Predatory protists: natural weapons for soil-borne pathogen control. This project aims to understand the mechanistic interactions of predatory protists and fungal pathogens and develop innovative biotechnologies using the protists to suppress soil-borne pathogens. By directly preying on fungal pathogens or activating plant-beneficial bacteria to combat them, the soil predatory protists will be identified, cultivated and utilised to improve disease management. Expected outcomes of this project wi ....Predatory protists: natural weapons for soil-borne pathogen control. This project aims to understand the mechanistic interactions of predatory protists and fungal pathogens and develop innovative biotechnologies using the protists to suppress soil-borne pathogens. By directly preying on fungal pathogens or activating plant-beneficial bacteria to combat them, the soil predatory protists will be identified, cultivated and utilised to improve disease management. Expected outcomes of this project will include a mechanistic understanding of the contribution of protists to pathogen suppression and an innovative, protist-based disease management tool. The novel technologies developed in this project have potentials to benefit Australian agriculture and land management.Read moreRead less
Unlocking Viral Contribution to Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycling. This project aims to investigate how soil viruses steer key nitrogen cycling microorganisms and processes, by utilising emerging approaches of viromes, DNA-stable-isotope probing, and Raman-spectroscopy-based single-cell-sorting technology. This project expects to generate new knowledge in harnessing the potential of soil viruses to improve fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency through manipulating the biological pathways of nitrogen los ....Unlocking Viral Contribution to Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycling. This project aims to investigate how soil viruses steer key nitrogen cycling microorganisms and processes, by utilising emerging approaches of viromes, DNA-stable-isotope probing, and Raman-spectroscopy-based single-cell-sorting technology. This project expects to generate new knowledge in harnessing the potential of soil viruses to improve fertiliser nitrogen use efficiency through manipulating the biological pathways of nitrogen losses from agricultural ecosystems. Expected outcomes of this project include novel and comprehensive evidence for the roles of soil viruses in controlling terrestrial nitrogen cycling processes. This should provide significant benefits to Australian agriculture and environmental management.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230101346
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$418,893.00
Summary
Cave microbial metabolism as a missing biogeochemical sink. The aim of this project is to unveil the microbial biodiversity, novel metabolic capabilities and chemosynthetic primary production of subsurface ecosystems, such as those found in caves. Leveraging a powerful blend of geospatial, molecular and biogeochemical approaches this project expects to identify the microbial basis of subsurface biogeochemical processes driving the earth’s major elementary cycles. Expected outcomes include a pred ....Cave microbial metabolism as a missing biogeochemical sink. The aim of this project is to unveil the microbial biodiversity, novel metabolic capabilities and chemosynthetic primary production of subsurface ecosystems, such as those found in caves. Leveraging a powerful blend of geospatial, molecular and biogeochemical approaches this project expects to identify the microbial basis of subsurface biogeochemical processes driving the earth’s major elementary cycles. Expected outcomes include a predictive framework to assess and upscale the impact of these microbial communities on the environment. Benefits include predicting and responding to climate risks, such as the desertification of agricultural soils, by uncovering how microorganisms respond to nutrient and carbon depletion.Read moreRead less
The mobilome of the anaerobic methanotrophic archaea Methanoperedenaceae. Microorganisms play a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate, but how they are affected by our rapidly changing environment is not well understood. This Discovery project will study a group of microorganisms found in freshwater sediment that can consume the potent greenhouse gas methane before it is released into the atmosphere. We have developed new methods to investigate how genetic material is exchanged between mic ....The mobilome of the anaerobic methanotrophic archaea Methanoperedenaceae. Microorganisms play a critical role in regulating Earth’s climate, but how they are affected by our rapidly changing environment is not well understood. This Discovery project will study a group of microorganisms found in freshwater sediment that can consume the potent greenhouse gas methane before it is released into the atmosphere. We have developed new methods to investigate how genetic material is exchanged between microorganisms, and how this helps them adapt to environmental changes. Together, this will ultimately help us develop better climate change prediction models and contribute to our understanding of microbial communities that are crucial for environmental health.Read moreRead less