Development of a new diet to improve insulin sensitivity and manage weight in healthy cats. This project will determine if a low carbohydrate, moderate fat, high protein diet improves insulin sensitivity and reduces weight gain in cats compared to a typical high-carbohydrate grocery line diet. It will identify risk factors for weight gain such as increased fasting insulin concentration and will also determine which simple assessment of insulin sensitivity best correlates with insulin sensitivity ....Development of a new diet to improve insulin sensitivity and manage weight in healthy cats. This project will determine if a low carbohydrate, moderate fat, high protein diet improves insulin sensitivity and reduces weight gain in cats compared to a typical high-carbohydrate grocery line diet. It will identify risk factors for weight gain such as increased fasting insulin concentration and will also determine which simple assessment of insulin sensitivity best correlates with insulin sensitivity measured by a gold standard. This project should lead to the formulation of a diet designed to improve insulin sensitivity and minimize weight gain in cats, and allow for earlier identification of cats at risk of obesity.Read moreRead less
Strength in uniformity - novel clonal technologies for a more productive avocado industry. Cost and time efficient clonal propagation protocols to multiply elite avocado rootstocks for increased productivity is a major industry gap. This project will develop novel approaches coupling tissue culture with recent advances in root induction, which will profitably deliver large numbers of uniform and high yielding avocado plants to national and international growers.
Model guided design of advanced microalgae production systems. This project aims to improve the efficiency of advanced single-celled green algae (microalgae) production systems which can produce a wide range of high-value products including renewable fuels and animal feeds. Such systems are able to expand photosynthetic capacity onto non-arable land using carbon dioxide and saline water. However, production efficiencies and costs are currently limited by the ability to capture and distribute lig ....Model guided design of advanced microalgae production systems. This project aims to improve the efficiency of advanced single-celled green algae (microalgae) production systems which can produce a wide range of high-value products including renewable fuels and animal feeds. Such systems are able to expand photosynthetic capacity onto non-arable land using carbon dioxide and saline water. However, production efficiencies and costs are currently limited by the ability to capture and distribute light through these systems effectively. This project aims to optimise methods of light delivery and distribution through photo-bioreactors and high rate ponds. This knowledge is intended to be integrated into advanced modelling tools to enable model-guided design of next-generation high-efficiency systems.Read moreRead less
Signaling Pathways To Enhance Potency Of AMPK-targeting Drugs
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$661,966.00
Summary
Sedentary lifestyles and consumption of high energy foods has led to epidemics of obesity-related metabolic diseases that place enormous financial and medical burden on the Australian economy. An attractive drug target to treat these diseases is AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) which functions as both a cellular fuel gauge and co-ordinator of whole-body metabolism. Our goal is to improve AMPK drug potency by identifying novel processes that sensitize AMPK to drugs.
Development of eco-friendly alternatives for crop pest management. This project will produce novel insecticides to protect cotton and other crops from a range of economically damaging pests. It will lead to a more sustainable and eco-friendly cotton industry by reducing the dependence on chemical insecticides and genetically modified cotton plants.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170101296
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Accelerated genomic selection to speed up genetic gain in wheat. This project aims to design drought-resistant crops. Since the Green Revolution, rates of genetic gain for wheat yield have begun to plateau, while climate change threatens productivity and global food security. Numerous breeding technologies have emerged, including genomic selection, speed breeding, high-throughput phenotyping and crop modelling. This project will develop and validate crop improvement protocols by fusing these fou ....Accelerated genomic selection to speed up genetic gain in wheat. This project aims to design drought-resistant crops. Since the Green Revolution, rates of genetic gain for wheat yield have begun to plateau, while climate change threatens productivity and global food security. Numerous breeding technologies have emerged, including genomic selection, speed breeding, high-throughput phenotyping and crop modelling. This project will develop and validate crop improvement protocols by fusing these four technologies. More efficient breeding techniques could accelerate genetic gain in wheat beyond what is expected in ongoing breeding programs, and enable breeders to develop robust cereal varieties in the face of climate change.Read moreRead less
Development of environmentally-friendly bioinsecticides for control of Australian crop pests. Insect pests cause over $3 billion of damage each year to Australian crops. Current insecticides are becoming less effective, and they often have adverse environmental impacts. This project aims to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly insecticides that can be used to control insect pests on farms and around the home and garden.
Breaking the nexus: more biomass in cereal grain. Grain yield is controlled by complex, regulated genetic networks or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) derived from natural variations in many crop plants. Yield is a product of the three major parameters: panicle number, grain number and grain size, trade-offs are commonly observed between grain number and size. There is evidence to suggest it is possible to improve grain size without altering overall biomass. With the genomic and genetic resource t ....Breaking the nexus: more biomass in cereal grain. Grain yield is controlled by complex, regulated genetic networks or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) derived from natural variations in many crop plants. Yield is a product of the three major parameters: panicle number, grain number and grain size, trade-offs are commonly observed between grain number and size. There is evidence to suggest it is possible to improve grain size without altering overall biomass. With the genomic and genetic resource tools at hand. This project will elucidate the genetic architecture of grain size, and manipulate the key loci to generate more biomass in the grain, minimising or eliminating the adverse impact on seed number. This will maximise harvestable yield without imposing increased demand for water and nutrients.Read moreRead less
Cellular and molecular interactions of rhabdoviruses with their plant hosts and insect vectors. Viruses cause significant economic losses in agriculture, but little information is available on how plant-adapted rhabdoviruses multiply in both their plant hosts and insect vectors. This project on the localisation, transport and host defence properties of essential viral proteins will identify novel targets for improved disease control.
Generation of bananas with resistance to Fusarium wilt. Bananas are an important fruit crop in Australia, but the industry is continually threatened by numerous diseases such as Fusarium wilt. This project aims to generate transgenic banana plants with resistance to Fusarium wilt, a disease for which no effective control strategies currently exist.