A peptide platform to fight pests threatening global food security. This project aims to develop a platform technology for the efficient design of new crop protection agents based on peptides to protect Australia’s food security. It will be first applied against the highly destructive fall armyworm, currently spreading alarmingly in Australia. The project is significant because insect pests cause huge economic and environmental impacts. Peptides are a new generation of crop protection agents tha ....A peptide platform to fight pests threatening global food security. This project aims to develop a platform technology for the efficient design of new crop protection agents based on peptides to protect Australia’s food security. It will be first applied against the highly destructive fall armyworm, currently spreading alarmingly in Australia. The project is significant because insect pests cause huge economic and environmental impacts. Peptides are a new generation of crop protection agents that are potentially more effective and sustainable than chemical pesticides. Expected outcomes are a new rapid response technology and associated lead molecules to protect against current and emerging pests. Major benefits are increased food security, improved crop yields and a more sustainable agriculture industry. Read moreRead less
Discovery and directed evolution of small molecule biosensors. This project aims to address the need for novel small molecule biosensing capability in diverse fields including food and wine production, environmental monitoring, biocatalysis, and diagnostics using a synthetic biology approach. The significance of this work is the development of new biosensors by a strong interdisciplinary team contributing bioinformatics to identify new biosensors, innovative protein engineering approaches, and c ....Discovery and directed evolution of small molecule biosensors. This project aims to address the need for novel small molecule biosensing capability in diverse fields including food and wine production, environmental monitoring, biocatalysis, and diagnostics using a synthetic biology approach. The significance of this work is the development of new biosensors by a strong interdisciplinary team contributing bioinformatics to identify new biosensors, innovative protein engineering approaches, and cutting-edge directed evolution methodologies. Intended outcomes include enhanced institutional capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration; discovery of fundamentally important bacterial sensors; and development of synthetic regulatory circuits enabling outgrowth of non-biological biocatalysis industries.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100634
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,140.00
Summary
Phos-Ligation: A powerful new tool for chemoselective protein modification. The project aims to develop a powerful new method for the generation of pure modified proteins. Tools for modification of proteins are integral to the study of protein structure and function as well as the commercial production of biopharmaceuticals. The extremely cost effective and operationally simple chemistry that will be developed in this project will overcome a number of pitfalls of currently available methods for ....Phos-Ligation: A powerful new tool for chemoselective protein modification. The project aims to develop a powerful new method for the generation of pure modified proteins. Tools for modification of proteins are integral to the study of protein structure and function as well as the commercial production of biopharmaceuticals. The extremely cost effective and operationally simple chemistry that will be developed in this project will overcome a number of pitfalls of currently available methods for protein modification, and will therefore deliver substantial technological innovation to both academia and industry. Through domestic and international collaboration, this new technology will be applied to study proteins involved in the defence of wheat against fungal rust disease and in inflammatory signalling in humans.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE240100885
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$435,000.00
Summary
Molecular characterisation of pore-forming proteins as pest control agents. This project aims to utilise protein engineering, structural biology, and biochemistry to characterise the function of key members of the aerolysin/epsilon toxin/Toxin_10 pore-forming protein superfamily. Pore formation is a ubiquitous mechanism deployed by all kingdoms as defences against invading organisms. The expected outcomes of this project include the development of novel techniques aimed, broadly, at studying por ....Molecular characterisation of pore-forming proteins as pest control agents. This project aims to utilise protein engineering, structural biology, and biochemistry to characterise the function of key members of the aerolysin/epsilon toxin/Toxin_10 pore-forming protein superfamily. Pore formation is a ubiquitous mechanism deployed by all kingdoms as defences against invading organisms. The expected outcomes of this project include the development of novel techniques aimed, broadly, at studying pore-forming proteins during the assembly pathway. This project should be of benefit to the wider research community by improving our understanding of pore-forming proteins as potential pest control agents. Read moreRead less