Identifying potential barriers to transplanting modified forms of the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants. Improving the ability of crops to use water, light and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. It is thought that such improvements can be made by enhancing the efficiency of the photosynthetic protein, Rubisco, which fixes most of the CO2 in the biosphere. The research proposed here uses unique ....Identifying potential barriers to transplanting modified forms of the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants. Improving the ability of crops to use water, light and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. It is thought that such improvements can be made by enhancing the efficiency of the photosynthetic protein, Rubisco, which fixes most of the CO2 in the biosphere. The research proposed here uses unique Rubisco transplantation capabilities that I have developed to improve our fundamental understanding of how Rubisco is processed and its activity regulated in plants. This will pave the way for our ongoing efforts to engineer and transplant more efficient Rubisco into crops.Read moreRead less
HARMONIC ANALYSIS AND BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS FOR ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS. It is of the utmost necessity for Australia to develop the theoretical
expertise needed in the current era. The type of mathematics under
investigation here is closely allied to that needed in much of the
current boom in communication technology and medical research. The
training which would be provided to the research associates is
considerable, and would flow on to produce the expertise needed to
keep the coming gen ....HARMONIC ANALYSIS AND BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS FOR ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS. It is of the utmost necessity for Australia to develop the theoretical
expertise needed in the current era. The type of mathematics under
investigation here is closely allied to that needed in much of the
current boom in communication technology and medical research. The
training which would be provided to the research associates is
considerable, and would flow on to produce the expertise needed to
keep the coming generation involved in modern technological development. I will maintain my large collaborative effort with
leading mathematicians from the US, France and other countries, thus
helping to keep Australia at the forefront of a significant field of
research.Read moreRead less
HARMONIC ANALYSIS OF ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS ON RIEMANNIAN MANIFOLDS. It is of the utmost necessity for Australia to develop the theoretical expertise needed in the current era. The type of mathematics under investigation here is closely allied to that needed in much of the current boom in communication technology and medical research. The training which would be provided to the research associates is considerable, and would flow on to produce the expertise needed to keep the coming generation invol ....HARMONIC ANALYSIS OF ELLIPTIC SYSTEMS ON RIEMANNIAN MANIFOLDS. It is of the utmost necessity for Australia to develop the theoretical expertise needed in the current era. The type of mathematics under investigation here is closely allied to that needed in much of the current boom in communication technology and medical research. The training which would be provided to the research associates is considerable, and would flow on to produce the expertise needed to keep the coming generation involved in modern technological development. I will maintain my active collaborative effort with leading mathematicians from the US, France and other countries, thus helping to keep Australia at the forefront of a significant field of research.Read moreRead less
Physics of Risk: new tools to survey the Australian market and beyond. The lives of most Australians depend on the dynamics of financial markets that affects investments, savings, business, employment, growth, wealth and -ultimately- the daily functioning of our society. Understanding, monitoring and managing the dynamics of financial markets is of crucial importance to policy-makers, financial institutions and businesses that are increasingly faced with managing risk, planning strategies and ta ....Physics of Risk: new tools to survey the Australian market and beyond. The lives of most Australians depend on the dynamics of financial markets that affects investments, savings, business, employment, growth, wealth and -ultimately- the daily functioning of our society. Understanding, monitoring and managing the dynamics of financial markets is of crucial importance to policy-makers, financial institutions and businesses that are increasingly faced with managing risk, planning strategies and taking decisions in an increasingly complex market-place. The project is also of importance to the continued evolution of physics in this country contributing to the emergence of a strong new area of statistical physics concerned with the ?real world? in a manner hitherto unknown.Read moreRead less
HARMONIC ANALYSIS, BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS, AND MAXWELL'S EQUATIONS IN LIPSCHITZ DOMAINS. Boundary value problems for partial differential equations arise naturally when physical problems are expressed in mathematical terms. This project concerns the systematic development of the harmonic analysis of partial differential operators, and of the corresponding boundary integrals in order to solve such problems on irregular regions. Particular emphasis is given to studying the behaviour of electrom ....HARMONIC ANALYSIS, BOUNDARY VALUE PROBLEMS, AND MAXWELL'S EQUATIONS IN LIPSCHITZ DOMAINS. Boundary value problems for partial differential equations arise naturally when physical problems are expressed in mathematical terms. This project concerns the systematic development of the harmonic analysis of partial differential operators, and of the corresponding boundary integrals in order to solve such problems on irregular regions. Particular emphasis is given to studying the behaviour of electromagnetic waves both inside and outside irregularly shaped surfaces, and their propagation through it.Read moreRead less
Harmonic analysis of differential operators in Banach spaces. This proposal aims to develop harmonic analysis (the mathematical tools used in digital music and photography) in new contexts. It focuses on boundary value problems (the theory behind medical or geological imaging) and stochastic equations (which describe phenomena with random components such as the behaviour of financial markets).
