Old genes learning new tricks: characterising regulatory changes driving increased heart complexity during vertebrate evolution. The heart has dramatically increased in morphological complexity during vertebrate evolution but the molecular basis driving these major changes remains unknown. Using comparative genomics approaches, this project will explore changes in the regulation of genes involved in heart formation that lead to changes in cardiac structure. It will elucidate for the first time t ....Old genes learning new tricks: characterising regulatory changes driving increased heart complexity during vertebrate evolution. The heart has dramatically increased in morphological complexity during vertebrate evolution but the molecular basis driving these major changes remains unknown. Using comparative genomics approaches, this project will explore changes in the regulation of genes involved in heart formation that lead to changes in cardiac structure. It will elucidate for the first time the cardiac regulatory repertoire in zebrafish and will compare it with that of fly and mouse using cutting-edge bioinformatics pipelines. This work will unravel cardiac-specific regulatory modifications that give rise to evolutionary changes. On a broader scale, it will shed new light on the role of regulatory innovations over gene innovations in the emergence of new traits.Read moreRead less
Heads or tails - which did echinoderms lose in the evolution of radial symmetry? Echinoderms, despite their unusual radial body plan, are closely related to chordates, but it is not known how this plan evolved. This project uses gene expression studies with uniquely suited Australian species to identify genes involved in radial body plan development and generate insights into origins of chordates and the vertebrate central nervous system (CNS).
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561030
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$441,100.00
Summary
Developmental Imaging Facility. This application seeks to establish a facility to undertake expression profiling in vertebrate tissues on a genomic scale and at the highest resolution. Undertaking large scale projects of this nature requires specialised robotics and dedicated infrastructure for microscopy and tissue preparation. This facility will be the first of its type in Australia will permit researchers to perform genomic scale in situ screens, many as part of large international initiative ....Developmental Imaging Facility. This application seeks to establish a facility to undertake expression profiling in vertebrate tissues on a genomic scale and at the highest resolution. Undertaking large scale projects of this nature requires specialised robotics and dedicated infrastructure for microscopy and tissue preparation. This facility will be the first of its type in Australia will permit researchers to perform genomic scale in situ screens, many as part of large international initiatives in developmental and cellular biology. This large-scale, high-resolution expression profiling infrastructure is required to maintain international competitiveness and will dramatically improve our gene discovery, functional assessment and understanding of vertebrate development.Read moreRead less
Controlling the first step of differentiation of embryonic cells. This project aims to improve understanding of how diverse cell types are generated for building the body plan of the embryo. The first step of embryonic cell lineage differentiation takes place at early gastrulation when the multipotent embryonic cells acquire the attributes of specific tissue lineages. This project intends to elucidate how inductive signals and gene function are integrated to drive the lineage choice of the naïve ....Controlling the first step of differentiation of embryonic cells. This project aims to improve understanding of how diverse cell types are generated for building the body plan of the embryo. The first step of embryonic cell lineage differentiation takes place at early gastrulation when the multipotent embryonic cells acquire the attributes of specific tissue lineages. This project intends to elucidate how inductive signals and gene function are integrated to drive the lineage choice of the naïve cells, by tracking the impact of the activity of signalling pathways and gene regulation on cell differentiation. This may deliver insights into the temporal hierarchy and functional attributes of the molecular switches that control stem cell differentiation. Expected outcomes may have applications in tissue engineering.Read moreRead less
A molecular paradigm of organ formation during embryonic development: the role of RhoGTPase. How do cells in the embryo acquire the correct shape and structure to form tissues and organs? This project will reveal the genes and proteins required for the formation of the early gut and associated organs and will enhance our understanding of how organs are constructed from the building blocks in the embryo.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100755
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,000.00
Summary
Evolution of genome architecture. The project aims to understand how changes to genome architecture over evolutionary time are linked to the diversity of animal morphology. Our genome sequence is arranged into higher order structures that enable coordinated gene expression. The appropriate expression of genes in time and space is necessary to produce the multitude of cell types that make up a multicellular organism. Yet, to date, genome topology is poorly explored, especially between species. Th ....Evolution of genome architecture. The project aims to understand how changes to genome architecture over evolutionary time are linked to the diversity of animal morphology. Our genome sequence is arranged into higher order structures that enable coordinated gene expression. The appropriate expression of genes in time and space is necessary to produce the multitude of cell types that make up a multicellular organism. Yet, to date, genome topology is poorly explored, especially between species. The project involves comparisons of the 3D structure of genomes in divergent species. These findings are expected to inform the underlying principles of gene regulation in animals and species evolution.Read moreRead less
Structure and function of a new class of multi-zinc finger (MZF) transcriptional regulators. An understanding of how genes are switched on and off during the development and lifetime of an organism is central to developing the ability to fight many diseases in a rational way. This project will advance our knowledge in this area at a fundamental molecular level by examining the mechanisms through which a specific set of proteins controls gene expression.
