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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Synthesis and assembly of bacterial repeat unit polysaccharides. Bacteria make an enormous range of surface polysaccharides. The complexity was first appreciated as antigenic diversity, but we now have hundreds of chemical structures and perhaps a hundred sequences of their gene clusters, but the number in nature must be many thousands. Our knowledge of gene function is growing but is not keeping up with the discovery of new sequences and structures. The aim is to determine structure and functio ....Synthesis and assembly of bacterial repeat unit polysaccharides. Bacteria make an enormous range of surface polysaccharides. The complexity was first appreciated as antigenic diversity, but we now have hundreds of chemical structures and perhaps a hundred sequences of their gene clusters, but the number in nature must be many thousands. Our knowledge of gene function is growing but is not keeping up with the discovery of new sequences and structures. The aim is to determine structure and function of key O antigen processing genes and the functions of a range of glycosyl transferases, and to use the information to generate novel gene clusters to synthesise novel polysaccharidesRead moreRead less
Elucidation of bacterial glycosylytransferase specificity. The benefits are involvement in the growth area of polysaccharide research, with potential for major industrial spin off. Polysaccharides are critical in all organisms as signalling, structural and storage compounds. Bacteria make a wide variety with extensive use of unusual sugars, some with uses from oil emulsifiers to food thickeners. The project is on the enzymes that assemble bacterial polysaccharides. We are world leaders in genet ....Elucidation of bacterial glycosylytransferase specificity. The benefits are involvement in the growth area of polysaccharide research, with potential for major industrial spin off. Polysaccharides are critical in all organisms as signalling, structural and storage compounds. Bacteria make a wide variety with extensive use of unusual sugars, some with uses from oil emulsifiers to food thickeners. The project is on the enzymes that assemble bacterial polysaccharides. We are world leaders in genetics of the gene clusters especially synthesis of the unusual sugars. We now aim to fill a major gap by determining which enzymes make which bonds, leading to options for new gene combinations and novel structures. We have a lead in research in this area and Australia gains if we maintain that lead.Read moreRead less
Directed evolution of ancestral bacterial flagellar motors. This project aims to produce new knowledge concerning the adaptation of bacterial species to wide environmental changes. The bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) is a motor 40 nanometers in diameter that builds itself into bacterial membranes, rotates five times faster than a Formula One engine, and switches directions in milliseconds. . This project will combine ancestral reconstruction of ancient motor components with protein engineering t ....Directed evolution of ancestral bacterial flagellar motors. This project aims to produce new knowledge concerning the adaptation of bacterial species to wide environmental changes. The bacterial flagellar motor (BFM) is a motor 40 nanometers in diameter that builds itself into bacterial membranes, rotates five times faster than a Formula One engine, and switches directions in milliseconds. . This project will combine ancestral reconstruction of ancient motor components with protein engineering to understand how the different ion channels that power the BFM in different species are selective for different positive ions. It will inspire and inform future manufacturing in bionanotechnology.Read moreRead less
Rerunning the evolution of an ancient bacterial propeller. This project aims to measure how the propeller which drives bacterial swimming originated and then evolved. This project expects to generate new knowledge in molecular evolution using interdisciplinary techniques in synthetic biology and biophysics to resurrect ancient proteins and test how they can be directed to evolve in a contemporary host. Expected outcomes include the development of new types of flagellar motor for applied uses in ....Rerunning the evolution of an ancient bacterial propeller. This project aims to measure how the propeller which drives bacterial swimming originated and then evolved. This project expects to generate new knowledge in molecular evolution using interdisciplinary techniques in synthetic biology and biophysics to resurrect ancient proteins and test how they can be directed to evolve in a contemporary host. Expected outcomes include the development of new types of flagellar motor for applied uses in synbio and microfluidics, and new methods to resurrect ancient proteins and evolve their function for purpose. This should provide significant benefits by delivering a de novo molecular motor for custom applications and galvanise public interest in how this iconic molecular complex originated and evolved.Read moreRead less