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Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775503
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$255,000.00
Summary
Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement p ....Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement programs such as are based at the Waite Campus. The outputs will include crops with increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, a reduced dependence on chemical inputs such as fertilisers and improved food quality, with consequent benefits to the environment and human health and nutrition.Read moreRead less
The role of the neuronal Hu proteins in the regulation of the BMP signalling pathway. We aim to understand the critical decision of a neural progenitor to commit to becoming a neuron. The BMP signalling pathway is central in this decision. Neural progenitors appear to become insensitive to BMP signals, and this lack of signalling leads to neuronal differentiation. We hypothesise that neuronal identity is regulated by an unusual genetic switch- the translational regulation by the neuronal Hu pr ....The role of the neuronal Hu proteins in the regulation of the BMP signalling pathway. We aim to understand the critical decision of a neural progenitor to commit to becoming a neuron. The BMP signalling pathway is central in this decision. Neural progenitors appear to become insensitive to BMP signals, and this lack of signalling leads to neuronal differentiation. We hypothesise that neuronal identity is regulated by an unusual genetic switch- the translational regulation by the neuronal Hu proteins of two proteins in the BMP pathway. Verification of a post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism for cell fate determination would be a major discovery, and may prompt investigation of how to harness the neuron-inducing function of the Hu proteins to address the therapeutic need for new neurons in neurologic diseases.Read moreRead less
Small is beautiful: Did gene-rich regions of mammal chromosomes evolve from microchromosomes? Most birds and reptile genomes feature many tiny microchromosomes. These are not junk, as previously thought, but contain most of the genes. Mammals lack microchromosomes, but contain gene-rich regions with similar attributes. We suggest that microchromosomes originated by genome duplication, and evolved into the gene-rich regions of mammalian chromosomes. We will test this hypothesis by comparing seque ....Small is beautiful: Did gene-rich regions of mammal chromosomes evolve from microchromosomes? Most birds and reptile genomes feature many tiny microchromosomes. These are not junk, as previously thought, but contain most of the genes. Mammals lack microchromosomes, but contain gene-rich regions with similar attributes. We suggest that microchromosomes originated by genome duplication, and evolved into the gene-rich regions of mammalian chromosomes. We will test this hypothesis by comparing sequences and genes in microchromosomes of birds, reptiles and monotremes. This will clarify the origin and evolution of the ?microgenome?, establish its suitability as a model for vertebrate genome organisation, and demonstrate whether microchromosomes are the ancestors of the gene-rich regions of mammalian chromosomes.Read moreRead less
Defining New Building Blocks for the Construction of Artificial Genetic Circuits. By characterising the components of a natural genetic switch, we will make available a set of well defined genetic building blocks for construction of rationally designed biological circuits. The ability to build such circuits would have significant economic benefit in areas such as metabolic engineering, to improve the efficiency of production of natural compounds from micro-organisms, and in biomedicine, for the ....Defining New Building Blocks for the Construction of Artificial Genetic Circuits. By characterising the components of a natural genetic switch, we will make available a set of well defined genetic building blocks for construction of rationally designed biological circuits. The ability to build such circuits would have significant economic benefit in areas such as metabolic engineering, to improve the efficiency of production of natural compounds from micro-organisms, and in biomedicine, for the controlled release of therapeutic compounds. The involvement of Honours and Ph.D students in this project will expose the next generation of Australian scientists to this emerging discipline. International collaboration leading to publications in high impact scientific journals will enhance Australia's scientific reputation.Read moreRead less
Meiotic recombination in Neurospora crassa: a model for the process in humans and other multicellular eukaryotes. Genes are shuffled by recombination during meiosis in the sexual cycle of higher organisms. This is best understood in yeast. Our findings show Neurospora recombination differs from yeast recombination. It is more tolerant of sequence mismatch, differs in the relative frequencies of gene conversion and crossing over, has frequently interrupted conversion tracts and has transacting ge ....Meiotic recombination in Neurospora crassa: a model for the process in humans and other multicellular eukaryotes. Genes are shuffled by recombination during meiosis in the sexual cycle of higher organisms. This is best understood in yeast. Our findings show Neurospora recombination differs from yeast recombination. It is more tolerant of sequence mismatch, differs in the relative frequencies of gene conversion and crossing over, has frequently interrupted conversion tracts and has transacting genes controlling recombination hotspot activity. We propose to genetically dissect Neurospora recombination which appears to be a closer model for recombination in humans and other higher eukaryotes, where understanding recombination can assist control of genetic disease, efficient breeding in agriculture and our understanding of evolution.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$441,100.00
Summary
