System-level characterisation of the siphonophore, Indo-Pacific man o' war. The Indo-Pacific man o' war (bluebottle), is a cnidarian from the siphonophore order. These animals frequent Australian beaches in swarms and cause thousands of stings every year. The project proposes to profile the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome of the bluebottle to gain insight into its life cycle, its behaviour, and toxins. Expected outcomes include the generation of novel information related to bluebo ....System-level characterisation of the siphonophore, Indo-Pacific man o' war. The Indo-Pacific man o' war (bluebottle), is a cnidarian from the siphonophore order. These animals frequent Australian beaches in swarms and cause thousands of stings every year. The project proposes to profile the genome, transcriptome, epigenome, and proteome of the bluebottle to gain insight into its life cycle, its behaviour, and toxins. Expected outcomes include the generation of novel information related to bluebottle gene regulation and its toxin repertoire, which will be highly beneficial for the design of future sting treatment strategies. Given that the bluebottle is a colony made of functionally specialised polyps, this study will also provide significant novel insight into the origins and evolution of animal multicellularity.Read moreRead less
Understanding disease resistance gene evolution across the Brassicaceae. Pan genomes represent the diversity of a species, including structural and sequence variation, which cannot be provided by a reference genome alone. In this project we will characterise resistance gene diversity across the Brassicaceae pan genomes. Through comparison with resistance gene diversity in cultivated Brassica species we will understand selection underlying resistance gene evolution in wild species and subsequent ....Understanding disease resistance gene evolution across the Brassicaceae. Pan genomes represent the diversity of a species, including structural and sequence variation, which cannot be provided by a reference genome alone. In this project we will characterise resistance gene diversity across the Brassicaceae pan genomes. Through comparison with resistance gene diversity in cultivated Brassica species we will understand selection underlying resistance gene evolution in wild species and subsequent domestication and breeding. Knowledge on how variation affects disease susceptibility, especially to the devastating fungal pathogen blackleg, and contributes to phenotypic variation, will lead to improved plant protection strategies and increased crop resilience.Read moreRead less
The More the Merrier? Investigating copy number variation in Brassicas. This project intends to develop an understanding of how gene copy number variation affects disease susceptibility to help in the design of novel plant protection strategies. Gene copy number variants (CNVs) are segments of DNA that have been duplicated or lost in the genome of one individual or line with respect to another. CNVs have been shown to contribute significantly to phenotypic differences in humans, including diseas ....The More the Merrier? Investigating copy number variation in Brassicas. This project intends to develop an understanding of how gene copy number variation affects disease susceptibility to help in the design of novel plant protection strategies. Gene copy number variants (CNVs) are segments of DNA that have been duplicated or lost in the genome of one individual or line with respect to another. CNVs have been shown to contribute significantly to phenotypic differences in humans, including disease susceptibility, and the same seems to apply in plants. This project aims to apply the genome sequences for Brassica species to detect CNVs from re-sequencing data. Knowing how this variation affects an individual or line’s disease susceptibility, especially to the devastating fungal pathogen blackleg, could improve plant protection strategies and crop production.Read moreRead less
Identifying the diversity and evolution of loci associated with adaptation to aridity/heat and salinity in ancient cereal crops. This project will use ancient grains of wheat, barley and rye to find 'lost' genetic diversity at key genes associated with resistance to aridity, salt and disease. This project will make the proteins of key genes, and study their interaction with the environment over time by measuring ions in the grains to reveal the ancient environmental conditions.
