The toxins of water-borne cyanobacteria: regulation and exploitation of their biosynthesis. Water quality is a major concern in Australia, as is the global need for new natural products with antibiotic activity. The mechanisms by which cyanobacteria produce toxins that reduce the quality of water may very well be the answer to the lack of novel medicinal compounds currently being discovered in nature. Encompassed in this one program are the aims of ameliorating the effects of toxic algal blooms ....The toxins of water-borne cyanobacteria: regulation and exploitation of their biosynthesis. Water quality is a major concern in Australia, as is the global need for new natural products with antibiotic activity. The mechanisms by which cyanobacteria produce toxins that reduce the quality of water may very well be the answer to the lack of novel medicinal compounds currently being discovered in nature. Encompassed in this one program are the aims of ameliorating the effects of toxic algal blooms as well as introducing the means for the design and synthesis of a range of novel bioactive products. The benefits include better water quality and biosafety management options, a new generation of drug design and discovery, and the associated transformation of environmental and medical research and education in Australia.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989147
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$950,000.00
Summary
Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to bi ....Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to biomolecular research in medicine, agriculture and environmental biology, thereby providing major benefits to the wider community. The application will enhance existing genomic technologies by substantially increasing the scope of experiments that can be performed leading to important advances in gene discovery.Read moreRead less
Monotreme immune system provides insights into their evolutionary relationships. Genes of immunological importance will be cloned and characterised from the short-beaked echidna with the purpose of investigating the immune system in monotremes, gaining insights into the timing and order of evolutionary separation of the three extant mammalian groups:- the Prototherians (monotremes), the Metatherians (marsupials) and Eutherians (placentals), increasing understanding of the evolution of the verteb ....Monotreme immune system provides insights into their evolutionary relationships. Genes of immunological importance will be cloned and characterised from the short-beaked echidna with the purpose of investigating the immune system in monotremes, gaining insights into the timing and order of evolutionary separation of the three extant mammalian groups:- the Prototherians (monotremes), the Metatherians (marsupials) and Eutherians (placentals), increasing understanding of the evolution of the vertebrate immune system and providing the basis for making immunological reagents which are necessary for studying monotreme diseases (as a precautionary conservation strategy).Read moreRead less
Identifying potential barriers to transplanting modified forms of the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants. Improving the ability of crops to use water, light and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. It is thought that such improvements can be made by enhancing the efficiency of the photosynthetic protein, Rubisco, which fixes most of the CO2 in the biosphere. The research proposed here uses unique ....Identifying potential barriers to transplanting modified forms of the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants. Improving the ability of crops to use water, light and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. It is thought that such improvements can be made by enhancing the efficiency of the photosynthetic protein, Rubisco, which fixes most of the CO2 in the biosphere. The research proposed here uses unique Rubisco transplantation capabilities that I have developed to improve our fundamental understanding of how Rubisco is processed and its activity regulated in plants. This will pave the way for our ongoing efforts to engineer and transplant more efficient Rubisco into crops.Read moreRead less
Actin cytoskeleton regulation by E-cadherin and Src. This project examines a fundamental, novel mechanism of how cells work together in tissues. It will provide important new knowledge about how tissues become organized in health, and how organization might be disturbed in disease. It will build Australia's skill base in cutting-edge scientific research, and promote knowledge directed to the research priority area of Promoting and Maintaining Good Health.
