Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220101226
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$423,000.00
Summary
Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations. This project aims to develop new statistical models to determine how environmental exposures in pregnancy, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and diet, can impact the first and second generations of children. The project will fill a void in unbiased tools to disentangle genetic and environmental components in the inheritance of complex traits, and will be the first to determine objectively if and how effects from envir ....Testing Effects of Environmental Exposures on Subsequent Human Generations. This project aims to develop new statistical models to determine how environmental exposures in pregnancy, such as smoking, alcohol consumption and diet, can impact the first and second generations of children. The project will fill a void in unbiased tools to disentangle genetic and environmental components in the inheritance of complex traits, and will be the first to determine objectively if and how effects from environmental exposures can be inherited. Through international collaborations and advanced interdisciplinary approaches, this project will generate new knowledge in the emerging field of multigenerational inheritance to drive the future design of interventions and influence positive behaviours during pregnancy.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100425
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$409,364.00
Summary
Genetic and Molecular Consequences of Non-Random Mating in Humans. This project aims to develop and apply novel statistical methods to quantify the effects on a large number of complex traits of two forms of non-random mating in humans, that is inbreeding and assortative mating. The innovation in this proposal lies in integrating multi-level phenotypes with next-generation sequencing data collected in more than half a million study participants. Expected outcomes of this research include advance ....Genetic and Molecular Consequences of Non-Random Mating in Humans. This project aims to develop and apply novel statistical methods to quantify the effects on a large number of complex traits of two forms of non-random mating in humans, that is inbreeding and assortative mating. The innovation in this proposal lies in integrating multi-level phenotypes with next-generation sequencing data collected in more than half a million study participants. Expected outcomes of this research include advanced analytical methods to perform this integration and dissection of the biological consequences of non-random mating in humans at an unprecedented phenotypically detailed scale. The benefit of this project will be to identify new drivers of mate choice that can contribute to economic, health and social inequalities. Read moreRead less
Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-spec ....Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-specific expression assays to merge the studies of sex-specific local adaptation and sexually dimorphic regulatory variation. The project will help to understand how cis- and trans- regulatory factors can affect natural variation differently in males and females, shaping their phenotypic similarities and differences.Read moreRead less
Resolving the Genetics of Grain Pigmentation Traits in Rice . New critical knowledge will enable future breeding of quality black rice cultivars that can exploit the high UV Australian growing environment to enable domestic production of high-value, healthy black rice. The demand for functional foods with health benefits, including black rice, is increasing both domestically and internationally. The concentration of key functional compounds in black rice may be increased by growing optimised cul ....Resolving the Genetics of Grain Pigmentation Traits in Rice . New critical knowledge will enable future breeding of quality black rice cultivars that can exploit the high UV Australian growing environment to enable domestic production of high-value, healthy black rice. The demand for functional foods with health benefits, including black rice, is increasing both domestically and internationally. The concentration of key functional compounds in black rice may be increased by growing optimised cultivars under high-UV radiation, making Australia well placed to produce the highest quality black rice. Utilising a unique genetic resource this project will resolve how the interaction between crop genetics and the growing environment drives the concentration of functional compounds in black rice. Read moreRead less
Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to gen ....Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the roles of natural selection in shaping the genetic variation in traits and identify key factors that drive the differentiation of human populations. These outcomes will significantly improve our understanding on the evolution of human traits and adaptation of populations to changing environments.Read moreRead less
Statistical Methods for Next Generation Genome-Wide Association Studies. This project aims to develop cutting-edge statistical methods to analyse large genomic datasets and identify genetic variants associated with inter-individual differences in various human traits. Knowledge of trait-associated DNA variants is instrumental in understanding how natural selection has shaped human traits. By integrating genomic data from diverse and underrepresented populations, this project further expects to c ....Statistical Methods for Next Generation Genome-Wide Association Studies. This project aims to develop cutting-edge statistical methods to analyse large genomic datasets and identify genetic variants associated with inter-individual differences in various human traits. Knowledge of trait-associated DNA variants is instrumental in understanding how natural selection has shaped human traits. By integrating genomic data from diverse and underrepresented populations, this project further expects to contribute to the equitable use of genomic technologies in humans, regardless of geographical origins. Expected outcomes of this research include novel analysis methods and software tools, which should broadly and significantly benefit gene discovery in other species, including those of agricultural relevance.Read moreRead less
Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneti ....Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneticists, statistical geneticists and bioinformaticians. This project will advance our understanding of the interaction of genetics and epigenetics and their relationship to diversity and inheritance in humans.Read moreRead less
FastStack - evolutionary computing to stack desirable alleles in wheat. This project aims to investigate rapid development of new, high-yielding wheat varieties with appropriate disease resistance. An emerging challenge in wheat breeding is how to stack desirable alleles for disease resistance, drought, and end-use quality into new varieties with high yielding backgrounds in the shortest time. As the number of known desirable alleles for these traits increases, the number of possible crossing c ....FastStack - evolutionary computing to stack desirable alleles in wheat. This project aims to investigate rapid development of new, high-yielding wheat varieties with appropriate disease resistance. An emerging challenge in wheat breeding is how to stack desirable alleles for disease resistance, drought, and end-use quality into new varieties with high yielding backgrounds in the shortest time. As the number of known desirable alleles for these traits increases, the number of possible crossing combinations that need to be considered increases. This project aims to use evolutionary computing with speed breeding and genomic selection, in the partners breeding program, to address this challenge. Potential outcomes will lead to more profitable wheat varieties for Australian growers, and expanded exports to high value markets that require quality grain.Read moreRead less
The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic ....The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic effect on fitness. By expanding our understanding of how mutation, selection and drift interact, this project could provide significant improvements in our understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypes, and our ability to predict phenotypic evolution.Read moreRead less
Genomic Control of Human Complex Trait Variation. This project aims to address knowledge gaps in our understanding of the genetic and environmental control of complex human trait variation. This project will use innovative approaches that combine molecular genomic information with data from large biobank sized cohorts to generate new knowledge of the mechanisms underlying ancestral and sex differences in humans. Expected outcomes include the development of novel methods for the integrative analy ....Genomic Control of Human Complex Trait Variation. This project aims to address knowledge gaps in our understanding of the genetic and environmental control of complex human trait variation. This project will use innovative approaches that combine molecular genomic information with data from large biobank sized cohorts to generate new knowledge of the mechanisms underlying ancestral and sex differences in humans. Expected outcomes include the development of novel methods for the integrative analysis of genomic data and building Australia’s capacity in a highly demanded field, ensuring the capability to realise the translation of this knowledge to positively impact society and human well-being.Read moreRead less