Manipulative mothers and family feuds: evolution of maternal effects under mother-offspring conflict. Can mothers shape the lives of their offspring and their grand-offspring? Can siblings shape the lives of their brothers and sisters? This project will address how mother and offspring strategies affect current and future generations. This is crucial for understanding how mothers will direct and accelerate evolutionary change in our changing world.
Getting to the meat of the matter: social and economic issues in animal welfare in Australia's livestock industries. Animal welfare in Australia's livestock industries is an issue of increasing concern to both Australian consumers and meat and livestock producers. This project will provide an understanding of both the social and economic impacts of consumer views on animal welfare and help to foster more productive dialogue between consumers and producers.
Selective Breeding Of Pacific Oysters (Crassostrea Gigas) - Does Mantle Colour Have A Simple Genetic Basis?
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Summary
Objectives: 1. Determine whether the mantle colour has a simple genetic basis. 2. Determine whether industry can produce oysters of preferred colour by selection of brood stock in the hatchery. 3. Gather comprehensive baseline data on shell shape, volume & meat content
SCRC: PhD : Using The Mucosal Antibody Response To Recombinant Neoparamoeba Perurans Attachment Proteins To Design An Experimental Vaccine For Amoebic Gill Disease (AGD)
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100087
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$328,075.00
Summary
Internal wave breaking and mixing in the ocean. This project aims to quantify turbulent mixing in the ocean using ultra-high-resolution numerical modelling. Turbulent mixing is caused by internal waves which transport energy from the ocean boundaries into the interior, where they drive mixing of cold, deep water with warmer water above. This mixing is crucial to the ocean circulation which controls the storage of heat and carbon in the ocean, but is inadequately represented in current climate mo ....Internal wave breaking and mixing in the ocean. This project aims to quantify turbulent mixing in the ocean using ultra-high-resolution numerical modelling. Turbulent mixing is caused by internal waves which transport energy from the ocean boundaries into the interior, where they drive mixing of cold, deep water with warmer water above. This mixing is crucial to the ocean circulation which controls the storage of heat and carbon in the ocean, but is inadequately represented in current climate models. The anticipated outcome of the project is an enhanced, global-ocean model incorporating an accurate description of turbulent mixing. This should provide significant benefits to the Australian community by improving the accuracy of future climate predictions.Read moreRead less
Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. This project aims to develop a world-class global ocean-sea ice model framework through a nationwide consortium. The resulting high resolution models are expected to provide the foundation for the next decade of Australian ocean-sea ice modelling capacity. This research should lead to improved ocean and sea ice prediction, ocean reanalyses, and climate projections, enhancing Australia's capacity to pred ....Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. Eddy-resolving global ocean-sea ice modelling. This project aims to develop a world-class global ocean-sea ice model framework through a nationwide consortium. The resulting high resolution models are expected to provide the foundation for the next decade of Australian ocean-sea ice modelling capacity. This research should lead to improved ocean and sea ice prediction, ocean reanalyses, and climate projections, enhancing Australia's capacity to predict the ocean state on timescales of days to decades. This is expected to yield efficiencies in shipping, marine search and rescue and naval operations, and increase the accuracy of projected future changes in climate, sea level, ocean ecosystems and the cryosphere.Read moreRead less
Objectives: 1. Establish the causes of the annual fungus disease epizootics through a study of environmental conditions (including pollutants), pathogen densities and tolerances, and host stress
Aquafin CRC - Atlantic Salmon Aquaculture Subprogram: Model Development For Epidemiology Of Amoebic Gill Disease
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$322,051.00
Summary
The Australian salmon industry is free from the major infectious diseases affecting salmon industries in other countries. Amoebic Gill Disease is the main infectious disease affecting the salmon industry in Tasmania. While this disease occurs in other countries, it does not appear to be as severe as in Australia. The disease-related fish mortalities are greatly reduced by freshwater bathing, however the disease treatment results in greater production costs and reduces the Australian salmon in ....The Australian salmon industry is free from the major infectious diseases affecting salmon industries in other countries. Amoebic Gill Disease is the main infectious disease affecting the salmon industry in Tasmania. While this disease occurs in other countries, it does not appear to be as severe as in Australia. The disease-related fish mortalities are greatly reduced by freshwater bathing, however the disease treatment results in greater production costs and reduces the Australian salmon industry’s ability to compete in international markets. While development of a vaccine to protect against the causative agent is a desirable solution for the industry, it must be appreciated that this is a challenging task and requires a long-term view. In the meantime, the industry needs more knowledge of AGD epidemiology and more tools to improve management of fish with AGD on the farms, which would improve AGD treatment and control and decrease the risk of large outbreaks of AGD. As a direct result this should lead to reduced production costs. Improved understanding of the epidemiology of the disease will also provide a valuable basis on which to develop strategies for vaccine application in the future.
