A Changing Climate on the Great Barrier Reef: Present and Future Implications. The Great Barrier Reef is fundamental to the economy of Australia. This national and international icon needs to be preserved in the face of a changing world to ensure on-going sustainability of our marine resources. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures, increased freshwater disrupt the sensitive symbiotic association of corals the major structure building organisms of reefs. Understanding how these enviro ....A Changing Climate on the Great Barrier Reef: Present and Future Implications. The Great Barrier Reef is fundamental to the economy of Australia. This national and international icon needs to be preserved in the face of a changing world to ensure on-going sustainability of our marine resources. Ocean acidification, warming water temperatures, increased freshwater disrupt the sensitive symbiotic association of corals the major structure building organisms of reefs. Understanding how these environmental stressors result in the decrease in coral health is fundamental to prevent loss of our coral reefs and an important step towards preserving them for future generations.Read moreRead less
Tracking the molecular dynamics of adaptation with horizontal gene transfer. This project aims to track the dynamics of adaptation with gene exchange by building the first experimental evolution model that can directly observe this process. The acquisition of genes from other strains and species (horizontal gene transfer) frequently underlies bacterial adaptation, but it is unknown how this occurs. This project aims to shift understanding of how microbial populations respond to environmental cha ....Tracking the molecular dynamics of adaptation with horizontal gene transfer. This project aims to track the dynamics of adaptation with gene exchange by building the first experimental evolution model that can directly observe this process. The acquisition of genes from other strains and species (horizontal gene transfer) frequently underlies bacterial adaptation, but it is unknown how this occurs. This project aims to shift understanding of how microbial populations respond to environmental challenges. There are significant benefits to be gained from understanding how microbes adapt in response to climate change and the widespread application of antibiotics, given that microbial populations form intimate associations with humans and sustain all of the world’s ecosystems.Read moreRead less
Deciphering the coral minimal microbiome. This project aims to decipher the functions of coral-associated bacteria by taking advantage of low-diversity microbiomes that are naturally found in some coral species. A further aim is to unveil the importance of bacterial genome evolution in coral adaptation to climate change. Climate warming is the biggest threat to coral reefs with half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals dead due to recent summer heat waves. Expected outcomes are an incr ....Deciphering the coral minimal microbiome. This project aims to decipher the functions of coral-associated bacteria by taking advantage of low-diversity microbiomes that are naturally found in some coral species. A further aim is to unveil the importance of bacterial genome evolution in coral adaptation to climate change. Climate warming is the biggest threat to coral reefs with half of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) corals dead due to recent summer heat waves. Expected outcomes are an increased understanding of how bacteria contribute to coral heat tolerance, and new knowledge to assist in the development of bacterial probiotics for enhancing coral thermal tolerance. This should provide significant benefits to the protection of the GBR and Australia’s economy.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL180100036
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,011,916.00
Summary
Engineering microbes that increase coral climate resilience. This project aims to develop microbes which are able to enhance the climate resilience of corals. Coral reefs around the world are being lost at an alarming rate. Developing microbial symbionts to enhance coral climate resilience will give Australian and other coral reef ecosystems an increased chance of surviving the impact of climate change. The project will also enhance understanding of the functional roles of microbial symbionts of ....Engineering microbes that increase coral climate resilience. This project aims to develop microbes which are able to enhance the climate resilience of corals. Coral reefs around the world are being lost at an alarming rate. Developing microbial symbionts to enhance coral climate resilience will give Australian and other coral reef ecosystems an increased chance of surviving the impact of climate change. The project will also enhance understanding of the functional roles of microbial symbionts of corals, and advance the microbial symbiosis discipline globally. Expected outcomes include healthier coral reefs through the use of more climate resilient coral stock in reef conservation and restoration initiatives.Read moreRead less
New tools to decipher, predict and manage pacific oyster mortality episodes. This project aims to unite cutting-edge genomic and molecular biological tools with novel quantitative modelling analyses to identify the mechanisms behind oyster disease events. Oyster farming contributes almost $100 million to the Australian economy each year and is a cornerstone of coastal communities, but has been decimated by diseases that threaten this important primary industry. While some causative pathogens hav ....New tools to decipher, predict and manage pacific oyster mortality episodes. This project aims to unite cutting-edge genomic and molecular biological tools with novel quantitative modelling analyses to identify the mechanisms behind oyster disease events. Oyster farming contributes almost $100 million to the Australian economy each year and is a cornerstone of coastal communities, but has been decimated by diseases that threaten this important primary industry. While some causative pathogens have been identified, the environmental catalysts of oyster disease remain a mystery. The expected outcome of this project is an innovative coupling of tools that provides new capacity to forecast disease events, delivering the Australian oyster industry a powerful platform to predict, manage and prevent costly disease outbreaks. By identifying environmental thresholds and oyster disease danger periods, an expected outcome of this project is the development of new oyster farming strategies aimed at avoiding multi-million dollar losses associated with disease outbreaks.Read moreRead less
