Structural Characterisation of the Type IX Secretion System. The Type IX Secretion System present in diverse bacteria of veterinary, agricultural, environmental and industrial importance enables effector proteins to be secreted and attached to the cell surface where they contribute to disease pathogenesis or degrade biopolymers of commercial interest. This project aims to determine the structure and assembly mechanism of this complex secretion nanomachine comprising 15 different proteins using s ....Structural Characterisation of the Type IX Secretion System. The Type IX Secretion System present in diverse bacteria of veterinary, agricultural, environmental and industrial importance enables effector proteins to be secreted and attached to the cell surface where they contribute to disease pathogenesis or degrade biopolymers of commercial interest. This project aims to determine the structure and assembly mechanism of this complex secretion nanomachine comprising 15 different proteins using state of the art microscopy. Knowledge of the structure will greatly enhance our understanding of secretion mechanisms and our ability to both inhibit the system to treat disease in animals or manipulate the system for industrial applications providing future economic and environmental benefits to our nation.Read moreRead less
Effect of predation on virulence traits of opportunistic pathogens. The project aims to determine if increased fitness of bacteria in animal or human hosts (increased virulence) can occur due to indirect rather than direct selective pressure, particularly pressure on bacteria arising from predation by protozoa. Protozoa feed on many pathogenic bacteria (e.g. those that cause cholera and chronic infections) in the ocean, and warming oceans are predicted to increase predation. Knowing the effect o ....Effect of predation on virulence traits of opportunistic pathogens. The project aims to determine if increased fitness of bacteria in animal or human hosts (increased virulence) can occur due to indirect rather than direct selective pressure, particularly pressure on bacteria arising from predation by protozoa. Protozoa feed on many pathogenic bacteria (e.g. those that cause cholera and chronic infections) in the ocean, and warming oceans are predicted to increase predation. Knowing the effect of warming oceans on marine bacteria and the emergence of virulence in bacteria that are subject to predation in the environment can inform design of tools for monitoring the risk of infection outbreaks. Benefits would be realised by academic researchers, clinicians and policy-makers interested in optimising the tracking of infection threats.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE120100025
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,000.00
Summary
A high-throughput screening and sequencing facility for single cell genomics. Genomics has revolutionised biology, but for most microorganisms this revolution has not arrived because very few can be grown in pure culture. The single cell genomics facility will address this major bottleneck by allowing as little as a single cell in a clinical or environmental setting to be sequenced thereby accelerating new discoveries and outcomes.
Understanding evolution of dominant bacteria inhabiting the rodent gut . The gut microbiome is central to animal health and immune function, however we have an incomplete understanding of how this important symbiotic ecosystem evolved. By approaching this knowledge gap from a historical perspective and using real-time observation, this project will address how the gut community evolved with the rodent host and how members of that community respond to new selective pressures. The significance of ....Understanding evolution of dominant bacteria inhabiting the rodent gut . The gut microbiome is central to animal health and immune function, however we have an incomplete understanding of how this important symbiotic ecosystem evolved. By approaching this knowledge gap from a historical perspective and using real-time observation, this project will address how the gut community evolved with the rodent host and how members of that community respond to new selective pressures. The significance of these findings is in their capacity to inform our understanding of the relationship between host and microbe, not only within a key model system, but by extrapolation to other host-microbe systems. Read moreRead less
The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems fee ....The costs and consequences of resistance to stress in microbial systems. The coexistence of antibiotic resistant and sensitive bacteria in microbial communities represents a paradox. Combining novel ecological models and competition experiments, this project aims to investigate how the pulsing of antibiotics and resources affects the coexistence of resistant and sensitive bacteria. This project expects to generate new knowledge into how the complex non-equilibrium dynamics of natural systems feeds back to regulate the spread of antibiotic resistance in microbial communities. This should advance our fundamental understanding of microbial competition, and provide a foundation for the development of new ecologically-aware strategies for managing resistance.Read moreRead less
