Force from lipids: the role of the lipid bilayer in mechanosensory transduction. The proposed research will significantly contribute to a better understanding of the wide range of physiological processes underlying mechanosensory transduction in living cells. The direct benefit for Australian science consists of: (i) strengthening international links with leading overseas laboratories, and (ii) accessing the state-of-the-art expertise not available in Australia. The acquired knowledge will aid i ....Force from lipids: the role of the lipid bilayer in mechanosensory transduction. The proposed research will significantly contribute to a better understanding of the wide range of physiological processes underlying mechanosensory transduction in living cells. The direct benefit for Australian science consists of: (i) strengthening international links with leading overseas laboratories, and (ii) accessing the state-of-the-art expertise not available in Australia. The acquired knowledge will aid in developing and designing artificial tactile sensors inspired by their biological models studied in this project. Long-term, the project is expected to make an original contribution towards developing new technologies and novel medical applications, both of which promise to be of great national benefit.Read moreRead less
Investigation of recognition memory in behavioural, electrophysiological, and functional neuro-imaging domains using state-trace analysis. This project utilises a novel methodology to investigate human recognition memory across three separate domains - behavioural, electrophysiological and functional neuro-imaging. The aim is to determine how these three aspects of memory are related and if they can be united by a single theory.
Ocean currents and genetic connectedness in a complex archipelago. To what extent are marine coastal communities ?open?, i.e. how often do the oceans carry larvae far from their point of spawning, and what influence does such ocean transport have on the spread of genetic information? These are some of the most fundamental questions of biological oceanography; the project will provide new answers by using an extremely detailed genetic data set from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off Western Austra ....Ocean currents and genetic connectedness in a complex archipelago. To what extent are marine coastal communities ?open?, i.e. how often do the oceans carry larvae far from their point of spawning, and what influence does such ocean transport have on the spread of genetic information? These are some of the most fundamental questions of biological oceanography; the project will provide new answers by using an extremely detailed genetic data set from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands off Western Australian together with an advanced numerical ocean model especially suited to that environment and developed in Australia.Read moreRead less
System-level characterisation of the siphonophore, Indo-Pacific man o' war. The Indo-Pacific man o' war (bluebottle), is a cnidarian from the siphonophore order. These animals frequent Australian beaches in swarms and cause thousands of stings every year. The project proposes to profile the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome of the bluebottle to gain insight into its life cycle, its behaviour, and toxins. Expected outcomes include the generation of novel information related to bluebo ....System-level characterisation of the siphonophore, Indo-Pacific man o' war. The Indo-Pacific man o' war (bluebottle), is a cnidarian from the siphonophore order. These animals frequent Australian beaches in swarms and cause thousands of stings every year. The project proposes to profile the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome of the bluebottle to gain insight into its life cycle, its behaviour, and toxins. Expected outcomes include the generation of novel information related to bluebottle gene regulation and its toxin repertoire, which will be highly beneficial for the design of future sting treatment strategies. Given that the bluebottle is a colony made of functionally specialised polyps, this study will also provide significant novel insight into the origins and evolution of animal multicellularity.Read moreRead less
Exploring the gene regulation networks governing mitochondrial biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Mitochondria, subcellular organelles that perform many functions indispensable to plant growth and productivity, are dynamic compartments whose protein complement changes dramatically during plant development and under stress. Yet, the cellular processes that regulate the production of these organelles are virtually unknown. By combining conventional approaches with an extremely powerful holistic method for ....Exploring the gene regulation networks governing mitochondrial biogenesis in Arabidopsis. Mitochondria, subcellular organelles that perform many functions indispensable to plant growth and productivity, are dynamic compartments whose protein complement changes dramatically during plant development and under stress. Yet, the cellular processes that regulate the production of these organelles are virtually unknown. By combining conventional approaches with an extremely powerful holistic method for simultaneously examining the expression patterns of every gene in the model plant Arabidopsis, this project will identify proteins that regulate mitochondrial biosynthesis and uncover the gene networks that these proteins control. The project outcomes will provide new opportunities for the rational manipulation of plant growth and productivity.Read moreRead less
