The Misinformation Future—Confronting Emerging Threats. Misinformation presents challenges to public health and democracy. Though psychological research has explored processing mechanisms and countermeasures, new threats are arising that need to be confronted. This project aims to help meet these threats by (a) investigating misinformation impacts on future-oriented cognition and behaviours, with a focus on global long-term issues and (b) addressing the unique challenges posed by visual and synt ....The Misinformation Future—Confronting Emerging Threats. Misinformation presents challenges to public health and democracy. Though psychological research has explored processing mechanisms and countermeasures, new threats are arising that need to be confronted. This project aims to help meet these threats by (a) investigating misinformation impacts on future-oriented cognition and behaviours, with a focus on global long-term issues and (b) addressing the unique challenges posed by visual and synthetic (AI-generated) misinformation. The expected outcome is new knowledge on the processing and impacts of emerging types of misinformation and translation into practical interventions. These promise to benefit consumers, educators and policymakers, contributing to a healthier information environment.Read moreRead less
Next generation garbage collection: discovery, design, and development. This project aims to improve the performance of programming languages used by millions of Australians every day, such as Java, JavaScript and PHP by developing improved memory-management algorithms. These languages use what is referred to as “garbage collection” to ensure memory is managed without data loss, but do so conservatively and consequently cause performance challenges and energy overheads. This project expects to p ....Next generation garbage collection: discovery, design, and development. This project aims to improve the performance of programming languages used by millions of Australians every day, such as Java, JavaScript and PHP by developing improved memory-management algorithms. These languages use what is referred to as “garbage collection” to ensure memory is managed without data loss, but do so conservatively and consequently cause performance challenges and energy overheads. This project expects to provide these languages with improved memory-management algorithms, and provides researchers and industry with a framework for innovation. This project will enable safe software that is more efficient on today's hardware and able to exploit emerging hardware. This project should lead to better performance and energy savings for server applications, phones, watches, and smart appliances, while ensuring memory safety.Read moreRead less
How do apicomplexan parasites steal amino acids from their hosts? The single-celled parasites that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis are adept at stealing nutrients from the host animals that they infect. How they do this is, however, poorly understood. This project seeks to identify the processes by which these parasites scavenge amino acids, an essential class of nutrient, from their hosts. Using innovative experimental approaches, the project aims to identify and characterise the parasite prote ....How do apicomplexan parasites steal amino acids from their hosts? The single-celled parasites that cause malaria and toxoplasmosis are adept at stealing nutrients from the host animals that they infect. How they do this is, however, poorly understood. This project seeks to identify the processes by which these parasites scavenge amino acids, an essential class of nutrient, from their hosts. Using innovative experimental approaches, the project aims to identify and characterise the parasite proteins that mediate the uptake of different amino acids into the parasite. The intended outcomes of the project are to provide comprehensive insights into a fundamental aspect of parasite biology, and inform strategies to treat the diseases caused by these parasites by cutting off their nutrient supply.Read moreRead less
Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of sy ....Remodelling encapsulin nanocages to help enhance plant carbon fixation. Nature has evolved mechanisms in microbial systems to improve photosynthetic efficiency by saturating the enzyme Rubisco with carbon dioxide. These carbon concentrating mechanisms are genetically complex, precluding successful introduction into crops. Our simpler approach is to use encapsulins, a new source of robust bacterial pore-containing nanocages made from a single gene. This project will optimise the development of synthetic encapsulin-Rubisco carbon-fixing nanoreactors and transform them into leaf chloroplasts to test their impact on plant photosynthesis and growth. Our genetically simpler solution will aid ongoing global efforts to deliver overdue step change improvements in agricultural productivity.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE240100068
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$931,950.00
Summary
Australian Advanced Metabolic Signal Discovery, and Imaging Platform. This proposal aims to establish an Australian Advanced Metabolic Signal Discovery and Imaging platform. The platform consists of an ultra-high resolution gas chromatography mass spectrometer and an imaging mass spectrometry upgrade for a second existing high resolution mass spectrometer. The facility will break barriers currently limiting discovery and localisation of metabolic changes during plant and animal development under ....Australian Advanced Metabolic Signal Discovery, and Imaging Platform. This proposal aims to establish an Australian Advanced Metabolic Signal Discovery and Imaging platform. The platform consists of an ultra-high resolution gas chromatography mass spectrometer and an imaging mass spectrometry upgrade for a second existing high resolution mass spectrometer. The facility will break barriers currently limiting discovery and localisation of metabolic changes during plant and animal development under environmental stress; integral chemical signals exchanged in host-microbe interactions; and volatile signatures linked to ecosystem health and developmental anomalies in animals. Results will inform innovative strategies to enhance biological adaptation, climate resilience and plant, animal, and ecosystem health.Read moreRead less