The ultimate goal is to have an AGD surveillance system in place, to provide information about the host, agent and environment which is relevant to prevention and management of the disease. The results will improve our understanding of factors contributing to AGD outbreaks and will develop a best industry practice protocol aimed at the reduction of AGD effects on the salmon industry in Tasmania. Information from the surveillance system will facilitate better decisions on the timing of treatments as well as provide long term data for analysis to identify additional management strategies aimed at minimisation of disease risks and economic impacts. Specifically, farm-level surveillance data will eventually provide a basis for measuring spatial and temporal trends in AGD occurrence in both the host and potential reservoirs as well as environmental and production factors associated with changes in AGD occurrence. Analysis of retrospective data will permit the identification of improved management strategies as well as providing farm managers with a more reliable basis on which to make decisions on prevention and control. This project will provide ways of value adding to the data collected by the salmon industry in general. It will protect individual company interests with respect to privacy of commercial information. Objectives: 1. Identification of Neoparamoeba pemaquidensis reservoirs 2. Identification of risk factors for AGD including the spatial relationship between infected and uninfected cages. 3. Development of a pilot surveillance system Read moreRead less
This project will develop methods and provide information for vaccine and novel treatment development. For example, techniques for the isolation and maintenance of N. pemaquidensis are based on monoxenic cultures. This culture is highly problematic because preparations of protozoa are contaminated with bacteria. Studies to determine cell function, protein and DNA composition have been seriously compromised by the bacteria. Culture relies on the use of agar. Cell propagation and harvesting by ....This project will develop methods and provide information for vaccine and novel treatment development. For example, techniques for the isolation and maintenance of N. pemaquidensis are based on monoxenic cultures. This culture is highly problematic because preparations of protozoa are contaminated with bacteria. Studies to determine cell function, protein and DNA composition have been seriously compromised by the bacteria. Culture relies on the use of agar. Cell propagation and harvesting by this system is time consuming and inefficient. Development of practical systems for cell factory production of N. pemaquidensis is required. This is important for studies of cell wall composition and cell function, which require considerable biomass. There is no model of infection using protozoa derived from monoxenic or xenic cultures. This represents a major limitation, particularly when it is necessary to use controlled doses of a single strain. Current methods rely on the use of N. pemaquidensis harvested from infected fish. While this strategy meets an immediate need, long-term it cannot be justified. Development of a method to grow in vitro virulent protozoa capable of infecting fish is an essential objective. The current library of N. pemaquidensis isolates obtained from fish with AGD is small and in continuous culture for almost 10 years. There is an urgent need to re-isolate N. pemaquidensis and expand the library to ensure an adequate range of phenotypes and genotypes. Preservation of N. pemaquidensis is an essential requirement of the AGD programme as it will maintain strain integrity, a vital objective for vaccine development. The complexity of growing N. pemaquidensis has proved a major limitation to studies on AGD. A centre of expertise in the culture of N. pemaquidensis should result in guaranteed supply of organism. A reference laboratory will ensure standardisation of cultures and uniformity of research outcomes. Objectives: 1. To provide a knowledge base for development of novel treatments and vaccines 2. To identify factors leading to binding of the parasite to fish gills 3. To identify gill conditions which increase the susceptibility of the fish to AGD 4. To develop techniques for in vitro work on Amoebic Gill Disease 5. To expand the library of N. pemaquidensis strains 6. To implement a long term preservation for N. pemaquidensis based on freezing technology 7. To develop improved culture systems based on monoxenic and axenic techniques 8. To develop cell factory capability to produce high density cell suspensions of N. pemaquidensis 9. To develop cell purification techniques to produce pure cell suspension of N. pemaquidensis derived from cell culture and gill associated disease. 10. To implement cell characterisation techniques for strain differentiation 11. To investigate culture strategies to develop infective strains of in vitro grown N. pemaquidensis Read moreRead less
Australian Eel Aquaculture Industry Development Strategy & Associated Investment Analysis
Funder
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Amount
$60,000.00
Summary
Before proceeding to implementation of the R&D plan, FRDC has now identified the logical next step in addressing the strategic needs of the eel aquaculture industry sector. Indeed the FRDC has determined that the R&D Plan in itself is insufficient to determine an appropriate level of R&D investment in eel aquaculture in the absence of key business and economic information. Such a nexus is consistent with the vagaries of many new and developing aquaculture species. Furthermore, there are few e ....Before proceeding to implementation of the R&D plan, FRDC has now identified the logical next step in addressing the strategic needs of the eel aquaculture industry sector. Indeed the FRDC has determined that the R&D Plan in itself is insufficient to determine an appropriate level of R&D investment in eel aquaculture in the absence of key business and economic information. Such a nexus is consistent with the vagaries of many new and developing aquaculture species. Furthermore, there are few examples/templates of such information databases to support R&D investment decisions for such new commercial entrants.
Specifically, the need to describe an appropriate industry development strategy, together with an analysis of the investment potential for eel aquaculture in Australia, is now needed. This strategy is intended to complement the R&D strategy and effectively provide the commercial rationale for further investment in eel R&D and associated industry development in Australia.
Although intended to focus on the new and developing eel aquaculture sector in Australia, the proposed analysis is expected to also address attendant issues relevant to the wild glass eel and elver fishery, recognising the need for wild seedstock to support eel aquaculture at the present time. Furthermore, the analysis will consider both existing commercially significant eel species in Australia, viz., shortfinned and longfinned eels. Objectives: 1. To analyse shortfin and longfin eel aquaculture investment potential in Australia, including development of an appropriate Decision Support Information database for Government and industry 2. To determine strategic guidelines for development of the Australian shortfin and longfin eel aquaculture industry, including evaluation of national R&D priorities. Read moreRead less