Female roles during postcopulatory sexual selection. The project will evaluate the importance of postcopulatory sexual selection in the guppy, a polyandrous species of livebearing fish. The use of artificial insemination, which experimentally controls the relative contribution of sperm from competing males (as well as other confounding effects), will facilitate a powerful test of recent theoretical predictions in evolutionary biology. The project will enable me to distinguish between competing h ....Female roles during postcopulatory sexual selection. The project will evaluate the importance of postcopulatory sexual selection in the guppy, a polyandrous species of livebearing fish. The use of artificial insemination, which experimentally controls the relative contribution of sperm from competing males (as well as other confounding effects), will facilitate a powerful test of recent theoretical predictions in evolutionary biology. The project will enable me to distinguish between competing hypotheses for postcopulatory paternity bias following female multiple mating (sperm competition, cryptic female choice, genetic compatibility) and provide additional insights into the selective forces promoting the evolution of female promiscuity.Read moreRead less
Intergenerational Prediction of Social and Early Emotional Development. This project aims to investigate multi-generational influences on child psychosocial development. It plans to take advantage of a not-to-be-repeated opportunity to follow offspring born to one of Australia’s oldest longitudinal studies of social and emotional development. The Australian Temperament Project has followed around 2000 parents and offspring across 30 years from birth in 1983. Third-generation babies have been fol ....Intergenerational Prediction of Social and Early Emotional Development. This project aims to investigate multi-generational influences on child psychosocial development. It plans to take advantage of a not-to-be-repeated opportunity to follow offspring born to one of Australia’s oldest longitudinal studies of social and emotional development. The Australian Temperament Project has followed around 2000 parents and offspring across 30 years from birth in 1983. Third-generation babies have been followed across the peak period of first births to females. This project plans to continue recruitment across the peak period of first births for males in 2016–18. This would create one of the most extensive and well-powered three-generation resources worldwide, yielding unique data on intergenerational pathways through mother and father lines. It expects to inform targeting of interventions and psychosocial resources to promote wellbeing within and across generations.Read moreRead less
Preconception predictors of early childhood social and emotional development: a 30-year longitudinal study of grandparents, parents and children. There is increasing recognition of the importance of preconception pathways in shaping the family environments that parents provide for their children. This project will advance understandings of preconception pathways to healthy early child development, by recruiting offspring born to a 30-year longitudinal study: The Australian Temperament Study.
Next generation high throughput lipidomics using adaptive modelling. This project aims to develop a unique high-throughput method to capture the lipidomic profile of human plasma suitable for large human population screening. Lipids are fundamental to every biological system, but our understanding of their regulation in humans have been largely superficial. By incorporating a new lipidomics approach, with genomic data, this project aims to expand our understanding of human biology by identifying ....Next generation high throughput lipidomics using adaptive modelling. This project aims to develop a unique high-throughput method to capture the lipidomic profile of human plasma suitable for large human population screening. Lipids are fundamental to every biological system, but our understanding of their regulation in humans have been largely superficial. By incorporating a new lipidomics approach, with genomic data, this project aims to expand our understanding of human biology by identifying regulators of lipid metabolism. The large diversity in humans necessitate sufficient sample sizes to identify true genetic regulators, but to date techniques capturing phenotypic data (lipids) have been largely limited. It is anticipated that this study will identify new regulators of lipid metabolism in humans.Read moreRead less
CRISPR-based pathway activation for bioactive molecule discovery in fungi. Fungi produce an incredible array of unique bioactive molecules, many of which have contributed greatly to humanity (e.g. the antibiotic penicillin, which has saved millions of lives since its discovery). DNA sequencing has revealed many fungi contain the genetic instructions to produce new molecules that have not been seen previously. However, these genes are “switched off" by default and cannot be accessed. This project ....CRISPR-based pathway activation for bioactive molecule discovery in fungi. Fungi produce an incredible array of unique bioactive molecules, many of which have contributed greatly to humanity (e.g. the antibiotic penicillin, which has saved millions of lives since its discovery). DNA sequencing has revealed many fungi contain the genetic instructions to produce new molecules that have not been seen previously. However, these genes are “switched off" by default and cannot be accessed. This project will develop innovative new methods to "hot-wire" these genes, allowing them to turn on and produce a treasure trove of new bioactive molecules. The outcomes of this project will transform our abilities to tap into the hidden potential of fungi to generate new lead molecules for the agricultural and medical industries.Read moreRead less