Variation in bacterial genomic mutation rates. Our measurement of global mutation rates will contribute to an understanding of the evolutionary properties of bacteria, the most diverse and successful organisms in the biosphere. Bacterial variation and culture richness contributes not only to ecological processes but also to emerging diseases. The studies will enhance capabilities essential in interpreting the evolution of epidemics and the kinetics of bacterial sweeps in nature. Variation also p ....Variation in bacterial genomic mutation rates. Our measurement of global mutation rates will contribute to an understanding of the evolutionary properties of bacteria, the most diverse and successful organisms in the biosphere. Bacterial variation and culture richness contributes not only to ecological processes but also to emerging diseases. The studies will enhance capabilities essential in interpreting the evolution of epidemics and the kinetics of bacterial sweeps in nature. Variation also provides the source material for exploitation of bacterial products such as antibiotics. The results from understanding a complete set of mutational changes through genomic analysis will provide the most direct estimates of variation in evolving bacteria.Read moreRead less
Investigating the Ability of Honey to Inhibit Bacterial Biofilms Found in Chronic Wounds. Chronic (non-healing) wounds are a serious health problem in Australia. One quarter of our institutionalized aged population have pressure ulcers. The difficulty in treating these wounds is that most contain communities of bacteria, called biofilms, that are not killed by conventional antibiotics. Special honeys from Australia and NZ that are effective in chronic wound treatment can eradicate these biofilms ....Investigating the Ability of Honey to Inhibit Bacterial Biofilms Found in Chronic Wounds. Chronic (non-healing) wounds are a serious health problem in Australia. One quarter of our institutionalized aged population have pressure ulcers. The difficulty in treating these wounds is that most contain communities of bacteria, called biofilms, that are not killed by conventional antibiotics. Special honeys from Australia and NZ that are effective in chronic wound treatment can eradicate these biofilms. This project will identify the components in honey that do this and determine how they do it, to provide a more effective chronic wound treatment. It will decrease the prevalence of these wounds in Australia and the associated personal trauma and health costs.Read moreRead less
Genetics and evolution of Shigella O antigens. We use genome scale sequencing techniques to sequence 26 O-antigen gene clusters from Shigella. With the seven already known, this will give sequences for every O-antigen of Shigella. This will be the first time that such set is fully sequenced. Shigella are human specific pathogens, have emerged with the evolution of humans. O-antigens are important for their life and pathogenicity. This project will greatly extend our knowledge of the genetic basi ....Genetics and evolution of Shigella O antigens. We use genome scale sequencing techniques to sequence 26 O-antigen gene clusters from Shigella. With the seven already known, this will give sequences for every O-antigen of Shigella. This will be the first time that such set is fully sequenced. Shigella are human specific pathogens, have emerged with the evolution of humans. O-antigens are important for their life and pathogenicity. This project will greatly extend our knowledge of the genetic basis and evolution of this important polymorphism. O-antigens are used for typing Shigella and also elicit strong immunity. The molecular data will help establish DNA based typing and vaccine development.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary and ecological complexity in an experimentally controlled environment. Understanding the capacity and mechanism of microbial evolution provides the framework for developing new strategies for preventing infectious disease. If we know how evolution works, it will be possible to hamper the capacity to evolve as a mechanism of preventing new diseases and controlling existing ones. This project will provide a mechanistic description of evolution in real time under controlled conditions. ....Evolutionary and ecological complexity in an experimentally controlled environment. Understanding the capacity and mechanism of microbial evolution provides the framework for developing new strategies for preventing infectious disease. If we know how evolution works, it will be possible to hamper the capacity to evolve as a mechanism of preventing new diseases and controlling existing ones. This project will provide a mechanistic description of evolution in real time under controlled conditions. This detailed information will be used in the education of the public and in debates about evolution. The project will also train at least five students in molecular and evolutionary microbiology, essential for facing future challenges.
