Stress, virulence and bacterial disease in temperate seaweeds: the rise of the microbes. Climate change is predicted to increase the spread and virulence of pathogens, and decrease the resistance to disease via temperature stress on the hosts. Combined with other human impacts (higher nutrients, pollution), we may be facing a major rise in the effect of disease on natural communities. However, these effects are largely unstudied. We will investigate the impact of marine pathogens on kelps and ....Stress, virulence and bacterial disease in temperate seaweeds: the rise of the microbes. Climate change is predicted to increase the spread and virulence of pathogens, and decrease the resistance to disease via temperature stress on the hosts. Combined with other human impacts (higher nutrients, pollution), we may be facing a major rise in the effect of disease on natural communities. However, these effects are largely unstudied. We will investigate the impact of marine pathogens on kelps and other seaweeds when they are stressed by temperature, elevated nutrients or other anthropogenic stressors. Kelp are the 'trees of the oceans', the organisms responsible for creating much of the habitat that fishes and other organisms live in. The loss of kelp forests due to disease would radically change these environments.Read moreRead less
Chemical Defenses Against Microbial Colonisation of Living Marine Surfaces. Microorganisms have a major impact on all ecosystems. Many of these effects are due to the formation of biofilms - cell clusters and their slime matrix - on living and non-living surfaces. Biofilm formation is often regulated by chemical signals. The aim of this project is to understand how naturally produced chemical signals mediate the formation of biofilms on surfaces of marine macroalgae (seaweeds) at both the eco ....Chemical Defenses Against Microbial Colonisation of Living Marine Surfaces. Microorganisms have a major impact on all ecosystems. Many of these effects are due to the formation of biofilms - cell clusters and their slime matrix - on living and non-living surfaces. Biofilm formation is often regulated by chemical signals. The aim of this project is to understand how naturally produced chemical signals mediate the formation of biofilms on surfaces of marine macroalgae (seaweeds) at both the ecological and molecular levels. By understanding colonisation of natural living surfaces, this project will lead directly to significant advances in control of microorganisms in a variety of applied areas (water treatment, biomaterials, antifouling).Read moreRead less
Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project wi ....Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project will provide a new, yet crucial, perspective on how and why diseases spread. Our discoveries will help understand and manage the burden of infectious diseases from parasites in and beyond our cities and across the human-wildlife interface; essential for improving human and wildlife health in an increasingly urbanised Australia.Read moreRead less
Dispersal and colonisation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The problem of pest or disease organisms for humanity is fundamentally a problem of unwanted colonisation. For example, colonisation of the surfaces of human tissues by bacterial biofilms is responsible for up to 70% of bacterial infections; colonisation of the surfaces of boat hulls by marine organisms costs the marine shipping industry > $5 billion per year. This proposal will generate fundamental information on the ability of both bac ....Dispersal and colonisation in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The problem of pest or disease organisms for humanity is fundamentally a problem of unwanted colonisation. For example, colonisation of the surfaces of human tissues by bacterial biofilms is responsible for up to 70% of bacterial infections; colonisation of the surfaces of boat hulls by marine organisms costs the marine shipping industry > $5 billion per year. This proposal will generate fundamental information on the ability of both bacteria and higher organisms to disperse and colonise surfaces, allowing for the development of novel technologies for the prevention of unwanted colonisation of surfaces. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100272
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,234.00
Summary
Protecting oyster aquaculture from heatwaves and flooding rains . This project aims to grow our understanding of disease in oysters following extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods. Working with industry partners, I will use field and lab-based experiments to determine the underlying causes of oyster mortality following extreme weather. Critically, this project will trial real solutions to reduce disease including selective breeding and co-culture of seaweeds. Expected outcomes incl ....Protecting oyster aquaculture from heatwaves and flooding rains . This project aims to grow our understanding of disease in oysters following extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods. Working with industry partners, I will use field and lab-based experiments to determine the underlying causes of oyster mortality following extreme weather. Critically, this project will trial real solutions to reduce disease including selective breeding and co-culture of seaweeds. Expected outcomes include new knowledge on the causes of bacterial disease in aquaculture and real progress towards solutions to mitigate oyster disease following extreme weather events. This project expects to enable the iconic Australian oyster aquaculture industry to grow despite the extreme weather brought by climate change. Read moreRead less
Coastal tropicalisation – adapting to novel ecosystems and trajectories. This project aims to quantify the impacts of a changing climate on key ecosystem functions of temperate reefs. As global temperate reefs respond to ocean warming, iconic and economically important kelp forests and associated fishes and invertebrates are being lost. Novel communities and never-before seen configurations of species are emerging in these systems. This project aims to characterise the new dynamics of these nove ....Coastal tropicalisation – adapting to novel ecosystems and trajectories. This project aims to quantify the impacts of a changing climate on key ecosystem functions of temperate reefs. As global temperate reefs respond to ocean warming, iconic and economically important kelp forests and associated fishes and invertebrates are being lost. Novel communities and never-before seen configurations of species are emerging in these systems. This project aims to characterise the new dynamics of these novel systems, and provide an understanding of how to maintain key ecosystem functions - primary productivity, fish production - that underpin the benefits that humans derive from our coastlines.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100884
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$426,691.00
Summary
Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed under ....Do novel diets reshape wildlife microbiomes and resilience to stressors? This project aims to investigate how bacteria can assist wildlife in adapting to the accelerating threat of environmental change. Using an innovative, interdisciplinary approach this project expects to identify interactions between environmental change and the diet, microbial communities and stress resilience of wildlife, using the threatened Grey-headed flying fox as a model system. Expected outcomes include detailed understanding of the role of microbial communities in shaping wildlife adaptations and development of ecological interventions to enhance wildlife resilience in Australia and globally. Such outcomes may reveal opportunities for management strategies that safeguard threatened species and reduce human-wildlife conflicts.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100479
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,582.00
Summary
Delivering defences: using fungi to enhance plant resistance to herbivory. This project will identify how the diversity of beneficial fungi in the soil is affected by agricultural management, and will reveal how these fungi govern the ability of plants to defend themselves from insect herbivores. Through innovative field surveys and experimentation, this project will generate new knowledge in the key areas of soil ecology and plant defence. This will allow us to exploit these soil fungi to enhan ....Delivering defences: using fungi to enhance plant resistance to herbivory. This project will identify how the diversity of beneficial fungi in the soil is affected by agricultural management, and will reveal how these fungi govern the ability of plants to defend themselves from insect herbivores. Through innovative field surveys and experimentation, this project will generate new knowledge in the key areas of soil ecology and plant defence. This will allow us to exploit these soil fungi to enhance crop protection while simultaneously conserving soil ecosystems. Effectively boosting plant defence in this way will reduce reliance on ecologically damaging pesticides, promote soil biodiversity, and ensure the sustainability of crop production into the future. Read moreRead less