Evolution of halophytes: a phyloinformatic approach to understanding and exploiting the traits underlying salt-tolerance in plants. Salinity is an increasing burden on the Australian economy & environment, with >2 million ha of salt-affected land, at an annual cost to agriculture over $187 million. One solution is to exploit naturally salt-tolerant plants to increase productive agricultural land and restore salt-affected environments. To do this, we must increase basic knowledge of the diversity ....Evolution of halophytes: a phyloinformatic approach to understanding and exploiting the traits underlying salt-tolerance in plants. Salinity is an increasing burden on the Australian economy & environment, with >2 million ha of salt-affected land, at an annual cost to agriculture over $187 million. One solution is to exploit naturally salt-tolerant plants to increase productive agricultural land and restore salt-affected environments. To do this, we must increase basic knowledge of the diversity & distribution of salt-tolerance. This project is the first to use DNA sequences from thousands of species to understand the evolution of salt-tolerance in order to provide the foundation for the development of new crop varieties, selection of species that can be developed for bioremediation, and identification of traits that will be profitable targets for breeding programs. Read moreRead less
Australia's oldest jawed fishes: evolution, biostratigraphy and biogeography. The research focusses on a collection of disarticulated remains of placoderms, a group of extinct armoured fishes which dominated Devonian waters (410-354 Mya). The oldest Australian placoderm macroremains so far described are of late Pragian age (400 Mya), and recognized as a highly endemic fauna. An older limestone from New South Wales has yielded new material which includes sclerotic capsules and dermal plates of ....Australia's oldest jawed fishes: evolution, biostratigraphy and biogeography. The research focusses on a collection of disarticulated remains of placoderms, a group of extinct armoured fishes which dominated Devonian waters (410-354 Mya). The oldest Australian placoderm macroremains so far described are of late Pragian age (400 Mya), and recognized as a highly endemic fauna. An older limestone from New South Wales has yielded new material which includes sclerotic capsules and dermal plates of small placoderms. Earliest Devonian (Lochkovian) acanthodians and the new placoderms, unlike the younger taxa, seem closely related to coeval faunas from the circum-Arctic region. The material will help resolve relationships and distribution of these early jawed vertebrates.Read moreRead less
Sex in the city: social harmony and conflict resolution in insect societies. Explaining the organization of cooperative societies is a significant challenge to the field of evolutionary biology. Insect societies play a pivotal role in achieving this aim, as colonies of many species persist with apparent harmony despite the presence of numerous queens competing for reproductive dominance. This study evaluates alternative hypotheses for the resolution of reproductive conflict and the maintenance a ....Sex in the city: social harmony and conflict resolution in insect societies. Explaining the organization of cooperative societies is a significant challenge to the field of evolutionary biology. Insect societies play a pivotal role in achieving this aim, as colonies of many species persist with apparent harmony despite the presence of numerous queens competing for reproductive dominance. This study evaluates alternative hypotheses for the resolution of reproductive conflict and the maintenance and evolution of cooperative societies, by examining colonies of the Australian multi-queened social wasp genus Ropalidia. Outcomes include robust tests of prominent hypotheses, explanations for cooperation's diversity and persistence, and the development of powerful molecular and behavioral techniques within Australia.
Read moreRead less
Co-divergence or opportunism: the evolution of trematode parasitism in the sea. This proposal is for fundamental research into how a major group of parasites (trematodes) has evolved in interaction with its hosts. The work is mainly the kind of 'basic science' that underpins other science without having intended immediate community benefit. However, the work depends strongly on the important task of developing better knowledge of trematodes in Australian native animals. Some of these parasite ....Co-divergence or opportunism: the evolution of trematode parasitism in the sea. This proposal is for fundamental research into how a major group of parasites (trematodes) has evolved in interaction with its hosts. The work is mainly the kind of 'basic science' that underpins other science without having intended immediate community benefit. However, the work depends strongly on the important task of developing better knowledge of trematodes in Australian native animals. Some of these parasites are pathogens of bivalves (scallops, giant clams and oysters) but almost nothing is known about them here. Another benefit of the study is in the training of several postgraduate students who will be able to contribute to the further study and management of parasites in Australia.Read moreRead less
Why aren't all species everywhere? The evolution of species' borders in tropical reef fishes. Virtually nothing is known about how geographic range limits evolve in the wild in the absence of barriers to dispersal and habitat discontinuities. This project will investigate the evolution of range limits of fishes on the Great Barrier Reef using combinations of mathematical modelling and field- and laboratory-based analyses of evolutionary patterns and processes. By advancing understanding of the ....Why aren't all species everywhere? The evolution of species' borders in tropical reef fishes. Virtually nothing is known about how geographic range limits evolve in the wild in the absence of barriers to dispersal and habitat discontinuities. This project will investigate the evolution of range limits of fishes on the Great Barrier Reef using combinations of mathematical modelling and field- and laboratory-based analyses of evolutionary patterns and processes. By advancing understanding of the fundamental causes of species' range limits, this research will provide new options for the management and conservation of this very valuable resource, and other complex biological systems, under increasing pressures of exploitation, habitat degradation and climate change.Read moreRead less
Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for impro ....Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Improvement in performance of only a few percent will bring important economic savings. This is evidenced by recent commitment of >$US 230 billion to improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment in Germany, Italy and Spain over 5 years.Read moreRead less
Can Sexual Selection Generate Reproductive Isolation? Sexual selection has long been thought to be central to the process of speciation and numerous models have been proposed to explain its contribution. However, the ability of sexual selection to generate reproductive isolation has never been evaluated experimentally and there is limited direct evidence for its role in speciation in nature. Using Drosophila serrata, I intend to conduct a large scale experimental test of the role of sexual selec ....Can Sexual Selection Generate Reproductive Isolation? Sexual selection has long been thought to be central to the process of speciation and numerous models have been proposed to explain its contribution. However, the ability of sexual selection to generate reproductive isolation has never been evaluated experimentally and there is limited direct evidence for its role in speciation in nature. Using Drosophila serrata, I intend to conduct a large scale experimental test of the role of sexual selection in the origin of new species. I will manipulate mate choice by placing male pheromones under artificial selection and then tracking the evolution of reproductive isolation in the presence and absence of sexual selection.Read moreRead less
The role of ecological specialisation in insect-plant macroevolutionary processes: a molecular phylogenetic approach across three kingdoms. Flowering plants and phytophagous insects are major components of the world's biodiversity and their evolution has been closely linked. This project will increase our knowledge of insect-endosymbiont-plant interactions and enhance our understanding of the origin, generation and maintenance of much of the world's biodiversity. A broader understanding of how i ....The role of ecological specialisation in insect-plant macroevolutionary processes: a molecular phylogenetic approach across three kingdoms. Flowering plants and phytophagous insects are major components of the world's biodiversity and their evolution has been closely linked. This project will increase our knowledge of insect-endosymbiont-plant interactions and enhance our understanding of the origin, generation and maintenance of much of the world's biodiversity. A broader understanding of how insects, their symbionts and plants have co-evolved should improve our understanding of why and how some insects are able to become pests whereas others do not. Scale insects (the model system in this study) are important pests, both ecologically (Christmas Island interaction between coccids, rainforest plants and crazy ants) and economically (e.g. citrus mealybug).Read moreRead less
Half a Genome is Better than None: The Evolution of Haplodiploidy in Mites. It is our normal experience that males and females are about equally common. We also expect both sexes to receive half their genes from each parent. In many successful animal groups, however, these normal expectations are not met: males are rare and have only half as many chromosomes as females (haplodiploidy) or are non-existent. We will investigate multiple origins of haplodiploid and all-female genetic systems in a ....Half a Genome is Better than None: The Evolution of Haplodiploidy in Mites. It is our normal experience that males and females are about equally common. We also expect both sexes to receive half their genes from each parent. In many successful animal groups, however, these normal expectations are not met: males are rare and have only half as many chromosomes as females (haplodiploidy) or are non-existent. We will investigate multiple origins of haplodiploid and all-female genetic systems in a group of mites that includes many useful biocontrol agents and important parasites. The implications of this research have both pure scientific merit and potential practical value in controlling the reproduction of pests.Read moreRead less
Diversity of Salinispora actinobacteria producing pharmaceutically relevant natural products from Australian marine sponges. By investigating the distribution of marine microbial resources relevant to drug discovery, we will directly contribute to ARC's Research Priority I - An Environmentally Sustainable Australia Priority Goal and the Priority Goal 'Sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity'. We will determine sources of marine bacteria and their genes useful for discovery of new natural pro ....Diversity of Salinispora actinobacteria producing pharmaceutically relevant natural products from Australian marine sponges. By investigating the distribution of marine microbial resources relevant to drug discovery, we will directly contribute to ARC's Research Priority I - An Environmentally Sustainable Australia Priority Goal and the Priority Goal 'Sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity'. We will determine sources of marine bacteria and their genes useful for discovery of new natural products for treatment of human diseases. We will do this by understanding where new strains of Salinispora bacteria may be isolated and how they are distributed in association with Australian marine sponge fauna, and by determining the distribution and chemical and genetic diversity of novel marine Salinispora bacteria.Read moreRead less