Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100202
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Interplay between plasticity and senescence. This project aims at bridging two fundamental human stressors together in a quantitative genetic framework. The environment changes globally on a huge scale coupled with effect on the age-structures and genetic composition of countless populations by over-harvesting and exploitation. This project will provide significant benefits, such as potential strategies of dealing with future human-induced changes more effectively.
Evolutionary limits. This project aims to understand the processes that limit adaptation to rapid environmental change. Adaption to rapid environmental change determines population persistence. Species with restricted distributions may lack the genetic variation necessary to adapt to changing environments, although they represent the vast majority of biodiversity. Understanding why they lack the necessary genetic variation for adaptation is important for identifying and managing vulnerable biolo ....Evolutionary limits. This project aims to understand the processes that limit adaptation to rapid environmental change. Adaption to rapid environmental change determines population persistence. Species with restricted distributions may lack the genetic variation necessary to adapt to changing environments, although they represent the vast majority of biodiversity. Understanding why they lack the necessary genetic variation for adaptation is important for identifying and managing vulnerable biological systems. This project will empirically determine the contribution of mutations to key traits to better understand what limits evolutionary adaptation. Better prediction of extinction risk should inform conservation and biodiversity management.Read moreRead less
Integrating evolution and plasticity into predictions of population persistence in a changing climate: adaptation or extinction? To effectively manage biodiversity at a time of rapid environmental change, Australia needs accurate predictions of how human alterations to climate and habitat will affect species. This project integrates evolution and spatial ecology to develop new tools for predicting and understanding how species will respond to environmental change.
Functional evolution and therapeutic potential of snake venom coagulotoxins. This project aims to identify and understand the factors that influence the useful function of key residues (parts of larger compounds) in Australian snake venom coagulotoxins, which alter blood-clotting ability. In recent years, snake venom compounds have been demonstrated as useful models from which to synthesise therapeutic drugs to improve health and well-being. This project will test these important toxins on model ....Functional evolution and therapeutic potential of snake venom coagulotoxins. This project aims to identify and understand the factors that influence the useful function of key residues (parts of larger compounds) in Australian snake venom coagulotoxins, which alter blood-clotting ability. In recent years, snake venom compounds have been demonstrated as useful models from which to synthesise therapeutic drugs to improve health and well-being. This project will test these important toxins on model systems that represent natural prey items in order to determine the molecular and functional evolution of blood-clot forming enzymes. Expected outcomes include substantial contributions to the body of evolutionary biology knowledge, as well as narrowing the search for the ultimate drug candidates.Read moreRead less
Comparative Paleogenomics of the Arctic Tundra Ecosystem: the genetic response of plants and animals to climate change. This project will use DNA from deep-frozen seeds and bones 100,000 years old to record how species respond to climate change - by adapting and surviving or by shifting ranges and moving. Very large numbers of genes will be examined to identify changes across the genomes of four plant and two animal species, and contrast the responses to major climatic shifts.
Experimental co-evolution of Yeast and E. coli. This project aims to measure the rates and genetic mechanisms of adaptation for individual species within a microbial community. Expected outcomes of this interdisciplinary project include the first genomic and phenotypic dataset of a model microbial community, and novel tools for the analysis of meta-genomic datasets. This project has the potential to transform understanding of microbial adaptation.
Experimental evolution in the mitochondrion. This project aims to discover if the genetic variation in mitochondria (our energy centres) contributes to evolutionary adaptation. This is a long-debated hypothesis in evolutionary biology. This project will take an inter-disciplinary approach, involving experimental evolution, an ecological framework, the measurement of organismal physiologies, and fruit fly genetics. The outcomes could change how biologists view the mitochondria, reveal mitochondri ....Experimental evolution in the mitochondrion. This project aims to discover if the genetic variation in mitochondria (our energy centres) contributes to evolutionary adaptation. This is a long-debated hypothesis in evolutionary biology. This project will take an inter-disciplinary approach, involving experimental evolution, an ecological framework, the measurement of organismal physiologies, and fruit fly genetics. The outcomes could change how biologists view the mitochondria, reveal mitochondria’s role in adaptation to climatic stress, and their contribution to shaping evolutionary trade-offs and conflict between the sexes.Read moreRead less
The nutritional geometry of parental diet. This project aims to investigate the effects of ancestors’ diet on descendants’ development and performance. Recognition that an individual’s diet can affect its descendants’ features and health influences biology and medicine, but limitations of conventional research methodologies make understanding such effects incomplete. The Nutritional Geometry framework enables researchers to analyse effects of diet composition as complex response surfaces, and ha ....The nutritional geometry of parental diet. This project aims to investigate the effects of ancestors’ diet on descendants’ development and performance. Recognition that an individual’s diet can affect its descendants’ features and health influences biology and medicine, but limitations of conventional research methodologies make understanding such effects incomplete. The Nutritional Geometry framework enables researchers to analyse effects of diet composition as complex response surfaces, and has recently been used in research on parental diet effects. Building on this breakthrough, this project intends to analyse the effects of ancestors’ diet, and test hypotheses relevant to evolution, ecology and human health.Read moreRead less
The oxygen paradox and the evolution of sex differences. Free radicals are reactive molecules linked to the onset of ageing, cancers and infertility. By advancing an emerging paradigm that contends that 'free radicals' are important drivers of evolutionary change, this project will lead the field and provide an excellent platform on which to train students to the highest standards.
Mitochondria, maternal inheritance and the evolution of male life-histories. This project aims to unravel the extent to which maternal inheritance of the mitochondrial DNA renders it susceptible to accumulating mutations that are harmful only to males; an evolutionary theory called ‘Mother’s Curse’. Left unchecked, Mother’s Curse could threaten the long-term viability of populations. This project will combine experimental techniques in ecology, fruit fly genetics and a platform for measuring phy ....Mitochondria, maternal inheritance and the evolution of male life-histories. This project aims to unravel the extent to which maternal inheritance of the mitochondrial DNA renders it susceptible to accumulating mutations that are harmful only to males; an evolutionary theory called ‘Mother’s Curse’. Left unchecked, Mother’s Curse could threaten the long-term viability of populations. This project will combine experimental techniques in ecology, fruit fly genetics and a platform for measuring physiological phenotypes to test three hypotheses central to the theory. By testing these hypotheses, the project intends to understand the causes of sex differences in physiology, longevity and reproductive health, and improve awareness of evolutionary concepts that may ultimately affect human health.Read moreRead less