Subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia: diversity, assessment and food-web structure. The diverse and unique subterranean fauna associated with aquifers of the Western Australia arid zone is potentially threatened by water extraction, mining and other human impacts. This project aims to apply a powerful combination of molecular genetic analyses and compound specific isotope analyses to study, for the first time, the food web structure and source of energy of these g ....Subterranean invertebrate communities of arid zone Western Australia: diversity, assessment and food-web structure. The diverse and unique subterranean fauna associated with aquifers of the Western Australia arid zone is potentially threatened by water extraction, mining and other human impacts. This project aims to apply a powerful combination of molecular genetic analyses and compound specific isotope analyses to study, for the first time, the food web structure and source of energy of these groundwater ecosystems. The project aims to also develop novel procedures for monitoring their biodiversity using environmental DNA within the groundwater. The results will provide crucial information for the management of groundwater, and conservation of their associated ecosystems, and significantly improve the rigour of long-term environmental monitoring.Read moreRead less
Marsupial germ cells and genes. Germ cells are the most fascinating cells in the body, since theirs is the unique responsibility for transmitting life from generation to generation. Studies in mice have suggested that position in the embryo determines their origin, but the early embryology of the mouse is so different from that of other mammals that the events need confirming and extending in another species. The simplified embryology of the tammar wallaby makes it ideal for studying one of the ....Marsupial germ cells and genes. Germ cells are the most fascinating cells in the body, since theirs is the unique responsibility for transmitting life from generation to generation. Studies in mice have suggested that position in the embryo determines their origin, but the early embryology of the mouse is so different from that of other mammals that the events need confirming and extending in another species. The simplified embryology of the tammar wallaby makes it ideal for studying one of the most fundamental questions in the whole of biology: what is the basis for the primal distinction between sex and soma?Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0560987
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$156,697.00
Summary
Robust High Resolution Gene and Protein Expression Analysis Facilities in WA. Biological research is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive and helping to unravel the basic mechanisms underpinning plant and animal health. This collaborative research equipment will greatly enhance and extend our existing functional genomic facilities in WA, allowing robust pre-fractionation of samples for directed proteomic analysis within complex systems and al ....Robust High Resolution Gene and Protein Expression Analysis Facilities in WA. Biological research is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive and helping to unravel the basic mechanisms underpinning plant and animal health. This collaborative research equipment will greatly enhance and extend our existing functional genomic facilities in WA, allowing robust pre-fractionation of samples for directed proteomic analysis within complex systems and allowing accurate and sensitive measurement of gene expression. Both of these are critical for analysis of low abundance components involved in signalling and regulatory functions in biological samples.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453722
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$385,240.00
Summary
Collaborative Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility for Western Australia. Plant and animal agriculture in Western Australia contributes $6billion per annum to the nation. Biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive, and requires investment in platform technologies to underpin basic and applied research. This collaborative project will provide state-of-the-art equipment and extend existing joint facilities that will enable ....Collaborative Genomics, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facility for Western Australia. Plant and animal agriculture in Western Australia contributes $6billion per annum to the nation. Biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role in keeping agriculture internationally competitive, and requires investment in platform technologies to underpin basic and applied research. This collaborative project will provide state-of-the-art equipment and extend existing joint facilities that will enable WA researchers to carry out high quality research on genomics, proteomics and the metabolic functioning of plants and animals. This will generate new knowledge, provide advanced training and help ensure that Australian R&D in agricultural biotechnology stays at the forefront and benefits the nation.Read moreRead less
Exploring the gene regulation networks governing mitochondrial biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Mitochondria, subcellular organelles that perform many functions indispensable to plant growth and productivity, are dynamic compartments whose protein complement changes dramatically during plant development and under stress. Yet, the cellular processes that regulate the production of these organelles are virtually unknown. By combining conventional approaches with an extremely powerful holistic method for ....Exploring the gene regulation networks governing mitochondrial biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Mitochondria, subcellular organelles that perform many functions indispensable to plant growth and productivity, are dynamic compartments whose protein complement changes dramatically during plant development and under stress. Yet, the cellular processes that regulate the production of these organelles are virtually unknown. By combining conventional approaches with an extremely powerful holistic method for simultaneously examining the expression patterns of every gene in the model plant Arabidopsis, this project will identify proteins that regulate mitochondrial biosynthesis and uncover the gene networks that these proteins control. The project outcomes will provide new opportunities for the rational manipulation of plant growth and productivity.Read moreRead less