Enhanced coral stress tolerance via manipulation of prokaryotic symbionts. The project aims to develop a novel approach to improve environmental stress tolerance in corals. Coral reefs are under threat from a range of stressors that have led to massive declines in coral cover and health worldwide. There is now great concern that the rate of environmental change is outpacing the natural capacity of corals to acclimatise, adapt and survive. Although it is important to address the root causes of cl ....Enhanced coral stress tolerance via manipulation of prokaryotic symbionts. The project aims to develop a novel approach to improve environmental stress tolerance in corals. Coral reefs are under threat from a range of stressors that have led to massive declines in coral cover and health worldwide. There is now great concern that the rate of environmental change is outpacing the natural capacity of corals to acclimatise, adapt and survive. Although it is important to address the root causes of climate change, a focus on strategies to mitigate its impacts is also required. This project explores the potential to augment the capacity of corals to tolerate stress through the manipulation of their associated prokaryotic communities. This project may result in novel coral reef restoration approaches.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100127
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$300,000.00
Summary
High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (Orbitrap) for analyses of polar compounds in biomass, petroleum, potable and reclaimed water. Climate change and human impact can harm sensitive ecosystems, significantly threatening Australian biodiversity and water resources. Chemical and biological characterisation of aquatic and terrestrial environments is paramount to assessing and responding to these threats, as well as assisting natural resource utilisation. The high structural pola ....High resolution liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (Orbitrap) for analyses of polar compounds in biomass, petroleum, potable and reclaimed water. Climate change and human impact can harm sensitive ecosystems, significantly threatening Australian biodiversity and water resources. Chemical and biological characterisation of aquatic and terrestrial environments is paramount to assessing and responding to these threats, as well as assisting natural resource utilisation. The high structural polarity of many environmentally occurring organics from biological, petroleum and anthropogenic sources, unamenable to gas chromatographic resolution, can now be accommodated by the advanced organic analytical technology sought in this proposal. This project will enable scholars and young professionals to be skilled in state-of-the-art technology, and prepare quality scientists, ready for employment.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100025
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,000.00
Summary
A high-throughput screening and sequencing facility for single cell genomics. Genomics has revolutionised biology, but for most microorganisms this revolution has not arrived because very few can be grown in pure culture. The single cell genomics facility will address this major bottleneck by allowing as little as a single cell in a clinical or environmental setting to be sequenced thereby accelerating new discoveries and outcomes.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101029
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$462,763.00
Summary
A global exploration of microbial carbon breakdown in wetland ecosystems. This project aims to investigate how plant litter breakdown in wetlands controls soil carbon preservation by identifying the climatic, environmental and microbial drivers of decomposition on a global scale. This project will generate new knowledge in the area of freshwater and coastal wetland ecology using interdisciplinary approaches in biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Outcomes of this project include novel global d ....A global exploration of microbial carbon breakdown in wetland ecosystems. This project aims to investigate how plant litter breakdown in wetlands controls soil carbon preservation by identifying the climatic, environmental and microbial drivers of decomposition on a global scale. This project will generate new knowledge in the area of freshwater and coastal wetland ecology using interdisciplinary approaches in biogeochemistry and microbial ecology. Outcomes of this project include novel global datasets that will identify why some wetlands preserve carbon better than others and what management practices can enhance sequestration capacity. This should provide significant benefits, including advancing carbon-cycling models and predictions, and improving capacity to manage and restore wetland function.Read moreRead less
Formation and stabilisation of coastal blue carbon. Blue carbon is organic carbon stored within coastal vegetated ecosystems. This project will examine the composition, formation and dynamics of blue carbon in a range of coastal ecosystems. Combining advanced analytical chemistry with environmental microbiology, we will discover how blue carbon is stabilised and destabilised, a critical factor in nature-based climate change mitigation strategies. Further, we will gain a quantitative understandin ....Formation and stabilisation of coastal blue carbon. Blue carbon is organic carbon stored within coastal vegetated ecosystems. This project will examine the composition, formation and dynamics of blue carbon in a range of coastal ecosystems. Combining advanced analytical chemistry with environmental microbiology, we will discover how blue carbon is stabilised and destabilised, a critical factor in nature-based climate change mitigation strategies. Further, we will gain a quantitative understanding of blue carbon contributions to carbon cycling, providing enhanced modeling and prediction of climate-cycle feedbacks in response to biotic and environmental change. This research will significantly benefit Australia’s effective management of coastal vegetated ecosystems for maximum carbon offsets.Read moreRead less