Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-spec ....Dissecting natural variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. This project aims to understand the origins of sex differences by dissecting heritable variation in sexually dimorphic gene expression. Sexual dimorphism constitutes a large fraction of phenotypic diversity and arises mainly from sex differences in gene expression that permit males and females of a species to escape sexual conflict caused by a shared genome. The project uses multi-population quantitative genetics and allele-specific expression assays to merge the studies of sex-specific local adaptation and sexually dimorphic regulatory variation. The project will help to understand how cis- and trans- regulatory factors can affect natural variation differently in males and females, shaping their phenotypic similarities and differences.Read moreRead less
Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to gen ....Genetic architecture and evolution of complex traits across populations. Most human traits have a genetic component and display substantial diversity within and among populations. How natural selection changes and maintains genetic variation in human traits is a long-standing question in evolution that the proposed project aims to answer. Using innovative statistical methods and largest genomic “big” datasets ever across populations of different ancestral backgrounds, this project expects to generate new knowledge on the roles of natural selection in shaping the genetic variation in traits and identify key factors that drive the differentiation of human populations. These outcomes will significantly improve our understanding on the evolution of human traits and adaptation of populations to changing environments.Read moreRead less
Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneti ....Characterising inheritance patterns of whole genome DNA methylation. This project aims to characterise epigenetic diversity and inheritance patterns in whole genome sequencing data from a unique human population. The project will employ the well-characterised Norfolk Island genetic isolate, cost-effective whole genome bisulphite sequencing technologies and advanced bioinformatics pipelines and statistical models. It will involve cross-discipline collaboration between human geneticists, epigeneticists, statistical geneticists and bioinformaticians. This project will advance our understanding of the interaction of genetics and epigenetics and their relationship to diversity and inheritance in humans.Read moreRead less
The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic ....The nature of standing genetic variation. This project aims to expand understanding of the genetic variation underlying phenotypic differences among individuals. The nature of genetic variation has broad consequences across biology, from the detection of causal genetic variants to the adaptation of natural populations. This project will take a novel experimental approach to test several long-standing assumptions about the effects of new mutations on individual traits and their joint pleiotropic effect on fitness. By expanding our understanding of how mutation, selection and drift interact, this project could provide significant improvements in our understanding of the genetic basis of phenotypes, and our ability to predict phenotypic evolution.Read moreRead less
Why does the genetic nearly-null subspace exist? This project aims to determine why nearly-null genetic subspaces exist by simultaneously measuring the input of new mutational variance in these nearly-null subspaces and the selection that acts on these new mutations to result in the observed low levels of standing genetic variance. The ability of organisms to evolve in response to human disturbance, translocation to new environments, or climate variation is governed by the availability of geneti ....Why does the genetic nearly-null subspace exist? This project aims to determine why nearly-null genetic subspaces exist by simultaneously measuring the input of new mutational variance in these nearly-null subspaces and the selection that acts on these new mutations to result in the observed low levels of standing genetic variance. The ability of organisms to evolve in response to human disturbance, translocation to new environments, or climate variation is governed by the availability of genetic variation. Recent advances in multivariate genetic analysis have demonstrated that a substantial proportion of a phenotype described by quantitative traits has very little genetic variance associated with it, and will therefore tend to be subjected to evolutionary limitsRead moreRead less
Identification of causal variants for complex traits. The aim of this project is to identify causal variants for complex traits in cattle and humans. Although most important traits in agriculture, medicine and evolution are complex traits, very few of the genetic variants affecting these traits are known and this undermines our understanding of how genetic variants affect a trait and practical uses of this knowledge. Huge datasets of individuals with genome sequence and phenotypes and new statis ....Identification of causal variants for complex traits. The aim of this project is to identify causal variants for complex traits in cattle and humans. Although most important traits in agriculture, medicine and evolution are complex traits, very few of the genetic variants affecting these traits are known and this undermines our understanding of how genetic variants affect a trait and practical uses of this knowledge. Huge datasets of individuals with genome sequence and phenotypes and new statistical methods provide the opportunity to close this gap. The outcome will be identification of many genomic variants causing variation in complex traits. This will benefit scientific understanding of complex traits and the ability to predict traits for individuals from their genome sequence.Read moreRead less
