Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101481
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$390,000.00
Summary
Integrating ecology and evolution: how does sexual selection affect population fitness and extinction? Improving our understanding of population fitness could produce important new advances in evolutionary and conservation biology. Sexual selection has been proposed to both help and harm population fitness, but unfortunately these opposing effects have been studied in isolation. This project will develop new theory to resolve confusion over the definition of population fitness and its relationsh ....Integrating ecology and evolution: how does sexual selection affect population fitness and extinction? Improving our understanding of population fitness could produce important new advances in evolutionary and conservation biology. Sexual selection has been proposed to both help and harm population fitness, but unfortunately these opposing effects have been studied in isolation. This project will develop new theory to resolve confusion over the definition of population fitness and its relationship with sexual selection. It also proposes ambitious experimental evolution and quantitative genetic studies that will empirically measure the net effect of sexual selection on population fitness and extinction. This project aims to catalyse a change in the study of population fitness and address a conspicuous gap in contemporary evolutionary biology.Read moreRead less
A paradigm of genomic discovery - an investigation of the allelic architecture of height. Understanding the complexities of the human body from its DNA sequence has proven difficult. Genomic discovery is best developed using stable, easily measurable and highly heritable characteristics such as height. By taking advantage of 2 large population surveys of adult and adolescent stature we shall apply modern molecular techniques and statistical strategies to identify and characterise the exact chang ....A paradigm of genomic discovery - an investigation of the allelic architecture of height. Understanding the complexities of the human body from its DNA sequence has proven difficult. Genomic discovery is best developed using stable, easily measurable and highly heritable characteristics such as height. By taking advantage of 2 large population surveys of adult and adolescent stature we shall apply modern molecular techniques and statistical strategies to identify and characterise the exact changes in DNA that determine height. This work builds on substantial preliminary leads from unique resources and complementary expertise in the scientific specialties. The results from this work will inform other genomic research and provide information about growth and bone biology.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE220100538
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$454,234.00
Summary
Evolution of mitochondrial diversity regulation. Mitochondria power cellular metabolism. Research suggests that genetic variation in mitochondrial genes can be detrimental and impair energy production, but it can also be advantageous and help organisms adapt to environmental change. How organisms and populations balance these conflicting demands is not known. This project will create and use innovative mathematical methods to provide the general theory of how bioenergetic genes of mitochondria e ....Evolution of mitochondrial diversity regulation. Mitochondria power cellular metabolism. Research suggests that genetic variation in mitochondrial genes can be detrimental and impair energy production, but it can also be advantageous and help organisms adapt to environmental change. How organisms and populations balance these conflicting demands is not known. This project will create and use innovative mathematical methods to provide the general theory of how bioenergetic genes of mitochondria evolve to adapt to shifting environments, while removing mutations that compromise bioenergetics. Expected benefits include informing future applications and new evolutionary understanding of the ongoing effects of climate change in conservation management, agricultural and health industries.Read moreRead less
Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental param ....Diet influences the selective advantage of mitochondrial DNA mutations. This project aims to examine critical mechanisms that affect mitochondrial DNA variation within species. It aims to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial DNA haplotypes have the potential to be under nutritionally induced balancing selection as a consequence of cellular signalling and/or Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) production by mitochondria. Diet can vary both seasonally and geographically and is a key environmental parameter that influences the ability of a species to colonise new habitats. The project plans to characterise the functional links between specific mitochondrial DNA haplotypes, mitochondrial functions and organismal traits. The expected outcome is a more precise grasp of the processes influencing genetic variation within and among species, which would inform current issues in ecology and genetics.Read moreRead less
Discovering sex determining genes in a reptile with genetic and environmental sex determination. Reptile sex determination is particularly fascinating because it is triggered either by genes on sex chromosomes or by the nest temperature. This project will identify and characterise candidate sex determining genes in a model reptile to understand how genes control sexual differentiation and how they interact with temperature.
Genomics for persistence of Australian freshwater fish. Biodiversity faces an unpredictable cocktail of impacts and global environmental change, against which the best insurance is genetic diversity. We will develop genomic measures of ecological-genetic functions and evolutionary potential for managing Australian freshwater fish.
