Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101625
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,536.00
Summary
The evolutionary significance of ejaculate-female interactions. The way that ejaculates interact with the female reproductive tract is thought to have profound evolutionary implications in internal fertilizers. Yet we currently lack clear insights into these processes in most taxa, precisely because such ejaculate-female interactions are hidden from view inside the female's reproductive tract. In this project an integrated series of experiments on a model vertebrate (the guppy) will overcome the ....The evolutionary significance of ejaculate-female interactions. The way that ejaculates interact with the female reproductive tract is thought to have profound evolutionary implications in internal fertilizers. Yet we currently lack clear insights into these processes in most taxa, precisely because such ejaculate-female interactions are hidden from view inside the female's reproductive tract. In this project an integrated series of experiments on a model vertebrate (the guppy) will overcome the inherent challenges in studying ejaculate-female interactions. The project aims to shed new light on the role that ejaculate-female interactions play in sperm competition, and will explore the consequences of these interactions at different evolutionary levels and across varying social environments.Read moreRead less
Paternal effects: Non-genetic inheritance via seminal fluid? This project seeks to improve understanding of the mechanisms of non-genetic inheritance and its ability to promote adaptation. Although offspring are known to resemble their parents through the action of genes, there is now a growing awareness of non-genetic mechanisms by which parents can affect the growth and health of their offspring. This project aims to quantify the putative role of seminal fluid in so-called non-genetic inherita ....Paternal effects: Non-genetic inheritance via seminal fluid? This project seeks to improve understanding of the mechanisms of non-genetic inheritance and its ability to promote adaptation. Although offspring are known to resemble their parents through the action of genes, there is now a growing awareness of non-genetic mechanisms by which parents can affect the growth and health of their offspring. This project aims to quantify the putative role of seminal fluid in so-called non-genetic inheritance. Using an insect model, the project aims to identify proteins in the seminal fluid that promote early embryo development, explore how males allocate these proteins to their mates, and how females adjust their own reproduction in response to seminal fluid proteins. Improving knowledge of these mechanisms may enable the development of interventions to control the unwanted evolution of harmful organisms.Read moreRead less
Female fluids in post-copulatory sexual selection. This project aims to test the causes, consequences and mechanisms of female reproductive fluids in modulating fertilisation bias in a model vertebrate species, the zebrafish. Female reproductive fluids (the fluid surrounding eggs) may moderate sperm selection by females, thus facilitating mate choice at the gamete level. This project will study interactions involving sperm and female reproductive fluid in an evolutionary framework. The intended ....Female fluids in post-copulatory sexual selection. This project aims to test the causes, consequences and mechanisms of female reproductive fluids in modulating fertilisation bias in a model vertebrate species, the zebrafish. Female reproductive fluids (the fluid surrounding eggs) may moderate sperm selection by females, thus facilitating mate choice at the gamete level. This project will study interactions involving sperm and female reproductive fluid in an evolutionary framework. The intended outcome is increased knowledge of these processes, and better understanding of how non-gamete factors affect fertility, which could benefit fields as diverse as human fertility and aquaculture.Read moreRead less
Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection: answering fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. This research will yield results that are at the cutting-edge in evolutionary biology, that will have a significant international impact, promoting the international profile of Australian science. The award will build on an existing world-class centre of excellence for research, and will train internationally competitive research scientists, adding to Australia's scientific capabilities. The researc ....Sperm Competition and Sexual Selection: answering fundamental questions in evolutionary biology. This research will yield results that are at the cutting-edge in evolutionary biology, that will have a significant international impact, promoting the international profile of Australian science. The award will build on an existing world-class centre of excellence for research, and will train internationally competitive research scientists, adding to Australia's scientific capabilities. The research centre's connections with local fertility clinics, and their work on human sperm quality, has the potential to inform those studying human fertility.Read moreRead less
Safeguarding honeybees: understanding host-parasite interactions at the level of proteins. Parasites are responsible for dramatic declines of honeybee populations resulting in a loss of pollination services and posing a threat to food production and ecosystem stability. This project will study the honeybee immune system and its interactions with bee parasites on the molecular scale, which will be important to guide future bee breeding.
