Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100812
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$451,748.00
Summary
Using evolutionary theory to advance reproductive technologies. This project aims to address the global biodiversity crisis by incorporating evolutionary theory into the study of reproductive technologies. With 41% of amphibian species now threatened with extinction, this project expects to revolutionise the field, enhancing the propagation and genetic management of threatened amphibians. Specifically, incorporating evolutionary theory into the study of amphibian reproductive technologies will i ....Using evolutionary theory to advance reproductive technologies. This project aims to address the global biodiversity crisis by incorporating evolutionary theory into the study of reproductive technologies. With 41% of amphibian species now threatened with extinction, this project expects to revolutionise the field, enhancing the propagation and genetic management of threatened amphibians. Specifically, incorporating evolutionary theory into the study of amphibian reproductive technologies will increase our capacity to predict spermiation responses and identify parental-genetic incompatibilities that may compromise offspring viability. Ultimately, this novel approach will provide significant benefits by fast-tracking the development of reproductive technologies for threatened species recovery.Read moreRead less
Adaptive evolution of coleoid (cuttlefish, octopus, squid) venoms. This project represents an opportunity for biodiscovery from the venoms of cuttlefish, octopuses and squids. The independent adaptation for venom active at the subzero Arctic and Antarctic polar waters is of particular evolutionary interest. However, their divergent, bioactive compounds are also a rich drug design resource.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100542
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$355,000.00
Summary
Understanding adaptation of plants along environmental clines. This project aims to address a key debate on the relative roles of dispersal and selection on adaptation, testing how life history traits determine the magnitude of adaptation. Since dispersal should override selection, this project endeavours to show that plants that strongly disperse will display weaker signals of adaptation but a higher capacity to adapt. The project aims to test these predictions with ecological genomics and func ....Understanding adaptation of plants along environmental clines. This project aims to address a key debate on the relative roles of dispersal and selection on adaptation, testing how life history traits determine the magnitude of adaptation. Since dispersal should override selection, this project endeavours to show that plants that strongly disperse will display weaker signals of adaptation but a higher capacity to adapt. The project aims to test these predictions with ecological genomics and functional genetics at a multi-species scale across climate gradients in South Australia, using a novel design that separates dispersal (isolation-by-distance) from selection (isolation-by-ecology). This understanding will provide improved conservation planning that seeks to restore resilience to biological communities that are under increasing environmental pressures.Read moreRead less
Understanding adaptation to improve conservation of Australian flora. Using the Australian flora as our model, this project aims to tackle a central issue of evolution and conservation - what drives species adaptation? Since dispersal should override selection in populations, we predict that plants that are good dispersers will display weak signals of adaptation, but a higher capacity to adapt, than poorer dispersers. From these expectations we plan to develop a new adaptation guild classificati ....Understanding adaptation to improve conservation of Australian flora. Using the Australian flora as our model, this project aims to tackle a central issue of evolution and conservation - what drives species adaptation? Since dispersal should override selection in populations, we predict that plants that are good dispersers will display weak signals of adaptation, but a higher capacity to adapt, than poorer dispersers. From these expectations we plan to develop a new adaptation guild classification, and test predictions using ecological genomics and functional genetics at a continental and multi-species scale. In addition to progressing a central tenet of evolutionary biology, this project aims to improve seed sourcing and biodiversity management, readily applicable to plants that can be quickly classified by life history traits.Read moreRead less
Preventing and reversing population declines of northern quolls. This project seeks to develop novel effective strategies to halt and reverse declines in northern quolls by improving their ‘toad-smart’ behaviour. The spread of cane toads threaten northern quolls, which are marsupial predators. We cannot halt the toad invasion, but we can train quolls not to eat cane toads. Trained quolls can survive long term in toad-infested landscapes, and their offspring can learn not to eat toads. This proje ....Preventing and reversing population declines of northern quolls. This project seeks to develop novel effective strategies to halt and reverse declines in northern quolls by improving their ‘toad-smart’ behaviour. The spread of cane toads threaten northern quolls, which are marsupial predators. We cannot halt the toad invasion, but we can train quolls not to eat cane toads. Trained quolls can survive long term in toad-infested landscapes, and their offspring can learn not to eat toads. This project builds on this work by focusing on cultural and genetic transmission of toad-smart behaviour. The project could save numerous quoll populations from extinction.Read moreRead less
