The origins, global spread and evolution of novel honey bee parasites. This project aims to study how emergent diseases arise, spread and evolve, studying varroa mites – a parasite of honey bees that will inevitably arrive in Australia and is expected to damage agriculture and the environment. As the mites have a well-characterised native range, independent host switches and a well-documented history of spread, they make good models. Mites have evolved after invasion, although without significan ....The origins, global spread and evolution of novel honey bee parasites. This project aims to study how emergent diseases arise, spread and evolve, studying varroa mites – a parasite of honey bees that will inevitably arrive in Australia and is expected to damage agriculture and the environment. As the mites have a well-characterised native range, independent host switches and a well-documented history of spread, they make good models. Mites have evolved after invasion, although without significant genetic differentiation at neutral markers. This project aims to identify genetic mechanisms associated with the host switches; reconstruct the pattern and demography of varroa’s global spread; and determine how selection acted on the mites after the host switch.Read moreRead less
Does size really matter? Selection, constraints and allometry. Australia is internationally recognized for its strong performance in evolutionary biology and quantitative genetics. This study contributes to the advancement of these fields. It is explicitly designed to create selection lines that can be used by developmental biologists, physiologists, geneticists and endocrinologists. This will strengthen links between institutes within Australia and internationally and later allow more applied q ....Does size really matter? Selection, constraints and allometry. Australia is internationally recognized for its strong performance in evolutionary biology and quantitative genetics. This study contributes to the advancement of these fields. It is explicitly designed to create selection lines that can be used by developmental biologists, physiologists, geneticists and endocrinologists. This will strengthen links between institutes within Australia and internationally and later allow more applied questions to be asked. Although this study addresses a basic research question, it uses techniques and statistics that are integral to work selecting for improvement of commercial crops and animals. It therefore provides valuable training opportunities for an essential part of Australia's agricultural sector.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101897
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$341,000.00
Summary
The Evolution of stripe rust virulence. Fungal crop pathogen epidemics lead to severe yield losses worldwide, impact national economies and individual human lives. Wheat stripe rust fungal epidemics caused by new virulent races can lead to 80 per cent reduction in yield. This project aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms leading to newly virulent races by whole genome, epigenome and transcriptome comparison of several wheat stripe rust races. This project aims to fundamentally advance our ....The Evolution of stripe rust virulence. Fungal crop pathogen epidemics lead to severe yield losses worldwide, impact national economies and individual human lives. Wheat stripe rust fungal epidemics caused by new virulent races can lead to 80 per cent reduction in yield. This project aims to investigate the molecular mechanisms leading to newly virulent races by whole genome, epigenome and transcriptome comparison of several wheat stripe rust races. This project aims to fundamentally advance our understanding of evolutionary forces driving virulence and specification at the whole (epi-)genome level in important fungal crop pathogens. This will promote new crop protection strategies important for local and global food security in an ever-changing environment.Read moreRead less
Evolution at extremes: Macroevolutionary responses to harsh environments. The project seeks to investigate the capacity of iconic Australian plant groups (Eucalyptus, Acacia, Banksia, Grevillea, Hakea) to adapt to increases in extreme conditions. Australia presents many extreme conditions for plant survival, such as drought, heat, or salt-affected soils. Are some lineages better able to adapt and diversify in these conditions? This project aims to develop new methods to identify lineages most to ....Evolution at extremes: Macroevolutionary responses to harsh environments. The project seeks to investigate the capacity of iconic Australian plant groups (Eucalyptus, Acacia, Banksia, Grevillea, Hakea) to adapt to increases in extreme conditions. Australia presents many extreme conditions for plant survival, such as drought, heat, or salt-affected soils. Are some lineages better able to adapt and diversify in these conditions? This project aims to develop new methods to identify lineages most tolerant of extreme environments, detect enabling traits that contribute to stress resistance, and test whether plant assemblages in extreme environments are formed from colonisation by specialist tolerators, or by local species adapting. These methods may allow the prediction of species or communities best able to adapt to conditions expected under global environmental change.Read moreRead less
Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agr ....Drivers of phenotypic evolution in a vulnerable alpine ecosystem. This project aims to deliver a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the capacity for resilience and drivers of response of highly vulnerable alpine species and communities to climate change. The project aims to determine how communities of interacting alpine plants, soil invertebrates and microbes can cope with or evolve to novel climatic conditions. The mountains are water towers critical to power supply and Australia's agricultural productivity. Understanding physiological tolerance and the potential for rapid evolutionary responses of plants, animals and communities is necessary to predict impacts of climate change on the future productivity of the vulnerable Australian Alps and to provide novel options for climate adaptation. Read moreRead less
Testing the links between ecological processes and evolutionary radiations. This project aims to apply recent analytical advances to massive databases of the phylogeny and spatial distributions of mammals, birds and plants, to explore the role of small-scale ecological processes in generating large-scale macroevolutionary patterns. The processes involved in generating large-scale patterns of biodiversity are still not fully understood, but large new biodiversity databases and recent advances in ....Testing the links between ecological processes and evolutionary radiations. This project aims to apply recent analytical advances to massive databases of the phylogeny and spatial distributions of mammals, birds and plants, to explore the role of small-scale ecological processes in generating large-scale macroevolutionary patterns. The processes involved in generating large-scale patterns of biodiversity are still not fully understood, but large new biodiversity databases and recent advances in analytical methods put us in a good position to make significant progress. By integrating two separate research fields, community ecology and macroevolution, this project aims to make a significant contribution to biodiversity theory, and help to develop a more robust scientific foundation for long-range, process-based conservation planning.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL100100183
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,168,370.00
Summary
Biological adaptation under natural and anthropogenic conditions. This project covers all four national priority areas. Nature abounds with conflicts between what is good for the individual or a larger entity (a population, a society, or a species). Researching them will explain why populations adapt or fail to adapt to novel conditions (e.g., climate change) and predict when interventions are beneficial. Similar rules govern the spread of invasive species. Even health problems, e.g., new virule ....Biological adaptation under natural and anthropogenic conditions. This project covers all four national priority areas. Nature abounds with conflicts between what is good for the individual or a larger entity (a population, a society, or a species). Researching them will explain why populations adapt or fail to adapt to novel conditions (e.g., climate change) and predict when interventions are beneficial. Similar rules govern the spread of invasive species. Even health problems, e.g., new virulent strains of human, animal or plant diseases, require such evolutionary thinking. Cutting-edge mathematical tools also prepare Australians for an era in the near future where genomic data are so cheap to acquire that training in complex mathematical and logical analysis becomes a factor limiting scientific progress.Read moreRead less