The structure and function of cyanobacterial carboxysome multi-protein complexes and their role in carbon sequestration in cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are important contributors to global photosynthesis and have evolved unique mechanisms for capturing CO2 from their aquatic environments. Understanding these molecular mechanisms is important for both predicting how cyanobacteria affect carbon fixation at the global scale, and how their genetic specialisation may be used for improving photosynthe ....The structure and function of cyanobacterial carboxysome multi-protein complexes and their role in carbon sequestration in cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are important contributors to global photosynthesis and have evolved unique mechanisms for capturing CO2 from their aquatic environments. Understanding these molecular mechanisms is important for both predicting how cyanobacteria affect carbon fixation at the global scale, and how their genetic specialisation may be used for improving photosynthesis in agricultural plants. This project aims to examine one particular aspect of this specialisation, the multi-protein carboxysome complex, where CO2 fixation occurs. Using recent whole-genome information we will take a proteogenomic approach to understanding the structure and function of the carboxysome and how it contributes to the photosynthesis of the cell.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668487
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$553,000.00
Summary
Plant Phenomics Imaging and Analysis Facility. The Australian plant science community faces a major challenge in being able to comprehensively characterise the performance or phenotype of plants in a high throughput manner necessary for post-genomic era science with model plant species, smart-breeding of crop plants and to assess plant-environment interactions. Our capacity to accurately 'phenotype' either a new mutant or a new variety has fallen behind out capacity to generate novel genetic mat ....Plant Phenomics Imaging and Analysis Facility. The Australian plant science community faces a major challenge in being able to comprehensively characterise the performance or phenotype of plants in a high throughput manner necessary for post-genomic era science with model plant species, smart-breeding of crop plants and to assess plant-environment interactions. Our capacity to accurately 'phenotype' either a new mutant or a new variety has fallen behind out capacity to generate novel genetic material. This facility will significantly boost research outputs across a range of disciplines pivotal to Australia's future agricultural plant productivity and environmental sustainability. Read moreRead less
Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell su ....Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell surface proteins. These characteristics are precisely those we might expect to be responsible for interactions between plants and bacteria. This project aims to examine a large collection of xanthomonads for integrons, and determine whether particular integron gene contents are associated with host-pathogen specificity.
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Control of Wolbachia replication: maintaining a stable symbiosis. This project will use a comparative genomics approach to better understand how Wolbachia infections of insects are able to maintain themselves in insects without causing pathology. The results will allow us to better understand a distinguishing characteristic of an intracellular symbiont, namely replication control. The results also have the potential to lead to new approaches to insect pest control through a better understanding ....Control of Wolbachia replication: maintaining a stable symbiosis. This project will use a comparative genomics approach to better understand how Wolbachia infections of insects are able to maintain themselves in insects without causing pathology. The results will allow us to better understand a distinguishing characteristic of an intracellular symbiont, namely replication control. The results also have the potential to lead to new approaches to insect pest control through a better understanding of how Wolbachia might be used to skew insect population age structure.Read moreRead less
Novel Chlorophylls and New Directions in Photosynthesis. Understanding how solar energy is used in photosynthesis is of global importance and will contribute to cutting-edge photosynthetic research by Australian scientists. We aim to discover how and why the key photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls, are synthesised and used; this will provide new opportunities for breakthroughs in frontier technologies, such as photoelectric cells based on carbon rather than silicon. We aim to understand how no ....Novel Chlorophylls and New Directions in Photosynthesis. Understanding how solar energy is used in photosynthesis is of global importance and will contribute to cutting-edge photosynthetic research by Australian scientists. We aim to discover how and why the key photosynthetic pigments, chlorophylls, are synthesised and used; this will provide new opportunities for breakthroughs in frontier technologies, such as photoelectric cells based on carbon rather than silicon. We aim to understand how novel chlorophylls are used in a variety of important organisms in a range of ecological niches. The results will aid understanding of the effects of global climate change on coral reefs, in open-ocean systems and in other important biological communities.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989589
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$550,000.00
Summary