Evolution of the dermomyotome in vertebrates. The project seeks to understand how different muscle populations within the embryo form and have evolved within the vertebrate phylogeny. All amniote muscles, except that of the head, derive from a transient embryonic structure termed the dermomyotome. The formation of muscle from the dermomyotome of amniotes uses a highly conserved mechanism that is distinct from that deployed by bony fish and amphibians. How the dermomyotome evolved to generate th ....Evolution of the dermomyotome in vertebrates. The project seeks to understand how different muscle populations within the embryo form and have evolved within the vertebrate phylogeny. All amniote muscles, except that of the head, derive from a transient embryonic structure termed the dermomyotome. The formation of muscle from the dermomyotome of amniotes uses a highly conserved mechanism that is distinct from that deployed by bony fish and amphibians. How the dermomyotome evolved to generate the distinct types of locomotor systems we see deployed throughout the vertebrate phylogeny remains unresolved. This project aims to contribute to an understanding of how different locomotor strategies deployed at important evolutionary transitions were generated.Read moreRead less
Evolutionary, macroecological and phylogenetic patterns in Australasian freshwater crayfish. This project connects Australian systematists to a worldwide project that involves all of the world's living experts on freshwater crayfish evolution in a coordinated effort to answer some very important evolutionary questions. It involves a group of invertebrate animals that are not only readily recognisable, but which in Australia includes the world's largest and the world's most terrestrial crayfish s ....Evolutionary, macroecological and phylogenetic patterns in Australasian freshwater crayfish. This project connects Australian systematists to a worldwide project that involves all of the world's living experts on freshwater crayfish evolution in a coordinated effort to answer some very important evolutionary questions. It involves a group of invertebrate animals that are not only readily recognisable, but which in Australia includes the world's largest and the world's most terrestrial crayfish species. Information gained from the project will contribute to the management of crayfish biodiversity, identification of threatened species and tools to identify these prominent and important members of Australian freshwater ecosystems.Read moreRead less
The oxygen paradox and the evolution of sex differences. Free radicals are reactive molecules linked to the onset of ageing, cancers and infertility. By advancing an emerging paradigm that contends that 'free radicals' are important drivers of evolutionary change, this project will lead the field and provide an excellent platform on which to train students to the highest standards.
Safeguarding Honeybees: Increasing parasite treatment effectiveness using nanotechnology. There is increasing concern about the exposure of honeybees to pesticides used to control both agricultural pests and diseases. Emerging reports indicate that these chemicals substantially harm bees and therefore contribute to the dramatic declines reported. A widespread bee pathogen, Nosema, will be used to directly quantify the effectiveness of commercially used pesticides on both parasite and honeybee vi ....Safeguarding Honeybees: Increasing parasite treatment effectiveness using nanotechnology. There is increasing concern about the exposure of honeybees to pesticides used to control both agricultural pests and diseases. Emerging reports indicate that these chemicals substantially harm bees and therefore contribute to the dramatic declines reported. A widespread bee pathogen, Nosema, will be used to directly quantify the effectiveness of commercially used pesticides on both parasite and honeybee viability. Furthermore, state-of-the-art nanotechnology will be used to develop benign treatments with enhanced effectiveness and minimal dosage/exposure to the bees. Outcomes of this project can have major impact on future parasite management in commercial honeybees.Read moreRead less
Sexual selection on female phenotypes and maternal effects as adaptations. Recent work has queried the paradigm that female ornamentation is the consequence of a genetic correlation and non-adaptive. Whilst the circumstances under which male choosiness is expected have widened, the benefits to females of investing in ornamentation, rather than offspring, remain prohibitively small. An alternative explanation may be that sexually antagonistic alleles or social competition amongst females maintain ....Sexual selection on female phenotypes and maternal effects as adaptations. Recent work has queried the paradigm that female ornamentation is the consequence of a genetic correlation and non-adaptive. Whilst the circumstances under which male choosiness is expected have widened, the benefits to females of investing in ornamentation, rather than offspring, remain prohibitively small. An alternative explanation may be that sexually antagonistic alleles or social competition amongst females maintain female ornamentation, however prudent males use this ornamentation for adaptive mating decisions. This proposal addresses the selection pressures on female phenotypes, trade-offs in offspring and ornamentation allocation, maternal effects and the extent to which sex determination mechanisms determine the expression of female ornamentation.Read moreRead less