In hyper-arid regions, in particular, once the threshold of dry tolerability for plants and soil microbes is crossed, endoliths represent the latest possibility for life, regulating water retention and nutrient cycles and creating positive feedback for ecological successions. DRYLIFE will be carried out in leading US and EU research laboratories by undertaking an interdisciplinary approach to address fundamental questions about how tiny microbes may have global-scale impact. This bottom-up project will combine amplicon sequencing, shotgun metagenomics, micro-environmental monitoring, geomicrobiology, and machine learning. Data generated will be translated, for the first time, into predictive models to better understand endolithic communities functioning and adaptations under global change, addressing a key knowledge gap. While my previous pioneering studies on Antarctic endoliths laid the basis for DRYLIFE, this Action will broaden my research and training skills and widen my professional networks, leading to a critical career development boost as an independent researcher. DRYLIFE will likely have the potential to improve projection of future climate impact on drylands, help tackle a timely global challenge of outmost importance to the Horizon Europe program, inform the next-generation of drylands ecologists, and, finally, provide evidence for policy makers.

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DELLA TUSCIA · ViterboCoordinatorItaly
  • AGENCIA ESTATAL CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MadridSpain
  • THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA · OaklandUnited States

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union