The role of virulence factors of Clostridium difficile in food animals. Disease caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile are a significant food production animal and public health problem in many countries. Specific animal and human public health resources have been allocated in many countries in efforts to mitigate the growing epidemics. The study proposed in this application presents a significant opportunity to learn about the virulence factors of animal strains of this bacterium about w ....The role of virulence factors of Clostridium difficile in food animals. Disease caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile are a significant food production animal and public health problem in many countries. Specific animal and human public health resources have been allocated in many countries in efforts to mitigate the growing epidemics. The study proposed in this application presents a significant opportunity to learn about the virulence factors of animal strains of this bacterium about which very little is known. This project will lead to rationally designed preventative and treatment strategies that apply to both animals and humans, thereby impeding epidemics caused by C. difficile in Australia.Read moreRead less
Exploiting microbial metabolites to understand fungal biology. The project aims to investigate the principles of hyphal growth in fungi, by studying the mechanisms of action of a bacteria-derived compound that inhibits hyphae. Changing cell shape between yeast and hyphae is a prototype developmental switch enabling fungi to escape stressful environments, while hyphal invasion promotes fungal infections of animals and plants that endanger food security and biodiversity. By using interdisciplinary ....Exploiting microbial metabolites to understand fungal biology. The project aims to investigate the principles of hyphal growth in fungi, by studying the mechanisms of action of a bacteria-derived compound that inhibits hyphae. Changing cell shape between yeast and hyphae is a prototype developmental switch enabling fungi to escape stressful environments, while hyphal invasion promotes fungal infections of animals and plants that endanger food security and biodiversity. By using interdisciplinary approaches of microbiology and chemistry, the expected outcomes are to generate deep knowledge of an important microbial process and how it could be modulated, characterise a new bacterial compound and build research capacity at the nexus of biology and chemistry to benefit discoveries in academia and industry.Read moreRead less
Pathogenesis, regulation and genomics of the ovine footrot pathogen, Dichelobacter nodosus. Footrot is one of the most economically significant diseases of sheep in Australia. The aim of this project is to develop a detailed understanding of how the bacterium that causes this infection is able to infect the sheep hoof and result in clinical disease. The complete sequence of the genome of the causative bacterium will be determined, enabling us to deduce its genetic potential. The completed projec ....Pathogenesis, regulation and genomics of the ovine footrot pathogen, Dichelobacter nodosus. Footrot is one of the most economically significant diseases of sheep in Australia. The aim of this project is to develop a detailed understanding of how the bacterium that causes this infection is able to infect the sheep hoof and result in clinical disease. The complete sequence of the genome of the causative bacterium will be determined, enabling us to deduce its genetic potential. The completed project will significantly advance fundamental knowledge of the disease process and will lead to the development of improved methods for the control of the disease, with concomitant cost savings to Australian primary industry.Read moreRead less
The host specificity of bacterial pathogens. The vast majority of microorganisms that cause diseases in animals are host specific. In other words, they cause disease exclusively in a particular animal species, but are harmless for others. Despite considerable recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms used by microorganisms in general to cause disease, in most cases the underlying basis of host-specificity is not known. In this project, we will use two animal pathogens, rabbit-spe ....The host specificity of bacterial pathogens. The vast majority of microorganisms that cause diseases in animals are host specific. In other words, they cause disease exclusively in a particular animal species, but are harmless for others. Despite considerable recent advances in our understanding of the mechanisms used by microorganisms in general to cause disease, in most cases the underlying basis of host-specificity is not known. In this project, we will use two animal pathogens, rabbit-specific enteropathogenic E. coli and the closely related bacterium, Citrobacter rodentium, which specifically infect rabbits and mice respectively, to investigate the molecular basis of host specificity.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence - Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics. The research falls under the National Research Priority Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, with the priority goal of frontier technologies. The research has commercial applications, such as the development of novel antimicrobials and vaccines, with potentially enormous impact in the biotechnology area of biomedical health and the primary industries. In addition, the project will use ....ARC Centre of Excellence - Structural and Functional Microbial Genomics. The research falls under the National Research Priority Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries, with the priority goal of frontier technologies. The research has commercial applications, such as the development of novel antimicrobials and vaccines, with potentially enormous impact in the biotechnology area of biomedical health and the primary industries. In addition, the project will use state-of-the-art technology, including use of synchrotron radiation at the Monash-based Australian Synchrotron facility from 2007.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354619
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$10,000.00
Summary
Australian Microbial Genomics Research Network. The Australian Microbial Genomics Research Network aims to bring together Australian scientists with complementary expertise in microbial genomics within two ARC Centres, a Ramaciotti Centre and four institutions across three states. This initiative will involve the strategy and planning of the proposed Network.