Prediction of phenotype for multiple traits from multi-omic data. This project aims to develop better methods for predicting traits in an individual based on their genome sequence. This method will be tested in agricultural animals and plants and in humans. The prediction formula is derived from a training dataset that has information on the traits and genome sequence of a sample of individuals. The prediction formula can then be applied to predict the trait in individuals where the trait is un ....Prediction of phenotype for multiple traits from multi-omic data. This project aims to develop better methods for predicting traits in an individual based on their genome sequence. This method will be tested in agricultural animals and plants and in humans. The prediction formula is derived from a training dataset that has information on the traits and genome sequence of a sample of individuals. The prediction formula can then be applied to predict the trait in individuals where the trait is unknown. This is useful for selecting the best parents for breeding in agriculture and for predicting the future phenotype of animals, crops and people. The proposed method uses data on very many traits to identify sequence variants that have a function and to predict the traits affected by each variant.Read moreRead less
Dynamic DNA structure states and memory formation. Activity-induced gene expression is central to neural plasticity, learning, and memory; however, the underlying mechanisms of these processes in the brain have yet to be fully resolved. The aim of this proposal is to obtain a deeper understanding of the functional relationship between genes and brain function. By elucidating the full repertoire of epigenetic mechanisms in the brain during learning and the formation of memory, it is hoped that t .... Dynamic DNA structure states and memory formation. Activity-induced gene expression is central to neural plasticity, learning, and memory; however, the underlying mechanisms of these processes in the brain have yet to be fully resolved. The aim of this proposal is to obtain a deeper understanding of the functional relationship between genes and brain function. By elucidating the full repertoire of epigenetic mechanisms in the brain during learning and the formation of memory, it is hoped that the true nature of brain adaptation across the lifespan will be revealed. Findings which may then provide new opportunities to strengthen, maintain and optimise cognitive function.Read moreRead less
Defining novel neuroepigenetic pathways that influence learning and memory. This project aims to better understand the functional relationship between epigenetic mechanisms and regulatory RNAs in the brain and how they influence learning and the formation of memory. Activity-induced gene expression is central to neural plasticity, learning, and memory. However, efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in the brain have not been fully resolved. By elucidating the full repertoire of epigenet ....Defining novel neuroepigenetic pathways that influence learning and memory. This project aims to better understand the functional relationship between epigenetic mechanisms and regulatory RNAs in the brain and how they influence learning and the formation of memory. Activity-induced gene expression is central to neural plasticity, learning, and memory. However, efforts to elucidate the underlying mechanisms in the brain have not been fully resolved. By elucidating the full repertoire of epigenetic mechanisms in the brain during learning and memory formation, the findings of the project will be broadly applicable and create new opportunities for understanding the true nature of brain adaptation.Read moreRead less
Investigations into the antibacterial mechanism of action of cannabidiol. Cannabidiol (CBD) comes from a set of naturally occurring compounds, with a range of applications in mainstream culture. We have recently reported that CBD has excellent antimicrobial properties, with the ability to kill bacteria. This project aims to understand how CBD works by examining CBD-bacterial interactions at a genetic and molecular level. By understanding how CBD acts on and within bacterial cells, we can create ....Investigations into the antibacterial mechanism of action of cannabidiol. Cannabidiol (CBD) comes from a set of naturally occurring compounds, with a range of applications in mainstream culture. We have recently reported that CBD has excellent antimicrobial properties, with the ability to kill bacteria. This project aims to understand how CBD works by examining CBD-bacterial interactions at a genetic and molecular level. By understanding how CBD acts on and within bacterial cells, we can create fundamental new knowledge that could lead to the design of improved analogs of CBD to that can treat bacterial infections. As a much-needed completely new antibiotic class, this will lead to significant benefits, supporting Australia's National Strategy to combat the challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance.Read moreRead less