Origin of multicellularity in animals: identification and analysis of intercellular signalling pathways in a basal metazoan, the demosponge Reniera. The Reniera genome project is a multi-million dollar collaboration between JGI (US-DOE) and Australian scientists that will see the sequencing of the first Australian marine animal by 2006. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the origins of animals and contribute to the reconstruction of creatures that lived over 600 million ....Origin of multicellularity in animals: identification and analysis of intercellular signalling pathways in a basal metazoan, the demosponge Reniera. The Reniera genome project is a multi-million dollar collaboration between JGI (US-DOE) and Australian scientists that will see the sequencing of the first Australian marine animal by 2006. This project will significantly advance our understanding of the origins of animals and contribute to the reconstruction of creatures that lived over 600 million years ago. A major outcome of this reconstruction will be a fundamental understanding of how cells communicate with each other during the process of development to give rise to the diversity of cell types within multicellular animals. This study will also shed light on what happens when cell communication goes astray, as observed in a range of human malignancies, including cancer. Read moreRead less
Half a Genome is Better than None: The Evolution of Haplodiploidy in Mites. It is our normal experience that males and females are about equally common. We also expect both sexes to receive half their genes from each parent. In many successful animal groups, however, these normal expectations are not met: males are rare and have only half as many chromosomes as females (haplodiploidy) or are non-existent. We will investigate multiple origins of haplodiploid and all-female genetic systems in a ....Half a Genome is Better than None: The Evolution of Haplodiploidy in Mites. It is our normal experience that males and females are about equally common. We also expect both sexes to receive half their genes from each parent. In many successful animal groups, however, these normal expectations are not met: males are rare and have only half as many chromosomes as females (haplodiploidy) or are non-existent. We will investigate multiple origins of haplodiploid and all-female genetic systems in a group of mites that includes many useful biocontrol agents and important parasites. The implications of this research have both pure scientific merit and potential practical value in controlling the reproduction of pests.Read moreRead less
Early animal evolution: reconstructing the last common metazoan ancestor through the analysis of developmental and structural genes in sponges. All animals, from the simplest invertebrates to humans, arose from a common ancestor. Reconstruction of this ancestor requires the comparison of metazoan developmental genetic architectures. Here we contribute to this pursuit by studying a phylogenetically and biological appropriate metazoan system - marine sponge embryos and larvae. Using high-throughp ....Early animal evolution: reconstructing the last common metazoan ancestor through the analysis of developmental and structural genes in sponges. All animals, from the simplest invertebrates to humans, arose from a common ancestor. Reconstruction of this ancestor requires the comparison of metazoan developmental genetic architectures. Here we contribute to this pursuit by studying a phylogenetically and biological appropriate metazoan system - marine sponge embryos and larvae. Using high-throughput gene profiling techniques, we will analyse the developmental genetics underlying the sponge body plan. Commonalities shared between sponges and more sophisticated animals are likely to have been present in the "genetic toolkit" of the most ancient metazoan ancestor and, as such, is the genetic foundation from which all animal biodiversity arose.Read moreRead less