Targeted isolation of specific marine bacterial species associated with higher organsims for the purpose of discovering new antimicrobial compounds. Specific bacterial species that are commonly found in association with marine plants and animals often produce active secondary metabolites. The aim of this project is to apply our understanding of these bacterial-host associations to the targeted isolation of novel antimicrobials from the marine environment. While these new compounds will undoubted ....Targeted isolation of specific marine bacterial species associated with higher organsims for the purpose of discovering new antimicrobial compounds. Specific bacterial species that are commonly found in association with marine plants and animals often produce active secondary metabolites. The aim of this project is to apply our understanding of these bacterial-host associations to the targeted isolation of novel antimicrobials from the marine environment. While these new compounds will undoubtedly have a number of commercial applications this project focuses on the development of products for dental hygiene in animals. Generally, the urgent need for new antimicrobial compounds to combat the growing number of microbes that are resistant to current antibiotics highlights the importance of this project.Read moreRead less
Future climate change: consequences for decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through rhizosphere fungal communities. The proposed collaboration will provide novel insights into likely consequences of global climate change on decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through forest soils. This will refine predictive models of future climate change and its impacts on the sustainability of Australia's forests. It will also enhance the protection of our valued habitats and their important soil ....Future climate change: consequences for decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through rhizosphere fungal communities. The proposed collaboration will provide novel insights into likely consequences of global climate change on decomposition and pathways of carbon flow through forest soils. This will refine predictive models of future climate change and its impacts on the sustainability of Australia's forests. It will also enhance the protection of our valued habitats and their important soil biodiversity. The knowledge gained will help land managers to adapt current practices to meet the demands of future climate change. This will maximize the opportunities for sequestering carbon in Australia's forests and so contribute to meeting Australia's global responsibility for mitigation of climate change.Read moreRead less
How evolution is constrained by trade-offs between the multiplication and survival of organisms. The negative correlation between reproduction (production of large numbers of progeny) and survival (resistance to external challenges) is a crucial trade-off that limits the evolution of perfect organisms. Such trade-offs are extremely difficult to study in closely controlled experiments because of the complexities in biological organisation and life-cycles. This project will explore trade-offs usin ....How evolution is constrained by trade-offs between the multiplication and survival of organisms. The negative correlation between reproduction (production of large numbers of progeny) and survival (resistance to external challenges) is a crucial trade-off that limits the evolution of perfect organisms. Such trade-offs are extremely difficult to study in closely controlled experiments because of the complexities in biological organisation and life-cycles. This project will explore trade-offs using a novel synthetic biology strategy. Genes in bacteria will be engineered to produce strains with a range of fixed but different trade-off settings. The strain sets will allow unprecedented analysis of reproduction-survival trade-offs and testing of important models of how trade-offs control fitness and evolutionary outcomes.Read moreRead less
The biology of integrons and their role in bacterial adaptation. Bacteria evolve in ways that animals and plants do not. One of the tools available is the ability to share genes amongst individuals in a community. One example of this is the very rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes in pathogens. Here we will be studying a genetic element that greatly contributes to this horizontal spread of genes. This will lead to a better understanding of how bacteria work, the direct benefits of whic ....The biology of integrons and their role in bacterial adaptation. Bacteria evolve in ways that animals and plants do not. One of the tools available is the ability to share genes amongst individuals in a community. One example of this is the very rapid spread of antibiotic resistance genes in pathogens. Here we will be studying a genetic element that greatly contributes to this horizontal spread of genes. This will lead to a better understanding of how bacteria work, the direct benefits of which includes the discovery of new pathways and genes for the biotechnology industry and greater understanding of how bacteria cause disease in us, other animals and in commercial crops.Read moreRead less
A functional genomic approach for understanding metal ion adaptation in marine cyanobacteria. Unicellular marine cyanobacteria constitute 20-40% of total marine chlorophyll biomass and carbon fixation, and hence significantly impact the global carbon cycle and are very relevant to combating global warming. This research will reveal some of the major mechanisms by which marine cyanobacteria have adapted to metal levels in coastal and oligotrophic environments. Thus these results will help us und ....A functional genomic approach for understanding metal ion adaptation in marine cyanobacteria. Unicellular marine cyanobacteria constitute 20-40% of total marine chlorophyll biomass and carbon fixation, and hence significantly impact the global carbon cycle and are very relevant to combating global warming. This research will reveal some of the major mechanisms by which marine cyanobacteria have adapted to metal levels in coastal and oligotrophic environments. Thus these results will help us understand the distribution and diversity of these organisms in relation to global primary productivity. They will also lead to the development of more robust biomarkers for metal stress and pollution in coastal environments.Read moreRead less