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Functional Genomics to Predict and Enhance Response to Interferon. The increasing number and huge cost impost of new therapies to health providers, both worldwide and nationally, has not yet resulted in a concomitant increase in strategies to optimise their use. Many of the new therapies are proteins (recombinant human proteins or humanised monoclonal antibodies). The improved use of one of Australia's most expensive commonly used protein drugs, pegylated interferon ribavirin (Peg-IFN-R), could ....Functional Genomics to Predict and Enhance Response to Interferon. The increasing number and huge cost impost of new therapies to health providers, both worldwide and nationally, has not yet resulted in a concomitant increase in strategies to optimise their use. Many of the new therapies are proteins (recombinant human proteins or humanised monoclonal antibodies). The improved use of one of Australia's most expensive commonly used protein drugs, pegylated interferon ribavirin (Peg-IFN-R), could potentially produce savings to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), and improve delivery of healthcare to thousands of Australians.Read moreRead less
Economic, social and cross cultural issues in non-pharmaceutical protection of front line responders to pandemic influenza and emerging infections. The protection of front line responders in a pandemic is essential to underpin an effective response. This research is the only work internationally which will address a key gap in evidence. This research has major implications for the national stockpile and for management of front line responders in a pandemic. These data are urgently needed, not ju ....Economic, social and cross cultural issues in non-pharmaceutical protection of front line responders to pandemic influenza and emerging infections. The protection of front line responders in a pandemic is essential to underpin an effective response. This research is the only work internationally which will address a key gap in evidence. This research has major implications for the national stockpile and for management of front line responders in a pandemic. These data are urgently needed, not just in Australia, but globally to inform pandemic planning and disease control policy around emerging infections and bioterrorism.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453920
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$108,680.00
Summary
Molecular diagnostics based on real-time polymerase chain reactions for emerging tropical infectious diseases aimed at protecting Australia from invasive diseases. The project aims to use the technique of real-time polymerase chain reaction to rapidly detect and quantify the organisms associated with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases of man and animals. It will also be used to determine related gene expression.
The equipment will be used to support a wide range of projects that req ....Molecular diagnostics based on real-time polymerase chain reactions for emerging tropical infectious diseases aimed at protecting Australia from invasive diseases. The project aims to use the technique of real-time polymerase chain reaction to rapidly detect and quantify the organisms associated with emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases of man and animals. It will also be used to determine related gene expression.
The equipment will be used to support a wide range of projects that require the detection of specific RNA or DNA and it will allow the rapid, cost effective and efficient processing of either RNA or DNA from large numbers of samples. Minor variations in organisms will be detected using this equipment.
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Bacterial Proteomics: From Cell Division to Novel Antibiotic Targets. When a cell divides it is essential that each newborn cell gets a complete copy of the DNA. To ensure that this happens, cell division must be tightly controlled. It is not known how this occurs in bacteria. However, if we knew what molecules were involved in this control, we could target them to kill harmful bacteria. This project aims to identify such regulatory molecules as candidate targets for antimicrobial agents, with a ....Bacterial Proteomics: From Cell Division to Novel Antibiotic Targets. When a cell divides it is essential that each newborn cell gets a complete copy of the DNA. To ensure that this happens, cell division must be tightly controlled. It is not known how this occurs in bacteria. However, if we knew what molecules were involved in this control, we could target them to kill harmful bacteria. This project aims to identify such regulatory molecules as candidate targets for antimicrobial agents, with a view to developing powerful, novel antibiotics to protect us from the imminent threat of bioterrorism and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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Pandemic Influenza, Human Resources and Critical Infrastructure Dependencies: Mitigating The Impact on Hospitals. Pandemic planning is conducted from a health-centric model which only considers subsystems within health. This study will determine the impact of a pandemic on the hospital system by failures of human resources and external systems (such as power, finance and teleocmmunications) which comprise critical infrastructure of society. The results will enable identification of key weak poin ....Pandemic Influenza, Human Resources and Critical Infrastructure Dependencies: Mitigating The Impact on Hospitals. Pandemic planning is conducted from a health-centric model which only considers subsystems within health. This study will determine the impact of a pandemic on the hospital system by failures of human resources and external systems (such as power, finance and teleocmmunications) which comprise critical infrastructure of society. The results will enable identification of key weak points, strengthening of health systems and resilience in the event of a pandemic or other disruption.Read moreRead less
The dynamics of viral latency in chronic infection. Although many acute infections can now be controlled, we still suffer from a large number of chronic infections such as HIV or herpes that cannot be eradicated. Many of these infections persist because they can lie dormant in a 'latent' state. How this latent state is established, and how long it lasts are important to understand if we want to control these infections. We have assembled a team of mathematicians, immunologists and virologists in ....The dynamics of viral latency in chronic infection. Although many acute infections can now be controlled, we still suffer from a large number of chronic infections such as HIV or herpes that cannot be eradicated. Many of these infections persist because they can lie dormant in a 'latent' state. How this latent state is established, and how long it lasts are important to understand if we want to control these infections. We have assembled a team of mathematicians, immunologists and virologists in order to study latent infection at the cellular level, and within infected monkeys. This will provide the first insights into the dynamics of latency - how these cells are produced and die - and should lead to novel approaches to controlling chronic infection.Read moreRead less