CD151 and functional overlap in tetraspanins. The applicants are currently world leaders in the tetraspanin field. This project will enhance existing international collaborations to maintain and increase the applicants', and hence Australia's, international standing in this field and Australia's reputation in cell and molecular biology in general.
The project will greatly increase our understanding of this important but poorly understood family of proteins. It will also provide training opport ....CD151 and functional overlap in tetraspanins. The applicants are currently world leaders in the tetraspanin field. This project will enhance existing international collaborations to maintain and increase the applicants', and hence Australia's, international standing in this field and Australia's reputation in cell and molecular biology in general.
The project will greatly increase our understanding of this important but poorly understood family of proteins. It will also provide training opportunities for postgraduate students in state-of-the-art approaches in biotechnology.Read moreRead less
Sexual antagonism and the consequences of sex-specific selection. Males and females arise from essentially the same genome yet are selected in vastly different ways. This exposes gene pools to alternate episodes of feminising- and masculinising-selection, thereby promoting Sexually Antagonistic (SA) evolution. Sex chromosomes are predicted to play an important role in SA evolution because sex-linkage allows for gender-specific gene expression, but data on the role of sex-linked genes are limited ....Sexual antagonism and the consequences of sex-specific selection. Males and females arise from essentially the same genome yet are selected in vastly different ways. This exposes gene pools to alternate episodes of feminising- and masculinising-selection, thereby promoting Sexually Antagonistic (SA) evolution. Sex chromosomes are predicted to play an important role in SA evolution because sex-linkage allows for gender-specific gene expression, but data on the role of sex-linked genes are limited to Drosophila, a male heterogametic (XY) model. This project will determine the consequences of SA selection in the butterfly Eurema hecabe (a female ZW heterogamete) using experimental evolution and the feminising endosymbiont Wolbachia to force male genomes through bouts of feminising selection.Read moreRead less
Comprehensive characterisation of DNA demethylation pathways in vivo. This project aims to provide a better understanding of the roles that DNA methylation plays during embryonic development. DNA methylation is a major regulatory mark present in vertebrate genomes. It is well established that the genomic patterns of DNA methylation are being actively remodelled during vertebrate embryogenesis. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how these events impact gene regulation and embryonic development itse ....Comprehensive characterisation of DNA demethylation pathways in vivo. This project aims to provide a better understanding of the roles that DNA methylation plays during embryonic development. DNA methylation is a major regulatory mark present in vertebrate genomes. It is well established that the genomic patterns of DNA methylation are being actively remodelled during vertebrate embryogenesis. Nevertheless, it remains unclear how these events impact gene regulation and embryonic development itself. This project expects to unravel the functional contributions of DNA methylation to vertebrate embryogenesis by using latest cutting-edge genomics techniques. The project will be carried out on the highly tractable zebrafish model system which allows for easy genetic manipulation of the desired sequences. This project aims to provide a better understanding of embryonic development of vertebrates, including humans.Read moreRead less