Cracking the code of snails to elucidate parasite disease transmission. In Australia, a disease caused by liver flukes causes major economic losses to livestock production. The role of Australian pond snails as intermediate hosts for this parasite is poorly understood. This project aims to explore the phylogeography, biology and genomics of these snails. It expects to create novel molecular resources for important snail species and verify their roles as key vectors of flatworm parasites. The cur ....Cracking the code of snails to elucidate parasite disease transmission. In Australia, a disease caused by liver flukes causes major economic losses to livestock production. The role of Australian pond snails as intermediate hosts for this parasite is poorly understood. This project aims to explore the phylogeography, biology and genomics of these snails. It expects to create novel molecular resources for important snail species and verify their roles as key vectors of flatworm parasites. The curation of genomic and transcriptomic data sets, and elucidation of snail–parasite interactions will underpin the development of environmental diagnostic tests and deliver a new generation of intervention strategies to reduce the burden of liver fluke disease through the control of their snail intermediate hosts.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100594
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$447,914.00
Summary
Advancing chicken helminthology for sustainable worm control . Worm infections are a serious disease problem in free-range chicken production systems which now dominate egg production in Australia. This project aims to improve the control of worm infections of chickens by developing new tools for poultry researchers, advisors and farmers to use for this purpose. The project expects to develop novel methods for laboratory-based anthelmintic drug resistance testing, maintenance of defined worm str ....Advancing chicken helminthology for sustainable worm control . Worm infections are a serious disease problem in free-range chicken production systems which now dominate egg production in Australia. This project aims to improve the control of worm infections of chickens by developing new tools for poultry researchers, advisors and farmers to use for this purpose. The project expects to develop novel methods for laboratory-based anthelmintic drug resistance testing, maintenance of defined worm strains and diagnosis of infection. It will also determine the effectiveness of mass treatment in the field and the prevalence of anthelmintic resistance. Use of these tools and information will improve worm control and thus the productivity and welfare of free-range chickens in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less