Can efficient algal variants of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, be folded and assembled in functional forms in higher-plant plastids? We have shown that it is possible to alter the photosynthetic phenotype of a plant predictably and profoundly by engineering the plastid genome to replace the plant's CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a bacterial homolog. Thus it may be possible to replace the plant enzyme with more efficient algal Rubiscos that would allow plants to grow with less l ....Can efficient algal variants of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, be folded and assembled in functional forms in higher-plant plastids? We have shown that it is possible to alter the photosynthetic phenotype of a plant predictably and profoundly by engineering the plastid genome to replace the plant's CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a bacterial homolog. Thus it may be possible to replace the plant enzyme with more efficient algal Rubiscos that would allow plants to grow with less light, less water or less fertiliser. Before such desirable changes to the plant phenotype can be realised, some complex issues of modification, folding and assembly of Rubisco subunits need to be resolved. This proposal addresses them.Read moreRead less
Evolution in microsatellite DNA: testing models of mutation in an Australian marsupial. We aim to compare mutational events between microsatellite loci that vary in their exposure to recombination. We are able to do this because of a remarkable finding that Australian brushtail possums have multiple occurrences of a single microsatellite repeat element within the Y-chromosome and among autosomal loci. We will compare variation between the Y-linked and non Y-linked loci within and among individu ....Evolution in microsatellite DNA: testing models of mutation in an Australian marsupial. We aim to compare mutational events between microsatellite loci that vary in their exposure to recombination. We are able to do this because of a remarkable finding that Australian brushtail possums have multiple occurrences of a single microsatellite repeat element within the Y-chromosome and among autosomal loci. We will compare variation between the Y-linked and non Y-linked loci within and among individual possums and use those comparisons to distinguish between recombinant and non- recombinant mutational mechanisms. These data will provide new insights into the mutational mechanisms that drive variation in these most important molecular markers.Read moreRead less
Sex in Dragons: Evolution of sex determination in reptiles. Australia is a leader in sex determination research with major advances in our understanding attributable to Australian researchers and laboratories. This project will contribute to our prestige as a nation capable of contributing cutting edge research directions and stimulating ideas in human sex determination. Moreover, many reptiles have temperature-dependent sex determination, and so would appear appallingly vulnerable to climate ch ....Sex in Dragons: Evolution of sex determination in reptiles. Australia is a leader in sex determination research with major advances in our understanding attributable to Australian researchers and laboratories. This project will contribute to our prestige as a nation capable of contributing cutting edge research directions and stimulating ideas in human sex determination. Moreover, many reptiles have temperature-dependent sex determination, and so would appear appallingly vulnerable to climate change. Our project, will bring improved understanding of sex determination in reptiles, identify evolutionary responses of reptiles to climate change, and assist by informing society on how we might manage this issue into the future conservation of these unique Australian reptiles. Read moreRead less
Sex in Dragons: The molecular basis of genetic and environmental sex determination. How animals determine sex has been debated over decades. Particularly mysterious is that sex is determined by genes in some animals, and by temperature in others. We will study closely related dragon lizards which determine sex via genes (GSD) or temperature (TSD). We will use novel genetic, molecular and cytological aproaches to discover genes and chromosomes that control sex determination in the GSD species, an ....Sex in Dragons: The molecular basis of genetic and environmental sex determination. How animals determine sex has been debated over decades. Particularly mysterious is that sex is determined by genes in some animals, and by temperature in others. We will study closely related dragon lizards which determine sex via genes (GSD) or temperature (TSD). We will use novel genetic, molecular and cytological aproaches to discover genes and chromosomes that control sex determination in the GSD species, and explore their homologues in the TSD species. We expect this study will provide new insights to mechanisms of sex determination in all vertebrates, and demonstrate how genes and the environment interact to control the process.Read moreRead less