Sino-Australian neurogenetics initiative. This project will undertake large population studies to identify genes that are associated with motor neuron disease, schizophrenia and intracranial haemorrhage. The project will determine genetic markers, aid development of diagnostic tools and identify new therapeutic targets for these common heritable neurological diseases.
Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Cala ....Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Calandrinia are inherently drought resistant. Novel ornamental cultivars will have high water use efficiency and contribute to water conservation in urban Australia in the face of drought and global warming. Moreover, understanding their synthesis and roles could yield new strategies for enhancing stress tolerance in other species, including crop plants.Read moreRead less
Establishing genetic guidelines for the effective ecological restoration of seagrass meadows. Industry and coastal development in Australia are of national importance for economic growth and prosperity, but they threaten benthic habitats, like seagrasses. Loss of seagrass meadows without mitigation results in greater coastal impacts from damaging storms and waves and a reduction in the health and productivity of marine environments globally. Thus the ecological restoration of seagrass meadows is ....Establishing genetic guidelines for the effective ecological restoration of seagrass meadows. Industry and coastal development in Australia are of national importance for economic growth and prosperity, but they threaten benthic habitats, like seagrasses. Loss of seagrass meadows without mitigation results in greater coastal impacts from damaging storms and waves and a reduction in the health and productivity of marine environments globally. Thus the ecological restoration of seagrass meadows is an urgent national priority action that involves industry, government and the community. Through the detailed assessment of population genetic variation and key population processes in seagrasses, this project will establish genetic guidelines for a more effective seagrass restoration industry.Read moreRead less
Unlocking the genetic and biochemical potential of kangaroo paws. Using cutting-edge gene technology and an interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to uncover the genes responsible for flower colour in the iconic kangaroo paws of Western Australia, and identify the compounds that produce the colours. The project expects to produce the first entire kangaroo paw genome and identify unique genetic variants and biochemicals underlying colour differences. This new knowledge should help horticul ....Unlocking the genetic and biochemical potential of kangaroo paws. Using cutting-edge gene technology and an interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to uncover the genes responsible for flower colour in the iconic kangaroo paws of Western Australia, and identify the compounds that produce the colours. The project expects to produce the first entire kangaroo paw genome and identify unique genetic variants and biochemicals underlying colour differences. This new knowledge should help horticultural programs to more easily breed varieties with desirable and highly marketable new colours, and could assist in conserving these amazing Australian plants.Read moreRead less
Molecular tracing of spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) movements in rainforests and orchards of wet tropical Queensland. This project uses molecular markers to trace movements of spectacled flying-foxes in the wet tropics of north Queensland. The intention is to determine the origins of bats visiting orchards, determine patterns of seasonal and intra-seasonal migration of bats and to document the significance of such migrations to estimation of population numbers and trends. These ....Molecular tracing of spectacled flying-fox (Pteropus conspicillatus) movements in rainforests and orchards of wet tropical Queensland. This project uses molecular markers to trace movements of spectacled flying-foxes in the wet tropics of north Queensland. The intention is to determine the origins of bats visiting orchards, determine patterns of seasonal and intra-seasonal migration of bats and to document the significance of such migrations to estimation of population numbers and trends. These data are critical to conservation of bat populations, to the ecologically sustainable development of fruit growing in the region and the long term sustainable management of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area.Read moreRead less
Pre-clinical evaluation of snake venom proteins with therapeutic potential. Australia harbors some of the most toxic snakes in the world. Their venoms contain a range of substances that are designed to rapidly immobilize and kill their prey. These include agents that lead to enhanced blood clotting; excess bleeding. We have isolated and characterized a large number of the components involved over the last several years. The aim here is to carry out pre-clinical trials in animal models to test th ....Pre-clinical evaluation of snake venom proteins with therapeutic potential. Australia harbors some of the most toxic snakes in the world. Their venoms contain a range of substances that are designed to rapidly immobilize and kill their prey. These include agents that lead to enhanced blood clotting; excess bleeding. We have isolated and characterized a large number of the components involved over the last several years. The aim here is to carry out pre-clinical trials in animal models to test the efficacy of three proteins as anti-bleeding agents and investigate several other novel components. The ultimate outcome will be the development of novel drugs that will have application in the treatment of human disorders. Read moreRead less
Fertility crisis: harnessing the genomic tension behind pollen fertility in sorghum. Hybrid sorghum varieties yield more grain than inbred varieties but the production seed for farmers can be difficult. This project will identify the genes responsible for a trait that makes hybrid seed production possible and this knowledge will help raise sorghum yields in Australian and in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Defining the Brassica pan-genome and establishing methods for gene conversion based crop improvement. Gene content varies between individual varieties. The project aims to apply novel genomic tools to identify and characterise the fixed and variable gene content in the important crop canola and use this to understand genome evolution as well as develop tools to accelerate canola breeding. The project team have developed and used a high-resolution genotyping approach to demonstrate that gene conv ....Defining the Brassica pan-genome and establishing methods for gene conversion based crop improvement. Gene content varies between individual varieties. The project aims to apply novel genomic tools to identify and characterise the fixed and variable gene content in the important crop canola and use this to understand genome evolution as well as develop tools to accelerate canola breeding. The project team have developed and used a high-resolution genotyping approach to demonstrate that gene conversions, short recombination events which lead to the non-reciprocal exchange of genomic regions during meiosis, are abundant in crop genomes. The project aims to develop methods and resources to characterise gene conversion in canola and establish a basis for gene conversion based crop improvement.Read moreRead less
TraitCapture: Genomic modelling for plant phenomics under environmental stress. This project aims to develop software to integrate new hyper-spectral and 3D growth models of plant phenomics with population genomics to identify heritable developmental traits across varied environments. Genome wide association studies aim to then be used to identify causal genes. Functional structural plant models incorporating genetic variation will be used to predict growth under simulated stress environments. ....TraitCapture: Genomic modelling for plant phenomics under environmental stress. This project aims to develop software to integrate new hyper-spectral and 3D growth models of plant phenomics with population genomics to identify heritable developmental traits across varied environments. Genome wide association studies aim to then be used to identify causal genes. Functional structural plant models incorporating genetic variation will be used to predict growth under simulated stress environments. The research team unites international industry, the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility, and university statistical geneticists. TraitCapture software will use open standards applicable to both controlled and field environments enabling plant breeders to pre-select adaptive traits to increase crop productivity under environmental stress.Read moreRead less
National Macadamia Conservation Program. Macadamia is a national icon, and the only indigenous Australian plant food crop to be commercialised. However, it is vulnerable to extinction in the wild, needing conservation action. University, government, industry and community sectors will work together applying cutting edge research methodologies to produce a systematic conservation and recovery plan for Macadamia. This requires: Habitat modelling to predict past, contemporary and potential distribu ....National Macadamia Conservation Program. Macadamia is a national icon, and the only indigenous Australian plant food crop to be commercialised. However, it is vulnerable to extinction in the wild, needing conservation action. University, government, industry and community sectors will work together applying cutting edge research methodologies to produce a systematic conservation and recovery plan for Macadamia. This requires: Habitat modelling to predict past, contemporary and potential distributions for advising resource discovery and rehabilitation; Genetic variation modelling to assess quality and distinctness of native genetic resources and potential for rehabilitation by natural colonisation; and Developing a unifying statistical framework to support this work.Read moreRead less