How common and what is the significance of cis-acting regulatory variation and genomic imprinting in plants? Plant based processes provide truly sustainable solutions to many of the challenges facing Australia. The proposed research will help elucidate how plants regulate variation in gene expression rather than changes in the structure of encoded proteins. This is an area of gene expression, that has not been approached before, that explains the plant's ability to respond to external stimuli. ....How common and what is the significance of cis-acting regulatory variation and genomic imprinting in plants? Plant based processes provide truly sustainable solutions to many of the challenges facing Australia. The proposed research will help elucidate how plants regulate variation in gene expression rather than changes in the structure of encoded proteins. This is an area of gene expression, that has not been approached before, that explains the plant's ability to respond to external stimuli. Variation between plant species in the number of genes does not fully explain the differences between them. This information will come not from seqenceing genomes but from investigation of regulatory elements. Read moreRead less
Estimating genotype-environment interaction using genomic information. This project aims to develop statistical methods that can explore genotype–environment interaction at the genomic level using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms or sequence data. It plans to estimate how the effects of genetic variants change with changing environmental conditions and how overall genetic variance changes due to changing effects in specific gene regions. It plans to deliver statistical models and meth ....Estimating genotype-environment interaction using genomic information. This project aims to develop statistical methods that can explore genotype–environment interaction at the genomic level using genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphisms or sequence data. It plans to estimate how the effects of genetic variants change with changing environmental conditions and how overall genetic variance changes due to changing effects in specific gene regions. It plans to deliver statistical models and methods and an efficient algorithm implemented in software, which would broadly benefit the field of complex trait genetics. Methods to estimate genotype–environment interaction effects at the genomic level would help elucidate complex biological systems, including human genetic response to changing environmental factors and the potential adaptation of animals to changing environmental conditions.Read moreRead less
Reconstructing wheat evolution using ancient DNA. The domestication of wild grasses by farmers was a step change in human history; it led to the emergence of modern cereals and with them, western civilisation. This project will apply modern DNA sequencing methods to 5000-year-old cereal seeds to reconstruct the history of wheat, barley and other crops, and identify lost ancient forms and diversity.