The molecular evolution of wings in flightless birds. The flightless Australian emu and New Zealand kiwi have small wings, while the extinct moa had none at all. This project will identify the genetic changes that have lead to wing reduction and loss in flightless birds. The results will shed light on the genetic control of forelimb development and how it has evolved.
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
Understanding the evolution of the alternation of generations in the land plant life cycle. This project will investigate the genetic basis and evolution of the land plant life cycle, in which both haploid and diploid phases consist of complex multicellular bodies. The project's findings, which will be made using two model laboratory plants, will be applicable to all plants and will help understand important processes such as pollen and seed production.
Molecular mechanisms that generate muscle cell type diversity. The general aim of this project is to exploit the advantages of the zebrafish system and our access to the embryology of Australian shark species to generate an understanding of the basis for muscle fibre diversity and evolution. While there is some understanding of the fundamental genetic basis of how to make an individual muscle cell from a nascent myoblast there is far less knowledge on how individual muscle cells generate mature ....Molecular mechanisms that generate muscle cell type diversity. The general aim of this project is to exploit the advantages of the zebrafish system and our access to the embryology of Australian shark species to generate an understanding of the basis for muscle fibre diversity and evolution. While there is some understanding of the fundamental genetic basis of how to make an individual muscle cell from a nascent myoblast there is far less knowledge on how individual muscle cells generate mature muscle types and patterns. The intended outcome of this research is to generate understanding of the complex molecular basis of muscle patterning in the simple paradigm of the zebrafish myotome that could be applied across the vertebrate phylogeny.Read moreRead less
Development and evolution of land plant shoots. How do plants grow and develop their wonderful diversity of forms, from cereal crops to eucalypt forests? The project aims to understand basic mechanisms of plant development via comparative studies using the model angiosperm, Arabidopsis, and the liverwort, Marchantia, which possesses a simplified genome. Comparative studies of the genetic basis of the body plan, branching, and hormonal action could unlock their evolutionary elaboration from the s ....Development and evolution of land plant shoots. How do plants grow and develop their wonderful diversity of forms, from cereal crops to eucalypt forests? The project aims to understand basic mechanisms of plant development via comparative studies using the model angiosperm, Arabidopsis, and the liverwort, Marchantia, which possesses a simplified genome. Comparative studies of the genetic basis of the body plan, branching, and hormonal action could unlock their evolutionary elaboration from the simpler liverworts to more complex flowering plants. The project may generate new understanding of the principles of how genes and hormones control the architecture of plant shoot systems, and support the targeted selection of new agricultural plants.Read moreRead less
Morphological development of the kidney – a paradigm for organogenesis. This project aims to shed new light on how the kidney develops, how normal adult function is established and how congenital kidney malformations occur. It aims to investigate a mathematical pattern that has been discovered in the program of branching morphogenesis which dictates kidney development. By combining cutting-edge genetic approaches, morphological analysis and mathematical modelling, this project plans to explore h ....Morphological development of the kidney – a paradigm for organogenesis. This project aims to shed new light on how the kidney develops, how normal adult function is established and how congenital kidney malformations occur. It aims to investigate a mathematical pattern that has been discovered in the program of branching morphogenesis which dictates kidney development. By combining cutting-edge genetic approaches, morphological analysis and mathematical modelling, this project plans to explore how this pattern is established, how it dictates kidney development and whether it constitutes an ancient mechanism central to organ formation. Project outcomes may improve understanding of fundamental developmental processes and developmental disease and variation. Project findings may also be important for understanding the development of other organ systems.Read moreRead less
Ancestral, conserved and novel mechanisms in marsupial genomic imprinting. Genomic imprinting is the differential expression pattern of some genes depending on whether the gene copy came from the mother or the father. This differential expression is essential for embryonic development and errors lead to disease. To date, most of our knowledge of the control of genomic imprinting comes from the mouse, but much less is known about this process in marsupials. Our comparative approach, using marsupi ....Ancestral, conserved and novel mechanisms in marsupial genomic imprinting. Genomic imprinting is the differential expression pattern of some genes depending on whether the gene copy came from the mother or the father. This differential expression is essential for embryonic development and errors lead to disease. To date, most of our knowledge of the control of genomic imprinting comes from the mouse, but much less is known about this process in marsupials. Our comparative approach, using marsupial mammals that are distantly related to mice and humans, aims to clarify how genomic imprinting mechanisms have evolved, which patterns are conserved across mammals, and which vary. Our proposed research aims to provide new approaches and understanding of this fundamental process essential for the continuation of life.
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Reprogramming maternal and paternal genomes during development: new perspectives from marsupials. This project will use marsupials to examine programming of the germ cell lineage (cells that become eggs and sperm) and the evolution of these mechanisms that control their development. Using the unique features of our Australian native animals, this research will contribute to the understanding of the transmission of life.
Old genes learning new tricks: characterising regulatory changes driving increased heart complexity during vertebrate evolution. The heart has dramatically increased in morphological complexity during vertebrate evolution but the molecular basis driving these major changes remains unknown. Using comparative genomics approaches, this project will explore changes in the regulation of genes involved in heart formation that lead to changes in cardiac structure. It will elucidate for the first time t ....Old genes learning new tricks: characterising regulatory changes driving increased heart complexity during vertebrate evolution. The heart has dramatically increased in morphological complexity during vertebrate evolution but the molecular basis driving these major changes remains unknown. Using comparative genomics approaches, this project will explore changes in the regulation of genes involved in heart formation that lead to changes in cardiac structure. It will elucidate for the first time the cardiac regulatory repertoire in zebrafish and will compare it with that of fly and mouse using cutting-edge bioinformatics pipelines. This work will unravel cardiac-specific regulatory modifications that give rise to evolutionary changes. On a broader scale, it will shed new light on the role of regulatory innovations over gene innovations in the emergence of new traits.Read moreRead less
The evolution of Membrane Attack Complex / Perforin-like proteins in development and immunity. Membrane Attack Complex/Perforin-like (MACPF) proteins commonly play key roles in vertebrate immunity, however some family members play critical but poorly understood developmental roles. It has been shown that the sole Drosophila MACPF protein, Torsolike, plays both developmental and immune roles. Here the aim to unravel how Torsolike functions in these dual roles by using a novel genetic screening ap ....The evolution of Membrane Attack Complex / Perforin-like proteins in development and immunity. Membrane Attack Complex/Perforin-like (MACPF) proteins commonly play key roles in vertebrate immunity, however some family members play critical but poorly understood developmental roles. It has been shown that the sole Drosophila MACPF protein, Torsolike, plays both developmental and immune roles. Here the aim to unravel how Torsolike functions in these dual roles by using a novel genetic screening approach to identify genes needed for its function. The project also uses comparative studies to probe alternative functions of Torsolike in a second insect, the honeybee. This data will be pivotal for understanding how members of this family have evolved into proteins that are separately involved in immune defense and in development in higher vertebrates.Read moreRead less