Fighting disease on farms: how do vaccinations drive evolution of new pathogen strains? Vaccinating against some types of infectious diseases can drive evolution of new variants of the pathogen. This project will show how bacterial populations evolve in response to vaccination in farms, leading to new vaccination strategies and improved vaccine formulations to better control diseases that are caused by highly variable bacteria.
Triggering the dormant capacity of fish to make omega 3 fatty acids. Marine fisheries cannot expand further, leaving aquaculture (fish farming) with the challenge of meeting the growing demand for fish, whose consumption is known to enhance human health. Fish oil is an essential component of the feed used in aquaculture, but there is a decreasing global supply of this commodity. This innovative nutritional biochemistry project boosts the capacity of fish to produce their own fish oil from vegeta ....Triggering the dormant capacity of fish to make omega 3 fatty acids. Marine fisheries cannot expand further, leaving aquaculture (fish farming) with the challenge of meeting the growing demand for fish, whose consumption is known to enhance human health. Fish oil is an essential component of the feed used in aquaculture, but there is a decreasing global supply of this commodity. This innovative nutritional biochemistry project boosts the capacity of fish to produce their own fish oil from vegetable oils in their diet. Therefore, this project will enable the expansion of aquaculture as an economically and environmentally sustainable means to produce the highest quality, nourishing fish for human consumption.Read moreRead less
Omega-3 fatty acids, appetite and growth in farmed fish. Australia has very limited wild fish supplies, and with the increasing realization of human health benefits of fish (i.e. omega-3 fatty acid) there is a need to increase availability through aquaculture. However, feeds used in aquaculture contain costly fish oil with limited global supplies. Attempts made to substitute fish oil with vegetable sources in aquaculture feeds have been mixed. This international, comparative and multidisciplinar ....Omega-3 fatty acids, appetite and growth in farmed fish. Australia has very limited wild fish supplies, and with the increasing realization of human health benefits of fish (i.e. omega-3 fatty acid) there is a need to increase availability through aquaculture. However, feeds used in aquaculture contain costly fish oil with limited global supplies. Attempts made to substitute fish oil with vegetable sources in aquaculture feeds have been mixed. This international, comparative and multidisciplinary project aims to reduce the dependence on fish oils through investigation of basic fatty acid metabolism and endocrinology on farmed fish to ensure that human health promoting characteristics in the final product are retained.Read moreRead less
Redefining the molecular mechanism underlying crustacean metamorphosis. This project uses the astonishing lifecycle of lobster larvae to better define the pathways and discover the key genes that regulate crustacean metamorphosis. Where, when, why and how metamorphosis occurs in crustaceans are important factors affecting fisheries recruitment and aquaculture production. The project suggests that the current accepted paradigm for the molecular control of metamorphosis does not apply to lobsters ....Redefining the molecular mechanism underlying crustacean metamorphosis. This project uses the astonishing lifecycle of lobster larvae to better define the pathways and discover the key genes that regulate crustacean metamorphosis. Where, when, why and how metamorphosis occurs in crustaceans are important factors affecting fisheries recruitment and aquaculture production. The project suggests that the current accepted paradigm for the molecular control of metamorphosis does not apply to lobsters and possibly other crustaceans where larval metamorphosis and the juvenile transformation are uncoupled. Using a unique supply of cultured lobsters and advanced molecular techniques, the project aims to develop tools to trigger and synchronise metamorphosis for use in aquaculture and invasive species management.Read moreRead less