Understanding evolution of dominant bacteria inhabiting the rodent gut . The gut microbiome is central to animal health and immune function, however we have an incomplete understanding of how this important symbiotic ecosystem evolved. By approaching this knowledge gap from a historical perspective and using real-time observation, this project will address how the gut community evolved with the rodent host and how members of that community respond to new selective pressures. The significance of ....Understanding evolution of dominant bacteria inhabiting the rodent gut . The gut microbiome is central to animal health and immune function, however we have an incomplete understanding of how this important symbiotic ecosystem evolved. By approaching this knowledge gap from a historical perspective and using real-time observation, this project will address how the gut community evolved with the rodent host and how members of that community respond to new selective pressures. The significance of these findings is in their capacity to inform our understanding of the relationship between host and microbe, not only within a key model system, but by extrapolation to other host-microbe systems. Read moreRead less
The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems fee ....The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems feeds back to regulate the spread of antibiotic resistance in microbial communities. This should advance our fundamental understanding of microbial competition, and provide a foundation for the development of new ecologically-aware strategies for managing resistance.Read moreRead less
Deciphering the coral minimal microbiome. This project aims to decipher the functions of coral-associated bacteria by taking advantage of low-diversity microbiomes that are naturally found in some coral species. A further aim is to unveil the importance of bacterial genome evolution in coral adaptation to climate change. Climate warming is the biggest threat to coral reefs with half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals dead due to recent summer heat waves. Expected outcomes are an incr ....Deciphering the coral minimal microbiome. This project aims to decipher the functions of coral-associated bacteria by taking advantage of low-diversity microbiomes that are naturally found in some coral species. A further aim is to unveil the importance of bacterial genome evolution in coral adaptation to climate change. Climate warming is the biggest threat to coral reefs with half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals dead due to recent summer heat waves. Expected outcomes are an increased understanding of how bacteria contribute to coral heat tolerance, and new knowledge to assist in the development of bacterial probiotics for enhancing coral thermal tolerance. This should provide significant benefits to the protection of the GBR and Australia’s economy.Read moreRead less
An evolutionary landscape to better predict our future climate. Soil microbial communities are the most complicated and difficult to study on Earth, but their effects on our climate are profound. This project will examine the evolution of microorganisms and their viruses in soil using novel methods. It will uncover how the evolution of one microbial species influences the evolution of other community members. It will also apply a new model of evolution to the viruses that infect these microorgan ....An evolutionary landscape to better predict our future climate. Soil microbial communities are the most complicated and difficult to study on Earth, but their effects on our climate are profound. This project will examine the evolution of microorganisms and their viruses in soil using novel methods. It will uncover how the evolution of one microbial species influences the evolution of other community members. It will also apply a new model of evolution to the viruses that infect these microorganisms, constructing a viral ‘tree of life’. This improved fundamental understanding of soil communities will be used to study climate feedback from permafrost wetlands, a key and poorly constrained input of global climate models, improving predictions of our future climate.Read moreRead less
Skin Microbes and Animal Health: Understanding the Ecological Context. This project aims to understand the fundamental ecological relationships between animal hosts (frogs, geckos) and bacteria on their skin by separating host effects from environmental factors that determine skin microbiome composition. The research is significant because it will generate new knowledge needed to understand how skin microbes function in providing protection against disease. Expected outcomes include the provisio ....Skin Microbes and Animal Health: Understanding the Ecological Context. This project aims to understand the fundamental ecological relationships between animal hosts (frogs, geckos) and bacteria on their skin by separating host effects from environmental factors that determine skin microbiome composition. The research is significant because it will generate new knowledge needed to understand how skin microbes function in providing protection against disease. Expected outcomes include the provision of essential information that will guide future research efforts on the factors that determine a healthy skin microbial community (which is needed before skin diseases can be combated). The research will provide significant benefits, including more targeted conservation efforts to combat wildlife skin diseases.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL180100036
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,011,916.00
Summary
