Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE150100083
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$540,000.00
Summary
A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals. A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals: This project seeks to create the first high-throughput phenomic facility for animals in Australia. The molecular revolution has brought unprecedented capacity to understand genetic variation. Genetic variation is now better understood and more easily and cheaply characterised than the physical traits that organisms exhibit. Linking phenotypic variation ....A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals. A high throughput phenomics facility for pace of life traits in animals: This project seeks to create the first high-throughput phenomic facility for animals in Australia. The molecular revolution has brought unprecedented capacity to understand genetic variation. Genetic variation is now better understood and more easily and cheaply characterised than the physical traits that organisms exhibit. Linking phenotypic variation to genetic variation represents the major challenge in harnessing the power of the biomolecular age. This facility will accommodate animals from marine, freshwater and terrestrial systems across a diverse array of phyla. It will allow Australian researchers to leverage advances in high throughput genomic technologies to address a major bottleneck in biology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180101164
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Evolution of chemical warfare in invasive plants. The project aims to test when, where and how exotic plant populations become invasive through the rapid evolution of chemical compounds that inhibit native plant species. Using an innovative quantitative genetics framework, the intended outcome is to determine how the chemicals are selected, and whether there is sufficient heritable variation for the chemicals to evolve across heterogeneous landscapes characteristic of introduced ranges. The proj ....Evolution of chemical warfare in invasive plants. The project aims to test when, where and how exotic plant populations become invasive through the rapid evolution of chemical compounds that inhibit native plant species. Using an innovative quantitative genetics framework, the intended outcome is to determine how the chemicals are selected, and whether there is sufficient heritable variation for the chemicals to evolve across heterogeneous landscapes characteristic of introduced ranges. The project will deliver key insights into the ecological and genetic mechanisms of adaptive evolution in invasive species, and predict evolutionary dynamics of biological invasions that inform their effective management. The project’s expected outcomes will be useful to policy makers, weed managers and farming communities.Read moreRead less
How a ubiquitous endosymbiont of insects protects against pathogens. The project intends to determine the mechanism that underpins pathogen protection in insects. Insects harbour microbial communities in their cells and guts and confer a range of benefits on their hosts. One bacterium, Wolbachia, protects insects against co-infecting pathogens. The release of Wolbachia into mosquito populations is currently being tested as a means to reduce dengue virus transmission to humans. Using innovative e ....How a ubiquitous endosymbiont of insects protects against pathogens. The project intends to determine the mechanism that underpins pathogen protection in insects. Insects harbour microbial communities in their cells and guts and confer a range of benefits on their hosts. One bacterium, Wolbachia, protects insects against co-infecting pathogens. The release of Wolbachia into mosquito populations is currently being tested as a means to reduce dengue virus transmission to humans. Using innovative evolutionary and genetic approaches, the project proposes to elucidate the mechanism of pathogen blocking and ascertain its broader consequences for the host. This knowledge may be critical for maintaining the effectiveness of the biocontrol approach in the field by informing the development of resistance management strategies.Read moreRead less
Exploring the unseen: the adaptive significance of animal-visible and infrared colour change. Our research on benefits of rapid colour change in cold-blooded animals, spanning the full spectrum of solar energy, will provide novel insights into the adaptive significance of animal colour patterns. It will also provide a natural model for development of advanced colour-changing materials with a wide range of applications.
The dark side of light: species and community impacts of night lighting. The presence of artificial light at night (LAN) is one of the most profound recent changes in urban ecosystems. Correlated with increases in LAN are declines in the survival and fitness of species living in urban environments. This project aims to use a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the effect of LAN on survival, reproduction and physiology. It integrates field surveys with laboratory and field experiments and aims ....The dark side of light: species and community impacts of night lighting. The presence of artificial light at night (LAN) is one of the most profound recent changes in urban ecosystems. Correlated with increases in LAN are declines in the survival and fitness of species living in urban environments. This project aims to use a multi-disciplinary approach to explore the effect of LAN on survival, reproduction and physiology. It integrates field surveys with laboratory and field experiments and aims to utilise sophisticated physiological assays to identify the links between LAN, melatonin, immunity, survival and reproduction. The intended outcome of this research is to provide fundamental insights into the biological consequences of LAN at the species and community levels.Read moreRead less
Pheromone attenuation: signal perception in changing atmospheric landscapes. Insects use chemical signals, or pheromones, to communicate with conspecifics. To convey information, the pheromone molecules must pass through the atmosphere and physically interact with receptors, typically located on the antennae of the receiver. Pheromones, like other organic compounds, are degraded by ozone, UV light, and radicals. While we know that pheromone plumes attenuate through the dispersal of molecules, th ....Pheromone attenuation: signal perception in changing atmospheric landscapes. Insects use chemical signals, or pheromones, to communicate with conspecifics. To convey information, the pheromone molecules must pass through the atmosphere and physically interact with receptors, typically located on the antennae of the receiver. Pheromones, like other organic compounds, are degraded by ozone, UV light, and radicals. While we know that pheromone plumes attenuate through the dispersal of molecules, the additional impact of pheromone degradation has been ignored. Our project aims to highlight the significance of odour survival for insect chemical communication by examining how atmospheric conditions, including air pollution, affects signal integrity, antennal morphology and signal perception.Read moreRead less
Are good males bad females? Sexual conflict in hermaphrodites. Animal hermaphrodites (organisms that are both males and females) are extremely common and important from both an economic and ecological perspective but we know little about the evolution of this group. This project will examine how sexual conflict, so pervasive in organisms with separate sexes, affects the evolution of hermaphrodites.
Clinal variation in drosophila; a signature of climatic adaptation and a resource for adaptive gene discovery. Evolutionary changes can occur rapidly within populations and genetic changes in traits along gradients represent an expression of these rapid changes. The east coast of Australia represents an outstanding natural laboratory to understand these changes using drosophila flies as model systems.
Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agr ....Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agricultural productivity. Understanding physiological tolerance and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses of plants, animals and communities is necessary to predict impacts of climate change on the future productivity of the vulnerable Australian Alps and to provide novel options for climate adaptation. Read moreRead less
Comparative biosecurity informatics to anticipate invasive species threats. Invasive species cause billions in economic damages to Australia, but we do not have effective means to identify dangerous species before they arrive and cause harm. This project aims to overcome this challenge using the latest techniques in machine learning combined with genetic, ecological, and functional datasets for thousands of species. This project expects to generate a novel framework that allows us to identify an ....Comparative biosecurity informatics to anticipate invasive species threats. Invasive species cause billions in economic damages to Australia, but we do not have effective means to identify dangerous species before they arrive and cause harm. This project aims to overcome this challenge using the latest techniques in machine learning combined with genetic, ecological, and functional datasets for thousands of species. This project expects to generate a novel framework that allows us to identify and rank dangerous invasive species in an unbiased way, helping to safeguard Australia's unique biological community. Expected outcomes include improved methods for detecting ecologically and functionally similar species, providing substantial economic efficiency benefits to Australian biosecurity.Read moreRead less