Developmental Imaging Facility. This application seeks to establish a facility to undertake expression profiling in vertebrate tissues on a genomic scale and at the highest resolution. Undertaking large scale projects of this nature requires specialised robotics and dedicated infrastructure for microscopy and tissue preparation. This facility will be the first of its type in Australia will permit researchers to perform genomic scale in situ screens, many as part of large international initiative ....Developmental Imaging Facility. This application seeks to establish a facility to undertake expression profiling in vertebrate tissues on a genomic scale and at the highest resolution. Undertaking large scale projects of this nature requires specialised robotics and dedicated infrastructure for microscopy and tissue preparation. This facility will be the first of its type in Australia will permit researchers to perform genomic scale in situ screens, many as part of large international initiatives in developmental and cellular biology. This large-scale, high-resolution expression profiling infrastructure is required to maintain international competitiveness and will dramatically improve our gene discovery, functional assessment and understanding of vertebrate development.Read moreRead less
Endosymbiotic DNA transfer. Interorganellar DNA movement is a major force in evolution. In higher organisms, the prokaryotic ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts donated many genes to the nucleus. Plants have unique potential in studies of the mechanisms that have driven genome evolution. We established experimentally that DNA moves from the chloroplast to the nucleus at high frequency and this provided us with a world lead in this scientifically new area. The relocated genes contribute to ....Endosymbiotic DNA transfer. Interorganellar DNA movement is a major force in evolution. In higher organisms, the prokaryotic ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts donated many genes to the nucleus. Plants have unique potential in studies of the mechanisms that have driven genome evolution. We established experimentally that DNA moves from the chloroplast to the nucleus at high frequency and this provided us with a world lead in this scientifically new area. The relocated genes contribute to the number and diversity of genes and gene function. Genetically manipulated (GM) crops use the chloroplast compartment to make high levels of protein, necessitating a full understanding of how transgenes behave within the cellular and the external environment.Read moreRead less
Trafficking of DNA between chloroplast and nucleus in higher plants. Reliably high levels of diverse proteins can be produced in plant chloroplasts. Environmental risks are considered low for chloroplast genes because they are not transmitted by pollen. However, we recently discovered that DNA escapes from the tobacco chloroplast to the nucleus with unexpectedly high frequency. The associated environmental risks require immediate investigation. This project will determine the fate of chloroplast ....Trafficking of DNA between chloroplast and nucleus in higher plants. Reliably high levels of diverse proteins can be produced in plant chloroplasts. Environmental risks are considered low for chloroplast genes because they are not transmitted by pollen. However, we recently discovered that DNA escapes from the tobacco chloroplast to the nucleus with unexpectedly high frequency. The associated environmental risks require immediate investigation. This project will determine the fate of chloroplast DNA that has moved to the nuclear genome and gain insight into the evolutionary and environmental consequences of chloroplast DNA escape. The ubiquity of DNA escape also will be studied in an edible crop with a small genome, tomato.Read moreRead less
A genomic approach to the mechanism of meiotic recombination in Neurospora. Recombination shuffles DNA sequences between homologous chromosomes during the reduction division in the life cycle of higher organisms. Along with mutation, it is a key process in evolution. Understanding of the molecular processes involved in recombination is largely based on yeast, which is intolerant of significant levels of sequence mismatch, limiting the resolution of analyses of normal recombination events. We hav ....A genomic approach to the mechanism of meiotic recombination in Neurospora. Recombination shuffles DNA sequences between homologous chromosomes during the reduction division in the life cycle of higher organisms. Along with mutation, it is a key process in evolution. Understanding of the molecular processes involved in recombination is largely based on yeast, which is intolerant of significant levels of sequence mismatch, limiting the resolution of analyses of normal recombination events. We have shown that Neurospora, like other less tractable multicellular eukaryotes, is tolerant of sequence mismatch, allowing high resolution analysis of individual recombination events. This project will build on fundamental advances we have already made in understanding how recombination occurs.Read moreRead less
Many Ys in monotremes: multiple sex chromosomes and sex determination in platypus and echidna. Platypus and Echidna are Australian icons, even featuring on our coins. Their unusual biology and ancient relationship to humans make them unique for understanding the mammalian genome, as demonstrated by our recent discovery of ten sex chromosomes in platypus that link mammal and bird sex. Still little is known about their genome, embryo development and how sex is determined. We will identify new gene ....Many Ys in monotremes: multiple sex chromosomes and sex determination in platypus and echidna. Platypus and Echidna are Australian icons, even featuring on our coins. Their unusual biology and ancient relationship to humans make them unique for understanding the mammalian genome, as demonstrated by our recent discovery of ten sex chromosomes in platypus that link mammal and bird sex. Still little is known about their genome, embryo development and how sex is determined. We will identify new genes on all ten sex chromosomes and investigate how they determine sex. The set up of an Australian Monotreme Resource Centre will be crucial for this research and attract worldwide high profile collaborations. We will answer important general questions in monotreme biology and contribute to our understanding of sexual abnormalities in humans.Read moreRead less