eGenomics - Next generation biomonitoring of threatened species. DNA is the molecule of life and exists everywhere in the environment as a largely untapped source of information on evolution, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. Our overriding aim is to start mining that information to benefit threatened species. Based on optimized ancient DNA methods, powerful sequencing technology, whole genome analyses, and RNA profiling, we present a novel and holistic framework for genetic biomonitoring. In ....eGenomics - Next generation biomonitoring of threatened species. DNA is the molecule of life and exists everywhere in the environment as a largely untapped source of information on evolution, biodiversity, and ecosystem health. Our overriding aim is to start mining that information to benefit threatened species. Based on optimized ancient DNA methods, powerful sequencing technology, whole genome analyses, and RNA profiling, we present a novel and holistic framework for genetic biomonitoring. In two parallel model systems we will study corals and reptiles to improve environmental detection while simultaneously obtaining information on their population health. This will foster more efficient conservation of endangered species that are of tremendous importance to our marine and terrestrial ecosystems.Read moreRead less
An integrated molecular approach to human gene regulation. This proposal aims to reveal how the interaction of nuclear RNA and protein molecules control gene regulation in the face of cell stress. To understand how genetic variation leads to changes in the expression of genes, we need new insights into the fundamental principles underpinning complex gene regulatory systems. Building on the discovery of paraspeckles, novel gene regulatory structures, this project will yield insights into gene reg ....An integrated molecular approach to human gene regulation. This proposal aims to reveal how the interaction of nuclear RNA and protein molecules control gene regulation in the face of cell stress. To understand how genetic variation leads to changes in the expression of genes, we need new insights into the fundamental principles underpinning complex gene regulatory systems. Building on the discovery of paraspeckles, novel gene regulatory structures, this project will yield insights into gene regulation that will help fill these knowledge gaps. This will provide a more comprehensive understanding of RNA-mediated gene regulation, and will open up new research opportunities to target RNA based gene regulatory complexes.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100460
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,000.00
Summary
Role of DNA methylation in response to low nutrient availability in plants. DNA methylation (mC) is a covalent modification of DNA essential for the establishment and maintenance of correct gene expression patterns and recently suggested to be responsive to some environmental cues in plants. Using cutting edge technologies, this project aims to identify nutrient stress-induced mC changes and investigate the role that these changes may play in transcriptional regulation, as well as assessing whet ....Role of DNA methylation in response to low nutrient availability in plants. DNA methylation (mC) is a covalent modification of DNA essential for the establishment and maintenance of correct gene expression patterns and recently suggested to be responsive to some environmental cues in plants. Using cutting edge technologies, this project aims to identify nutrient stress-induced mC changes and investigate the role that these changes may play in transcriptional regulation, as well as assessing whether these changes can be transmitted to the next generation to confer intergenerational stress responsiveness. Altogether this project aims to provide fundamental knowledge of the role of mC in plant gene regulation and stress response as well as paving the way for the next generation of novel crop-improvement strategies.Read moreRead less
The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which ....The Epigenetics of Sex in the Dragon. Genetic codes do not directly translate to phenotypes -- environment acts through epigenetics to modify development. We use advanced molecular techniques to examine how epigenetics responds to temperature to reverse sex in our novel animal model, the dragon lizard. How does the cell sense temperature? Once the extrinsic signal is captured, how does it influence chromatin modification to release or suppress key genes in the sex differentiation pathway? Which sex genes are targets? Epigenetic enzymes are astonishingly conserved, providing exciting opportunities to draw from human systems to unravel novel signatures of temperature-induced sex switching in reptiles. This project will advance knowledge of developmental programming generally.Read moreRead less
Dispersal and persistence of large-seeded forest species under global environmental change. This project investigates how decline of a key seed disperser, the emu, due to global environmental change (fragmentation, fire regime change, human population growth, climate change) affects the persistence and migration potential of endemic SW Australian forest plant species. Results will inform approaches to ecosystem management and conservation