ARC Centre for Structural & Functional Microbial Genomics. Australian Primary Industry will benefit from a team of experts in microbial genetics, bioinformatics and protein structure and function undertaking integrated studies on microbial genomics and phenomics that are focused on fundamental biological processes and host/pathogen interactions. Whole genome expression and protein profiling will be used to characterise genes whose expression is altered in the infected host and to analyse genes i ....ARC Centre for Structural & Functional Microbial Genomics. Australian Primary Industry will benefit from a team of experts in microbial genetics, bioinformatics and protein structure and function undertaking integrated studies on microbial genomics and phenomics that are focused on fundamental biological processes and host/pathogen interactions. Whole genome expression and protein profiling will be used to characterise genes whose expression is altered in the infected host and to analyse genes involved in the control of key cellular processes. The Centre will also determine the shapes of key molecules and their interactions. Practical outcomes will include new veterinary vaccines and the identification of novel antimicrobial targets.Read moreRead less
How does Clostridium perfringens carry multiple closely related plasmids? The project aims to determine how bacteria are able to replicate and maintain multiple copies of very closely related extrachromosomal elements or plasmids in the same cell. These plasmids are important as they encode toxin genes and antibiotic resistance genes. The project proposes to examine two fundamental hypotheses that are postulated to explain this novel phenomenon. The anticipated outcome of the project is the adva ....How does Clostridium perfringens carry multiple closely related plasmids? The project aims to determine how bacteria are able to replicate and maintain multiple copies of very closely related extrachromosomal elements or plasmids in the same cell. These plasmids are important as they encode toxin genes and antibiotic resistance genes. The project proposes to examine two fundamental hypotheses that are postulated to explain this novel phenomenon. The anticipated outcome of the project is the advancement of fundamental knowledge of how bacteria that cause disease in food-production animals can maintain the genetic elements that enable them to cause these diseases. This would contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of these economically significant animal pathogens and may support the development of new methods of prevention or treatment.Read moreRead less
Biology and evolution of intracellular parasitism. This project will investigate the development of intracellular parasitism in environmental amoebae. The outcomes of this work will help to understand the mechanisms by which bacteria have evolved to survive inside cells and in some cases cause disease.
Identifying Novel Biosynthetic Pathways in Mycobacteria using DNA Microarray Technology. DNA microarrays are a powerful new bioinformatics-based technology and an ideal tool for characterising complex biosynthetic pathways since the expression of all genes in the bacterial genome can be monitored in a single experiment. In this project we aim to construct and use a DNA microarray to identify novel biosynthetic pathways in mycobacteria. Of particular interest are pathways used to create compone ....Identifying Novel Biosynthetic Pathways in Mycobacteria using DNA Microarray Technology. DNA microarrays are a powerful new bioinformatics-based technology and an ideal tool for characterising complex biosynthetic pathways since the expression of all genes in the bacterial genome can be monitored in a single experiment. In this project we aim to construct and use a DNA microarray to identify novel biosynthetic pathways in mycobacteria. Of particular interest are pathways used to create components of the highly complex and poorly characterised cell wall. Since this structure is unique in the bacterial world, we expect to identify and characterise pathways that are unique to mycobacteria.Read moreRead less