Is FGF21 the master regulator of protein intake? The project plans to bring together two major, rapidly growing disciplines – nutritional geometry and metabolic signalling – to address a topic of fundamental biological significance: the regulation of protein intake. A specific capacity to regulate protein intake has been shown for organisms spanning slime moulds to humans, yet the controlling mechanisms remain elusive. The project aims to test the hypothesis that fibroblast growth factor 21, rel ....Is FGF21 the master regulator of protein intake? The project plans to bring together two major, rapidly growing disciplines – nutritional geometry and metabolic signalling – to address a topic of fundamental biological significance: the regulation of protein intake. A specific capacity to regulate protein intake has been shown for organisms spanning slime moulds to humans, yet the controlling mechanisms remain elusive. The project aims to test the hypothesis that fibroblast growth factor 21, released from the liver under low protein nutrition, is a master regulator of protein intake. Understanding the mechanisms of protein appetite may have implications for organismal biology, understanding social interactions, the structure of food webs and the health and welfare of food and companion animals and humans.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Wall Biology. The ARC Centre for Plant Cell Wall Biology will define the regulatory mechanisms that control molecular, enzymic and cellular processes involved in the synthesis, deposition, re-modelling and depolymerisation of cell wall polysaccharides of cereals and grasses. Plant cell walls represent the world's largest renewable carbon resource, but the regulatory mechanisms responsible for their synthesis and assembly are not understood. Key distinguishi ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Wall Biology. The ARC Centre for Plant Cell Wall Biology will define the regulatory mechanisms that control molecular, enzymic and cellular processes involved in the synthesis, deposition, re-modelling and depolymerisation of cell wall polysaccharides of cereals and grasses. Plant cell walls represent the world's largest renewable carbon resource, but the regulatory mechanisms responsible for their synthesis and assembly are not understood. Key distinguishing features of the Centre will be the international, integrative, and multidisciplinary approach towards addressing major questions in plant biology, its strategy to leverage ARC funding, and its linkages with potential national and international end-users of the fundamental scientific discoveries.Read moreRead less
A molecular structure-function investigation of major membrane channels involved in olfactory transduction. Olfactory receptor neurons are extraordinarily-sensitive sensors for detecting minute concentrations of odorant molecules. This project aims to extend our previous studies of these specialised mammalian olfactory cells by using state-of-the art technologies: electrophysiology (patch-clamp) and molecular biology (site-directed-mutagenesis), to investigate how the molecular structure of the ....A molecular structure-function investigation of major membrane channels involved in olfactory transduction. Olfactory receptor neurons are extraordinarily-sensitive sensors for detecting minute concentrations of odorant molecules. This project aims to extend our previous studies of these specialised mammalian olfactory cells by using state-of-the art technologies: electrophysiology (patch-clamp) and molecular biology (site-directed-mutagenesis), to investigate how the molecular structure of their ion channels (selective protein pores) and receptors contribute to the odorant-induced generation of electrical activity, which mediates our sense of smell (olfaction). The project has specific relevance for understanding olfaction, as well as relevance for other sensory systems and other ion channels.Read moreRead less
Commensal benefits: genomic basis for suppressing plant pathogens with Pseudomonas biocontrol species. Food security is an issue of mounting significance due to unpredictable climate trends and increasing global population growth. A feature of paramount importance to reliable crop production is the capacity to control plant diseases. This project investigates natural plant colonising bacteria as a tool for protecting plants from disease.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE180100306
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$365,058.00
Summary
Does spurious maternal-fetal signalling support the evolution of a placenta. This project aims to test a model that explains how the placenta has evolved as a new organ more than 100 times in fishes, reptiles, and mammals including our own ancestors. The project will assess whether regulatory components of the placenta evolve as a result of spurious maternal-fetal signalling following egg retention and eggshell loss in viviparous reptiles. Expected outcomes of this project include a new understa ....Does spurious maternal-fetal signalling support the evolution of a placenta. This project aims to test a model that explains how the placenta has evolved as a new organ more than 100 times in fishes, reptiles, and mammals including our own ancestors. The project will assess whether regulatory components of the placenta evolve as a result of spurious maternal-fetal signalling following egg retention and eggshell loss in viviparous reptiles. Expected outcomes of this project include a new understanding of how complex organs originate and evolve in animals. This will benefit society through a broader depth of understanding of our own evolutionary history and provides a framework for future studies to investigate the origin and evolution of organs more broadly in animals.Read moreRead less
Decision-making modules in protein interaction networks. This project aims to discover how cells use proteins to make decisions. This is important for all living things, which must react to stimuli to grow, adapt, defend themselves and to die. The project’s anticipated outcome is the systems-level identification of decision-making modules in an intracellular network. Its focus is on the smallest possible modules, which contain a decision-making protein with two modifications that control protein ....Decision-making modules in protein interaction networks. This project aims to discover how cells use proteins to make decisions. This is important for all living things, which must react to stimuli to grow, adapt, defend themselves and to die. The project’s anticipated outcome is the systems-level identification of decision-making modules in an intracellular network. Its focus is on the smallest possible modules, which contain a decision-making protein with two modifications that control protein-proteins interactions. It will investigate two recurrent decision-making modules. The expected benefits of the project include new means to decipher biological complexity, and targets to modulate biosystems by genome editing or with drugs.Read moreRead less
The role and regulation of protein methylation: a study using the recently developed methylation network of yeast. Tiny changes to proteins, such as methylation, can alter the way they interact with other proteins. This project will investigate the dynamics of protein methylation during the life of the yeast cell. The project results will be of long term relevance to situations where we may want to stop cells dividing, such as cancer or infectious disease.
Does phosphorylation regulate the methylation of proteins? . The interaction of proteins is a fundamental requirement of life. Tiny switches on proteins affect how they interact but little is known about how these are controlled. This project will study the complex interplay between two types of switches; one is expected to control the other. This will provide new insights into how the cell functions.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100019
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$352,000.00
Summary
Protein network regulation: A systems-level analysis of methylation. The systems-level analysis of protein-protein interaction networks is a vital new framework for exploring protein complex formation. However key studies into the dynamics of these networks are being precluded by a lack of broad-scale data on interactions mediated by post-translational modifications, which are known regulators of protein-protein interactions. To solve this problem, this project aims to conduct an organism-wide s ....Protein network regulation: A systems-level analysis of methylation. The systems-level analysis of protein-protein interaction networks is a vital new framework for exploring protein complex formation. However key studies into the dynamics of these networks are being precluded by a lack of broad-scale data on interactions mediated by post-translational modifications, which are known regulators of protein-protein interactions. To solve this problem, this project aims to conduct an organism-wide survey of interactions mediated by an important class of post-translational modification, methylation, using an innovative mass spectrometry-based workflow. This project aims to produce fundamental new insights into the mechanisms underlying protein-protein interaction network dynamics, and into how protein complexes are formed.Read moreRead less