Using genetics to recover Australia's lost history. This project aims to use historic hair samples collected by anthropological expeditions in the early 20th Century to generate the first genetic map of Aboriginal Australia – in order to reconstruct Australia’s pre-European genetic and cultural past. The map and the detailed contextual and genealogical information from museum archives will assist Aboriginal communities and individuals to reconstruct their personal and family history and trace an ....Using genetics to recover Australia's lost history. This project aims to use historic hair samples collected by anthropological expeditions in the early 20th Century to generate the first genetic map of Aboriginal Australia – in order to reconstruct Australia’s pre-European genetic and cultural past. The map and the detailed contextual and genealogical information from museum archives will assist Aboriginal communities and individuals to reconstruct their personal and family history and trace ancestry and augment oral or written records. The combination of cutting-edge science, detailed archival research, and a comprehensive family outreach and reporting program will be a step change in assisting Australia’s reconciliation process, the Stolen Generation, and repatriation of Indigenous remains.Read moreRead less
DNA methylation in insect social evolution. This project will investigate the evolutionary relationship between DNA methylation and the advanced sociality displayed by bees, ants and wasps. The project will map DNA methylation across the social insects and test whether it has coevolved with sociality. It will also determine how a vital social cue, the queen pheromone, influences the worker methylome. Finally, it will apply quantitative genetic and methylomic methods to wild insects, revealing pa ....DNA methylation in insect social evolution. This project will investigate the evolutionary relationship between DNA methylation and the advanced sociality displayed by bees, ants and wasps. The project will map DNA methylation across the social insects and test whether it has coevolved with sociality. It will also determine how a vital social cue, the queen pheromone, influences the worker methylome. Finally, it will apply quantitative genetic and methylomic methods to wild insects, revealing patterns of selection and inheritance in epigenetic and phenotypic traits. By combining genomic and evolutionary methods, the project will advance the ongoing debate about the importance of methylation to sociality and extreme phenotypic plasticity. It will contribute to a quantum leap in our understanding of DNA methylation and sociobiology and mark the first application of quantitative genetics to wild insects.Read moreRead less
Sex determination in dragons: Genetics, epigenetics and environment. This project aims to discover the master sex-determining gene in a reptile, how that gene is differentially regulated in males and females and by temperature, and to identify evolutionary drivers of transitions between genetic and environmental sex determination. In many reptiles, like mammals, chromosomes determine sex. In others, the temperature at which their eggs are incubated determines sex. This project will study how tem ....Sex determination in dragons: Genetics, epigenetics and environment. This project aims to discover the master sex-determining gene in a reptile, how that gene is differentially regulated in males and females and by temperature, and to identify evolutionary drivers of transitions between genetic and environmental sex determination. In many reptiles, like mammals, chromosomes determine sex. In others, the temperature at which their eggs are incubated determines sex. This project will study how temperature reverses chromosomal sex determination in dragon lizards. This could show how climatic extremes affect the biology of climate sensitive reptiles, and understand their vulnerability to climate change.Read moreRead less
When is hybridisation helpful or harmful to invaders? This project aims to determine the role of hybridisation during biological invasions. Hybridisation has been thought to aid invasion by introducing genetic novelty, but traditional approaches have been ineffective at evaluating alternatives. The project will capitalise on replicate hybrid zones of the same species, apply new methods on an expansive genomic dataset, and develop novel simulations to resolve how hybridisation and colonisation in ....When is hybridisation helpful or harmful to invaders? This project aims to determine the role of hybridisation during biological invasions. Hybridisation has been thought to aid invasion by introducing genetic novelty, but traditional approaches have been ineffective at evaluating alternatives. The project will capitalise on replicate hybrid zones of the same species, apply new methods on an expansive genomic dataset, and develop novel simulations to resolve how hybridisation and colonisation interact. The methods and knowledge acquired through this research will be valuable for a range of applications, from biosecurity to conservation management.Read moreRead less