Engineering microbes that increase coral climate resilience. This project aims to develop microbes which are able to enhance the climate resilience of corals. Coral reefs around the world are being lost at an alarming rate. Developing microbial symbionts to enhance coral climate resilience will give Australian and other coral reef ecosystems an increased chance of surviving the impact of climate change. The project will also enhance understanding of the functional roles of microbial symbionts of ....Engineering microbes that increase coral climate resilience. This project aims to develop microbes which are able to enhance the climate resilience of corals. Coral reefs around the world are being lost at an alarming rate. Developing microbial symbionts to enhance coral climate resilience will give Australian and other coral reef ecosystems an increased chance of surviving the impact of climate change. The project will also enhance understanding of the functional roles of microbial symbionts of corals, and advance the microbial symbiosis discipline globally. Expected outcomes include healthier coral reefs through the use of more climate resilient coral stock in reef conservation and restoration initiatives.Read moreRead less
Probiotics for the ocean. This project aims to investigate how bacteria can improve the growth, health and environmental adaptation of marine seaweeds (macroalgae). By using new knowledge of microbial functions and innovative approaches in experimental ecology the project will develop bacterial consortia that benefit seaweeds. It is anticipated that these bacteria will constitute novel marine probiotics that can be used to enhance and protect the performance of macroalgae in their natural enviro ....Probiotics for the ocean. This project aims to investigate how bacteria can improve the growth, health and environmental adaptation of marine seaweeds (macroalgae). By using new knowledge of microbial functions and innovative approaches in experimental ecology the project will develop bacterial consortia that benefit seaweeds. It is anticipated that these bacteria will constitute novel marine probiotics that can be used to enhance and protect the performance of macroalgae in their natural environment or in aquaculture systems. Such outcomes may contribute to safeguarding marine ecosystems against anthropogenic stressors (such as pollutants) and provide opportunities for the development of a blue economy.Read moreRead less
Atmospheric carbon fixation: a novel microbial process in Antarctic soils. This project aims to challenge our global understanding of carbon fixation. In most ecosystems, phototrophy supports higher-trophic life, yet no genetic evidence for photosynthesis exists in Antarctic desert soils. The project will determine the significance of atmospheric chemotrophy, a microbial driven process based on the consumption of atmospheric gases that it is proposed supports energy maintenance and biomass assim ....Atmospheric carbon fixation: a novel microbial process in Antarctic soils. This project aims to challenge our global understanding of carbon fixation. In most ecosystems, phototrophy supports higher-trophic life, yet no genetic evidence for photosynthesis exists in Antarctic desert soils. The project will determine the significance of atmospheric chemotrophy, a microbial driven process based on the consumption of atmospheric gases that it is proposed supports energy maintenance and biomass assimilation in nutrient-starved Antarctic desert soils. Additionally, the project will establish if these processes are structuring soil microbial communities, particularly in response to climate change. The expected project outcome is knowledge of primary production at the nutritional limits of life. This should provide significant benefit, such as a shift in our knowledge of the biological sciences as a new minimalistic mode of primary production.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101310
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$434,582.00
Summary
A unique and overlooked microbial process scavenging two greenhouse gases. This project aims to perform the first-ever systematic investigation of a novel microbial process, in which two potent gases (methane and nitric oxide) responsible for the climate change are metabolized simultaneously. This process is suggested to be universal in early and modern Earth's aquatic systems, which is a potential but overlooked microbial sink for methane and nitric oxide. By identifying the responsible organis ....A unique and overlooked microbial process scavenging two greenhouse gases. This project aims to perform the first-ever systematic investigation of a novel microbial process, in which two potent gases (methane and nitric oxide) responsible for the climate change are metabolized simultaneously. This process is suggested to be universal in early and modern Earth's aquatic systems, which is a potential but overlooked microbial sink for methane and nitric oxide. By identifying the responsible organisms and their metabolic pathway, this project represents a critical step towards a full understanding of their roles in affecting the greenhouse gas emission. This understanding will also enable us to more reliably predict the global climate change, which is one of the most significant challenges in the 21st Century.Read moreRead less
Coastal tropicalisation – adapting to novel ecosystems and trajectories. This project aims to quantify the impacts of a changing climate on key ecosystem functions of temperate reefs. As global temperate reefs respond to ocean warming, iconic and economically important kelp forests and associated fishes and invertebrates are being lost. Novel communities and never-before seen configurations of species are emerging in these systems. This project aims to characterise the new dynamics of these nove ....Coastal tropicalisation – adapting to novel ecosystems and trajectories. This project aims to quantify the impacts of a changing climate on key ecosystem functions of temperate reefs. As global temperate reefs respond to ocean warming, iconic and economically important kelp forests and associated fishes and invertebrates are being lost. Novel communities and never-before seen configurations of species are emerging in these systems. This project aims to characterise the new dynamics of these novel systems, and provide an understanding of how to maintain key ecosystem functions - primary productivity, fish production - that underpin the benefits that humans derive from our coastlines.Read moreRead less