An integrated genomics approach to improve our understanding of the biology of genital campylobacteriosis in beef cattle. Beef is Australia's most valuable agricultural export estimated at $9.6B annually and this industry accounts for one-third of full time employment in regional communities. Currently, unknown causes of reproductive losses in cattle in Northern Australian cost producers approximately $15M per annum. Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is one of the major risk factors associated w ....An integrated genomics approach to improve our understanding of the biology of genital campylobacteriosis in beef cattle. Beef is Australia's most valuable agricultural export estimated at $9.6B annually and this industry accounts for one-third of full time employment in regional communities. Currently, unknown causes of reproductive losses in cattle in Northern Australian cost producers approximately $15M per annum. Bovine genital campylobacteriosis is one of the major risk factors associated with this high cost due to the inability to accurately diagnose the disease. This research will integrate genomics and bioinformatics with infection and vaccination models to improve our understanding of the biology of the disease to develop appropriate control strategies securing Australia's beef industry.Read moreRead less
Engineering safer pastures for livestock. This project aims to develop subterranean clover with elevated condensed tannins in leaves. This important pasture legume is currently a bloat risk for cattle and sheep due to low condensed tannins and high soluble proteins. Bloat is a health issue that costs the Australian and New Zealand livestock industries over $200 million per annum. Condensed tannins can reduce bloat, decrease methane production and improve efficiency of production. A novel approac ....Engineering safer pastures for livestock. This project aims to develop subterranean clover with elevated condensed tannins in leaves. This important pasture legume is currently a bloat risk for cattle and sheep due to low condensed tannins and high soluble proteins. Bloat is a health issue that costs the Australian and New Zealand livestock industries over $200 million per annum. Condensed tannins can reduce bloat, decrease methane production and improve efficiency of production. A novel approach using CRISPR and other innovative molecular techniques will generate breeding lines high in condensed tannins and deliver knowledge applicable to other pasture legumes. Expected outcomes for livestock producers include improved animal welfare, reduced carbon emissions and enhanced profits.Read moreRead less
The Relevance of the Bovine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to Milk Production. The objective of this project is to provide the dairy industry with an integrated package that includes a ?dairy performance database? linked to DNA-based information to complement existing breeding practices. Our intention is increase the profitability of the dairy industry, hence making a dairy farm a sustainable venture in a deregulated environment. Profitability results from a combination of several fact ....The Relevance of the Bovine Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) to Milk Production. The objective of this project is to provide the dairy industry with an integrated package that includes a ?dairy performance database? linked to DNA-based information to complement existing breeding practices. Our intention is increase the profitability of the dairy industry, hence making a dairy farm a sustainable venture in a deregulated environment. Profitability results from a combination of several factors. The drivers of the industry include political, market, environmental, husbandry, nutrition, and genetic factors. These factors are interrelated. In this proposal, we are specifically interested in the relationship between milk yields and the DNA profile of dairy cattle.Read moreRead less
Identification of Traits and Function by Genomic Matching. Differences between individuals are largely inherited and therefore encoded within the DNA. The challenge is to develop practical means of detecting these differences irrespective of whether they are observable as a phenotype.
Here we focus on livestock. For example, most Australian cattle are horned rather than polled. The inheritance is relatively simple but there is still no DNA test to detect the recessive horning gene.
T ....Identification of Traits and Function by Genomic Matching. Differences between individuals are largely inherited and therefore encoded within the DNA. The challenge is to develop practical means of detecting these differences irrespective of whether they are observable as a phenotype.
Here we focus on livestock. For example, most Australian cattle are horned rather than polled. The inheritance is relatively simple but there is still no DNA test to detect the recessive horning gene.
The genomic matching technique is an in-house patented procedure for identifying such DNA differences. If successful, our test will assist industry to eliminate horning and thereby painful dehorning whilst reducing damage to workers and product.
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Establishment of a viable sheep dairy industry in Australia. Australia imports some $10 million/year of sheep dairy products, and has a fledgling sheep milking industry. The industry needs practical management strategies to maximise returns from milk and lambs under Australian conditions. We also need to develop typical Australian sheep dairy products. This project will:
o investigate techniques to select dairy sheep from large unselected flocks
o examine management strategies to maximise ret ....Establishment of a viable sheep dairy industry in Australia. Australia imports some $10 million/year of sheep dairy products, and has a fledgling sheep milking industry. The industry needs practical management strategies to maximise returns from milk and lambs under Australian conditions. We also need to develop typical Australian sheep dairy products. This project will:
o investigate techniques to select dairy sheep from large unselected flocks
o examine management strategies to maximise returns from milk and lambs
o study udder morphology and milk ejection patterns in dairy sheep
o develop specialty sheep milk dairy products and
o determine their acceptance by consumers by conducting market surveys.