Novel cell wall genes ripe for the picking. This project aims to investigate the role of recently discovered plant cellulose synthase-like CslM genes and to define the polysaccharide product associated with them. Successful identification of the polysaccharide is highly likely to increase our fundamental understanding of how cell walls are made, how cells stick together or fall apart as well as facilitating the training of the next generation of cell wall biologists in challenging molecular and ....Novel cell wall genes ripe for the picking. This project aims to investigate the role of recently discovered plant cellulose synthase-like CslM genes and to define the polysaccharide product associated with them. Successful identification of the polysaccharide is highly likely to increase our fundamental understanding of how cell walls are made, how cells stick together or fall apart as well as facilitating the training of the next generation of cell wall biologists in challenging molecular and biochemical techniques. This new knowledge could increase our understanding of fruit ripening, and how it might be manipulated. This could have significant downstream commercial benefits if applied to breeding programs of economically important fruit such as grapes, tomatoes and strawberries.Read moreRead less
Control of developmental switches by importin 5. Aims: This project will study a key molecular switch called IPO5, a protein that is required for cells and organs to form and function normally, and it will reveal how it works.
Significance: These experiments will provide the first complete description of how this molecular switch controls the behaviour of a cell across its lifespan. IPO5 is highly conserved, so these studies will be relevant to a wide range of animals.
Expected Outcomes: This k ....Control of developmental switches by importin 5. Aims: This project will study a key molecular switch called IPO5, a protein that is required for cells and organs to form and function normally, and it will reveal how it works.
Significance: These experiments will provide the first complete description of how this molecular switch controls the behaviour of a cell across its lifespan. IPO5 is highly conserved, so these studies will be relevant to a wide range of animals.
Expected Outcomes: This knowledge will reveal how IPO5 controls formation of sperm by revealing what other proteins it binds to and how this affects cell signaling and responses to the environment.
Benefits: This will provide information about potential interventions to control fertility or to repair abnormal cells.
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Flipping the mattress: infinite polyurethane recycling by synthetic biology. Australia is covered in billions of tonnes of plastic and yet <10% is recycled today. Polyurethane (PU) is ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from lacquer coatings to elastane clothing to durable foam padding in car seats, cushions and mattresses. Currently, there are few avenues for PU recycling and much ends up in landfill e.g., a single mattress produces 15-20kg of PU foam waste. Luckily, biodegradation of PU can occu ....Flipping the mattress: infinite polyurethane recycling by synthetic biology. Australia is covered in billions of tonnes of plastic and yet <10% is recycled today. Polyurethane (PU) is ubiquitous in our everyday lives, from lacquer coatings to elastane clothing to durable foam padding in car seats, cushions and mattresses. Currently, there are few avenues for PU recycling and much ends up in landfill e.g., a single mattress produces 15-20kg of PU foam waste. Luckily, biodegradation of PU can occur naturally via various microbial means and from insects, like Galleria mellonella larvae. The overall aim of this research project is to understand plastic biodegradation and translate nature’s solutions into flexible and efficient synthetic enzyme technologies that can sustainably recycle commonly used PU foams. Read moreRead less
Control of sucrose source/sink status by the plant immune system. This project aims to investigate the roles of plant malectin receptor kinases in pathogen recognition and response. The project will utilise molecular and cell biological tools to detect complex formation and changes in sugar import into cells. Expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding of how pathogens manipulate plant cells to their benefit, and greater knowledge of which host molecules participate in this ....Control of sucrose source/sink status by the plant immune system. This project aims to investigate the roles of plant malectin receptor kinases in pathogen recognition and response. The project will utilise molecular and cell biological tools to detect complex formation and changes in sugar import into cells. Expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding of how pathogens manipulate plant cells to their benefit, and greater knowledge of which host molecules participate in this process. This should provide significant benefits such as a new theoretical basis to engineer crop plants for resistance against devastating diseases.Read moreRead less