How the Y Chromosome makes a male: Molecular genetic analysis of key sex-determining genes. Sex reversal and intersex syndromes are among the most common and highly stigmatized disorders affecting newborn babies. Our research will reveal how the Y chromosome regulates normal male development, identify the steps that go wrong in many male babies, and suggest ways to diagnose and deal with these conditions. It will also pave the way for biotechnological applications in the areas of stem cell techn ....How the Y Chromosome makes a male: Molecular genetic analysis of key sex-determining genes. Sex reversal and intersex syndromes are among the most common and highly stigmatized disorders affecting newborn babies. Our research will reveal how the Y chromosome regulates normal male development, identify the steps that go wrong in many male babies, and suggest ways to diagnose and deal with these conditions. It will also pave the way for biotechnological applications in the areas of stem cell technology, pest management, wildlife conservation and animal breeding.Read moreRead less
MOLECULAR GENETICS OF MAMMALIAN SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT: Molecular roles of SRY and SOX9. The development of sexual characteristics is critical to the survival of almost all animal species. This project seeks to clarify how male and female embryos develop differently, focusing on the Y-chromosome maleness gene Sry, and a closely related and equally important gene Sox9. We will study how these genes are switched on in developing gonads and how they interact with other genes to bring about testis forma ....MOLECULAR GENETICS OF MAMMALIAN SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT: Molecular roles of SRY and SOX9. The development of sexual characteristics is critical to the survival of almost all animal species. This project seeks to clarify how male and female embryos develop differently, focusing on the Y-chromosome maleness gene Sry, and a closely related and equally important gene Sox9. We will study how these genes are switched on in developing gonads and how they interact with other genes to bring about testis formation in male embryos. In this way we will discover new genes and mechanisms that are important for sexual identity and also other aspects of embryo development.Read moreRead less
Can efficient algal variants of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, be folded and assembled in functional forms in higher-plant plastids? We have shown that it is possible to alter the photosynthetic phenotype of a plant predictably and profoundly by engineering the plastid genome to replace the plant's CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a bacterial homolog. Thus it may be possible to replace the plant enzyme with more efficient algal Rubiscos that would allow plants to grow with less l ....Can efficient algal variants of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, be folded and assembled in functional forms in higher-plant plastids? We have shown that it is possible to alter the photosynthetic phenotype of a plant predictably and profoundly by engineering the plastid genome to replace the plant's CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a bacterial homolog. Thus it may be possible to replace the plant enzyme with more efficient algal Rubiscos that would allow plants to grow with less light, less water or less fertiliser. Before such desirable changes to the plant phenotype can be realised, some complex issues of modification, folding and assembly of Rubisco subunits need to be resolved. This proposal addresses them.Read moreRead less
Insect development : the role of cytochrome P450s. Pest insects vector human diseases such as malaria and impose a massive burden in agriculture due to control costs and production losses. The intelligent control of insect pests requires an understanding of their development that is controlled by hormones. This project will provide an in depth understanding of insect hormone synthesis/degradation that is controlled by a class of enzymes, the cytochrome P450s. This will increase the potential ....Insect development : the role of cytochrome P450s. Pest insects vector human diseases such as malaria and impose a massive burden in agriculture due to control costs and production losses. The intelligent control of insect pests requires an understanding of their development that is controlled by hormones. This project will provide an in depth understanding of insect hormone synthesis/degradation that is controlled by a class of enzymes, the cytochrome P450s. This will increase the potential for new insect-specific control strategies with a decreased environmental impact.Read moreRead less
Enhanced biocatalysis in organic solvents for pharmaceutical biotransformation. Enzymes such as hydrolases play an important role in biotechnology because of their extreme versatility with respect to substrate specificity and stereoselectivity. The use of lipases as catalysts for optical isomer-specific organic reactions is often limited by unacceptably low enantioselectivities. We will investigate recombinant enzymes cloned from thermophilic lipolytic bacteria for synthetic reactions in orga ....Enhanced biocatalysis in organic solvents for pharmaceutical biotransformation. Enzymes such as hydrolases play an important role in biotechnology because of their extreme versatility with respect to substrate specificity and stereoselectivity. The use of lipases as catalysts for optical isomer-specific organic reactions is often limited by unacceptably low enantioselectivities. We will investigate recombinant enzymes cloned from thermophilic lipolytic bacteria for synthetic reactions in organic solvents, especially chiral resolution of mixtures in the production of pharmaceutical intermediates. Genetic improvement of lipase enantiospecificity and regioselectivity will be achieved using in vitro evolution by recombination and screening. The outcome will be cost-effective production superior biocatalysts with specifically enhanced regiospecific, enantioselective and hydrolytic characteristics.
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