The evolution of caste determination systems in termites. Termites cause around a billion dollars of damage in Australia each year. To date, all this damage is from native species, but there is the constant threat of invasion by voracious exotics. This project will provide fundamental knowledge on the mechanism termites use to produce the distinctive worker and royal castes, and on the way colony budding arises via juvenile reproduction. This will provide the basis for novel and highly specific ....The evolution of caste determination systems in termites. Termites cause around a billion dollars of damage in Australia each year. To date, all this damage is from native species, but there is the constant threat of invasion by voracious exotics. This project will provide fundamental knowledge on the mechanism termites use to produce the distinctive worker and royal castes, and on the way colony budding arises via juvenile reproduction. This will provide the basis for novel and highly specific termite control methods that target caste determination. The existence of sterile, altruistic castes famously posed a conundrum for Darwin. This project is ground-breaking because it will provide the critical link between the theory that explains the puzzle (kin selection) and molecular biology.Read moreRead less
Seeing without eyes: the evolution of non-visual photoreceptors in vertebrates. Australia's underwater biodiversity is second to none with endemic species representing the earliest stages in vertebrate evolution, many of them relying heavily on vision for survival. Tracing the evolution of light detection and image formation will provide crucial information about the lifestyles of our vertebrate ancestors, the environmental selection pressures driving speciation and colour communication. Charact ....Seeing without eyes: the evolution of non-visual photoreceptors in vertebrates. Australia's underwater biodiversity is second to none with endemic species representing the earliest stages in vertebrate evolution, many of them relying heavily on vision for survival. Tracing the evolution of light detection and image formation will provide crucial information about the lifestyles of our vertebrate ancestors, the environmental selection pressures driving speciation and colour communication. Characterisation of optimal light environments and extra-ocular light detection will also help protect and manage endemic species in wild and captive environments. Read moreRead less
The evolution of periodic ventilation in insects. The primary outcome of this research initiative is a new approach to the understanding of the evolution of periodic ventilation in insects. It involves researchers from four Australian universities, and will showcase the strength of Australian research and the diversity of the Australian insect fauna, and demonstrate the utility of the Australian environment as a model system for the study of fundamental biological problems. The research deals wi ....The evolution of periodic ventilation in insects. The primary outcome of this research initiative is a new approach to the understanding of the evolution of periodic ventilation in insects. It involves researchers from four Australian universities, and will showcase the strength of Australian research and the diversity of the Australian insect fauna, and demonstrate the utility of the Australian environment as a model system for the study of fundamental biological problems. The research deals with the influence of microclimate on the physiology of insects. This will lead to an appreciation of the ability of these species to respond to climate change.Read moreRead less
Host provisioning by Wolbachia: re-examining the invasion potential of a common invertebrate endosymbiont. Wolbachia are often described as reproductive parasites that manipulate their host for their own gain. This study will determine for the first time how Wolbachia can help its insect host during periods of nutritional stress. As Wolbachia are able to infect host populations it will be used in the near future to control insects that transmit disease or are commercial pests. Understanding how ....Host provisioning by Wolbachia: re-examining the invasion potential of a common invertebrate endosymbiont. Wolbachia are often described as reproductive parasites that manipulate their host for their own gain. This study will determine for the first time how Wolbachia can help its insect host during periods of nutritional stress. As Wolbachia are able to infect host populations it will be used in the near future to control insects that transmit disease or are commercial pests. Understanding how Wolbachia interacts with its host, as a parasite or beneficial, will improve its application in the field. Knowing how benefits are provided to the host will improve human health in the future. As Wolbachia are needed for filarial nematode development, disrupting the beneficial mechanisms identified in this study will improve filariasis control programsRead moreRead less
The essence of being an animal: sponge allorecognition and the evolution of individuality. The human genome encodes the ability to recognise self from nonself at the cellular level. In medicine, this innate ability results in the rejection of transplanted (grafted) tissues from unrelated individuals. This project seeks to get to the evolutionary foundation of self-nonself recognition by studying this process in a simple and tractable model - a sponge from the Great Barrier Reef. Like humans, spo ....The essence of being an animal: sponge allorecognition and the evolution of individuality. The human genome encodes the ability to recognise self from nonself at the cellular level. In medicine, this innate ability results in the rejection of transplanted (grafted) tissues from unrelated individuals. This project seeks to get to the evolutionary foundation of self-nonself recognition by studying this process in a simple and tractable model - a sponge from the Great Barrier Reef. Like humans, sponges reject cells and tissues derived from another individual. By defining the genetic basis of self-recognition in sponges we reveal the antiquity of this system and the core features of histocompatibility and immunity. Such insights can inform a range of regenerative medical pursuits.Read moreRead less
The evolution of insect genitalia: phallic reversal in Australian praying mantids. This project will enhance our knowledge of the evolutionary processes that drive biodiversity within species and speciation itself. These issues are fundamental to evolutionary biology, and are of great interest for the general public. We have been extraordinarily successful in communicating our research to the public via natural history articles and films. We will continue to generate high impact publications fro ....The evolution of insect genitalia: phallic reversal in Australian praying mantids. This project will enhance our knowledge of the evolutionary processes that drive biodiversity within species and speciation itself. These issues are fundamental to evolutionary biology, and are of great interest for the general public. We have been extraordinarily successful in communicating our research to the public via natural history articles and films. We will continue to generate high impact publications from this research that will increase the international research profile of Australia in the scientific community. This project will establish international collaborations between Australia and the University of Exeter in Cornwall (UK) and provide employment and high quality training to a research associate and a research assistant. Read moreRead less