A massively parallel genome analysis facility for the ACT region. Maintaining a healthy environment, supporting a sustainable agriculture industry and providing excellent healthcare are three key requirements for the future of Australia and Australians. Modern biological research has a major role to play in all three areas. The success and application of this research requires a serious investment in the new technologies that enable a systems-wide high throughput approach to biological questions ....A massively parallel genome analysis facility for the ACT region. Maintaining a healthy environment, supporting a sustainable agriculture industry and providing excellent healthcare are three key requirements for the future of Australia and Australians. Modern biological research has a major role to play in all three areas. The success and application of this research requires a serious investment in the new technologies that enable a systems-wide high throughput approach to biological questions. Co-investing in a massively parallel genome analysis facility to underpin cutting edge environmental, agricultural and biomedical research in the ACT region, will facilitate progress in areas of the utmost importance to the community and future of the nation.Read moreRead less
Molecular mechanisms of spectral extension in photosynthesis: the substitution and formation of the novel pigment chlorophyll d. This project builds on new discoveries of novel chlorophylls and how their spectral properties are fine-tuned in photosynthetic bacteria. We will focus on how key photopigments, the chlorophylls, are biosynthesised, including their enzyme structures, mechanisms and regulatory elements. Understanding the power of natural selection on spectral extension in photosynthesis ....Molecular mechanisms of spectral extension in photosynthesis: the substitution and formation of the novel pigment chlorophyll d. This project builds on new discoveries of novel chlorophylls and how their spectral properties are fine-tuned in photosynthetic bacteria. We will focus on how key photopigments, the chlorophylls, are biosynthesised, including their enzyme structures, mechanisms and regulatory elements. Understanding the power of natural selection on spectral extension in photosynthesis will shed light on the evolutionary development of photopigments, and will allow us explore the possibilities for the production of new pigments in solar energy research.Read moreRead less
Molecular Genetic Analysis of Genes Regulating Metabolism in the Fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Filamentous fungi can use a wide variety of sources of carbon and nitrogen. In order to grow on these compounds metabolism is adjusted in response to changes in nutrient availability. Patterns of genome expression are altered by signalling to global regulatory genes which control the transcription of genes producing enzymes appropriate to the substrates available. This is of fundamental significance to ....Molecular Genetic Analysis of Genes Regulating Metabolism in the Fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Filamentous fungi can use a wide variety of sources of carbon and nitrogen. In order to grow on these compounds metabolism is adjusted in response to changes in nutrient availability. Patterns of genome expression are altered by signalling to global regulatory genes which control the transcription of genes producing enzymes appropriate to the substrates available. This is of fundamental significance to the physiology and development of fungi which include devastating pathogens and species used in industrial microbiology. This project aims to use the excellent molecular genetics of the model fungus Aspergillus nidulans to investigate the strategies employed and the mechanisms involved.Read moreRead less
Efficient organelle transformation. Chloroplasts and mitochondria are the powerhouses of plant and animal cells. Ability to express introduced genes in these organelles has enormous biotechnological potential in agriculture and medicine, but practical development has been almost stalled for 15 years by very low transformation efficiency. Plastid transformation is today routine only in tobacco; and mitochondrial transformation has been achieved only in yeasts and algae. We have developed a soluti ....Efficient organelle transformation. Chloroplasts and mitochondria are the powerhouses of plant and animal cells. Ability to express introduced genes in these organelles has enormous biotechnological potential in agriculture and medicine, but practical development has been almost stalled for 15 years by very low transformation efficiency. Plastid transformation is today routine only in tobacco; and mitochondrial transformation has been achieved only in yeasts and algae. We have developed a solution, and achieved the key technical requirements for proof of concept. This collaboration between industry, government and university partners will deliver key Australian-owned IP, for environmentally-friendly plant biofactories, and for treatment of mitochondrial genetic disorders.Read moreRead less
Identification of transcription factor genes involved in the regulation of aspects of photosynthetic capacity in plants. There is increasing evidence to suggest that we may be reaching a yield plateau with many agricultural plants and that future avenues for yield increases may depend on increases in photosynthetic capacity per unit leaf area. Molecular genetic technology offers the promise of the direct manipulation of photosynthetic gene expression to increase photosynthetic capacity. This pro ....Identification of transcription factor genes involved in the regulation of aspects of photosynthetic capacity in plants. There is increasing evidence to suggest that we may be reaching a yield plateau with many agricultural plants and that future avenues for yield increases may depend on increases in photosynthetic capacity per unit leaf area. Molecular genetic technology offers the promise of the direct manipulation of photosynthetic gene expression to increase photosynthetic capacity. This project aims to understand one important part of genetic regulation, the transcription factors, that may determine aspects of photosynthetic capacity. Altered expression of these transcription factors in transgenic plants will be used to test the their ability to control photosynthesis and generate agricultural intellectual property.Read moreRead less