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TSuNAMi: Time Series Network Animal Modelling. Our proposal is motivated by and based upon the successful representation of time series as a network (or graph). We construct an abstract representation of a system from measurements of its changing behaviour over time. Properties of that structure (the network) then allow us to infer diagnostic information of the system. Specifically, we propose to apply this to livestock welfare during transport. By measuring the biological and environment condi ....TSuNAMi: Time Series Network Animal Modelling. Our proposal is motivated by and based upon the successful representation of time series as a network (or graph). We construct an abstract representation of a system from measurements of its changing behaviour over time. Properties of that structure (the network) then allow us to infer diagnostic information of the system. Specifically, we propose to apply this to livestock welfare during transport. By measuring the biological and environment condition of the animal we construct a network representation of that system. Geometric features of that network can then be used to infer health or duress of the subject. This proposal will develop the generic mathematical machinery to connect geometric features of the network with system behaviour. Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0239218
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$340,000.00
Summary
Proteomics facility for biotechnology research in WA. The aim of this application is to establish a fully functional proteomics facility to underpin the future research of many groups in four WA institutions. While molecular biological research has thus far concentrated on molecular genetics, it is now vital to directly examine the patterns of proteins expressed by cells to understand their molecular mechanisms. Individual WA researchers have already ventured into proteomics, utilising facilit ....Proteomics facility for biotechnology research in WA. The aim of this application is to establish a fully functional proteomics facility to underpin the future research of many groups in four WA institutions. While molecular biological research has thus far concentrated on molecular genetics, it is now vital to directly examine the patterns of proteins expressed by cells to understand their molecular mechanisms. Individual WA researchers have already ventured into proteomics, utilising facilities located elsewhere in Australia. The reliance on other groups to conduct their proteomics, which are rapidly becoming basic techniques for competitive molecular biological research, is a serious obstacle to biotechnological research in WA.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC130100021
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,100,000.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture. Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture. This Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture will enable Australian food processing and manufacturing companies to meet the increasing threats of international competition. It will do this through collaboration between industry and the Training Centre’s food science, nutrition and engineering researchers and the development of innovative technolo ....ARC Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture. Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture. This Training Centre for Advanced Technologies in Food Manufacture will enable Australian food processing and manufacturing companies to meet the increasing threats of international competition. It will do this through collaboration between industry and the Training Centre’s food science, nutrition and engineering researchers and the development of innovative technologies.
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Initiation of spontaneous fires. This project aims to determine the origin of the initiation reactions that set off the self-heating of wood chips, coal, milk powder and other economically-important materials, leading to spontaneous fires. This project will provide fundamental understanding of the reactions between electronically excited species of oxygen and carbonaceous fuels, with applications to improved safety in wood, mineral and food industries. The outcomes include identification of the ....Initiation of spontaneous fires. This project aims to determine the origin of the initiation reactions that set off the self-heating of wood chips, coal, milk powder and other economically-important materials, leading to spontaneous fires. This project will provide fundamental understanding of the reactions between electronically excited species of oxygen and carbonaceous fuels, with applications to improved safety in wood, mineral and food industries. The outcomes include identification of the initiation mechanisms and development of mechanistic models that include the initiation step of the self-heating process, and development of new technologies for mitigation of spontaneous fires, based on quenching of the initiation reactions.Read moreRead less
Functional nano-porous metal membranes for sustainable separation in industrial processes. There are many waste streams that need to be purified which degrade conventional membranes. This project with local company AMS aims to develop nano-porous metal membranes as a sustainable alternative to conventional membrane materials. Highly porous and ultra-thin metal membrane sheets with narrowly distributed nano-scale pores will be fabricated and functionalised to purify both model and industrial wast ....Functional nano-porous metal membranes for sustainable separation in industrial processes. There are many waste streams that need to be purified which degrade conventional membranes. This project with local company AMS aims to develop nano-porous metal membranes as a sustainable alternative to conventional membrane materials. Highly porous and ultra-thin metal membrane sheets with narrowly distributed nano-scale pores will be fabricated and functionalised to purify both model and industrial wastewaters. This intends to lead to the production of stronger, more versatile and chemically stable membrane materials that will exhibit longer lifespan and performance. The most significant outcome is expected to be low cost metal alloys with pores below the current 100 nm benchmark and assess their thermo-chemical stability.Read moreRead less