Genetic rescue, restoration and adaptation. This project aims to evaluate a promising but rarely used method of population recovery by genetically rescuing populations of two threatened Australian mammals: the mountain pygmy possum and the eastern barred bandicoot. Despite our best efforts to curb biodiversity loss, extinction rates are increasing and Australia is expected to lose a substantial proportion of its unique endemic fauna over the next 20–50 years. By tracking the phenotypic and under ....Genetic rescue, restoration and adaptation. This project aims to evaluate a promising but rarely used method of population recovery by genetically rescuing populations of two threatened Australian mammals: the mountain pygmy possum and the eastern barred bandicoot. Despite our best efforts to curb biodiversity loss, extinction rates are increasing and Australia is expected to lose a substantial proportion of its unique endemic fauna over the next 20–50 years. By tracking the phenotypic and underlying genomic changes that occur when a population undergoes a genetic rescue, the project aims to create data of interest to conservation biology.Read moreRead less
Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and ....Growing up to be supersonic: bat echolocation origins and mechanics. This project aims to address the unresolved evolutionary origins of bat echolocation. Using a unique combination of development, evolution and novel engineering testing, this project expects to generate new insights into how features of the skull have evolved to allow bats to use their senses to interact with the environment. Expected outcomes include the identification of skull features that are unique to echolocating bats and tests of how these relate to the frequency and detection range of sounds produced. Benefits include improved conservation planning for urban and rural bat populations, and potential commercial advances through engineering applications that mimic the biological process of echolocation. Read moreRead less
Pheromone attenuation: signal perception in changing atmospheric landscapes. Insects use chemical signals, or pheromones, to communicate with conspecifics. To convey information, the pheromone molecules must pass through the atmosphere and physically interact with receptors, typically located on the antennae of the receiver. Pheromones, like other organic compounds, are degraded by ozone, UV light, and radicals. While we know that pheromone plumes attenuate through the dispersal of molecules, th ....Pheromone attenuation: signal perception in changing atmospheric landscapes. Insects use chemical signals, or pheromones, to communicate with conspecifics. To convey information, the pheromone molecules must pass through the atmosphere and physically interact with receptors, typically located on the antennae of the receiver. Pheromones, like other organic compounds, are degraded by ozone, UV light, and radicals. While we know that pheromone plumes attenuate through the dispersal of molecules, the additional impact of pheromone degradation has been ignored. Our project aims to highlight the significance of odour survival for insect chemical communication by examining how atmospheric conditions, including air pollution, affects signal integrity, antennal morphology and signal perception.Read moreRead less
Seminal fluid interferon-gamma: a potential inhibitor of reproductive success. This project aims to investigate mechanisms by which infection, heat stress and psycho-social stress interfere with fertility by inducing a signalling factor in seminal fluid that suppresses female immune adaptation for pregnancy. Factors in seminal fluid in addition to sperm parameters are known to affect male reproductive success, but these are not well defined. The cytokine interferon-gamma (IFNG) is variably prese ....Seminal fluid interferon-gamma: a potential inhibitor of reproductive success. This project aims to investigate mechanisms by which infection, heat stress and psycho-social stress interfere with fertility by inducing a signalling factor in seminal fluid that suppresses female immune adaptation for pregnancy. Factors in seminal fluid in addition to sperm parameters are known to affect male reproductive success, but these are not well defined. The cytokine interferon-gamma (IFNG) is variably present in seminal plasma of several mammalian species. It was recently discovered that IFNG interferes with the female immune response required for reproductive success. This project will investigate how seminal fluid IFNG alters female immune adaptation for pregnancy. This will define how environmental factors induce seminal fluid IFNG and determine whether inhibitory effects of IFNG can be overcome with pharmacological inhibitors to boost reproductive success.Read moreRead less
The evolution of land-dwelling fish: contemporary analogues of a critical step in vertebrate evolution. One of the most important ecological transitions in the history of life was the colonization of land by fish in the Devonian. What made these fish move onto land is unknown and impossible to determine entirely from fossils. This project will test several hypotheses using living examples of fish that have made a similar transition to land.