Unlocking the genetic and biochemical potential of kangaroo paws. Using cutting-edge gene technology and an interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to uncover the genes responsible for flower colour in the iconic kangaroo paws of Western Australia, and identify the compounds that produce the colours. The project expects to produce the first entire kangaroo paw genome and identify unique genetic variants and biochemicals underlying colour differences. This new knowledge should help horticul ....Unlocking the genetic and biochemical potential of kangaroo paws. Using cutting-edge gene technology and an interdisciplinary approach, this project aims to uncover the genes responsible for flower colour in the iconic kangaroo paws of Western Australia, and identify the compounds that produce the colours. The project expects to produce the first entire kangaroo paw genome and identify unique genetic variants and biochemicals underlying colour differences. This new knowledge should help horticultural programs to more easily breed varieties with desirable and highly marketable new colours, and could assist in conserving these amazing Australian plants.Read moreRead less
Australian Heritage: constructing the first Aboriginal reference genome. This project aims to use DNA sequencing technologies to generate the first complete and accurate Aboriginal genomes, along with maps of genomic variation around Australia. It will combine a range of advanced analytical methods to integrate past and present indigenous genetic diversity from human populations around the world into a new pan-human reference genome. This project will lead to a step change in our understanding o ....Australian Heritage: constructing the first Aboriginal reference genome. This project aims to use DNA sequencing technologies to generate the first complete and accurate Aboriginal genomes, along with maps of genomic variation around Australia. It will combine a range of advanced analytical methods to integrate past and present indigenous genetic diversity from human populations around the world into a new pan-human reference genome. This project will lead to a step change in our understanding of global human genomic variants and provide a range of new targets relevant to medical biology, while significantly improving our knowledge of human genetic history and its consequences in the modern day.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150100460
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$380,000.00
Summary
Role of DNA methylation in response to low nutrient availability in plants. DNA methylation (mC) is a covalent modification of DNA essential for the establishment and maintenance of correct gene expression patterns and recently suggested to be responsive to some environmental cues in plants. Using cutting edge technologies, this project aims to identify nutrient stress-induced mC changes and investigate the role that these changes may play in transcriptional regulation, as well as assessing whet ....Role of DNA methylation in response to low nutrient availability in plants. DNA methylation (mC) is a covalent modification of DNA essential for the establishment and maintenance of correct gene expression patterns and recently suggested to be responsive to some environmental cues in plants. Using cutting edge technologies, this project aims to identify nutrient stress-induced mC changes and investigate the role that these changes may play in transcriptional regulation, as well as assessing whether these changes can be transmitted to the next generation to confer intergenerational stress responsiveness. Altogether this project aims to provide fundamental knowledge of the role of mC in plant gene regulation and stress response as well as paving the way for the next generation of novel crop-improvement strategies.Read moreRead less
Defining the Brassica pan-genome and establishing methods for gene conversion based crop improvement. Gene content varies between individual varieties. The project aims to apply novel genomic tools to identify and characterise the fixed and variable gene content in the important crop canola and use this to understand genome evolution as well as develop tools to accelerate canola breeding. The project team have developed and used a high-resolution genotyping approach to demonstrate that gene conv ....Defining the Brassica pan-genome and establishing methods for gene conversion based crop improvement. Gene content varies between individual varieties. The project aims to apply novel genomic tools to identify and characterise the fixed and variable gene content in the important crop canola and use this to understand genome evolution as well as develop tools to accelerate canola breeding. The project team have developed and used a high-resolution genotyping approach to demonstrate that gene conversions, short recombination events which lead to the non-reciprocal exchange of genomic regions during meiosis, are abundant in crop genomes. The project aims to develop methods and resources to characterise gene conversion in canola and establish a basis for gene conversion based crop improvement.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160101535
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$363,000.00
Summary
Ancient genomics of Western Australian taxa to inform conservation management. The project aims to apply genomic approaches to infer the genetic health and evolutionary history of three threatened, iconic Western Australian taxa: black cockatoos, ghost bats and woylies. Genomic data provide a powerful lens through which to study species, but the applications of genomic techniques in conservation biology have been sparse. Effective restoration and conservation initiatives require an understanding ....Ancient genomics of Western Australian taxa to inform conservation management. The project aims to apply genomic approaches to infer the genetic health and evolutionary history of three threatened, iconic Western Australian taxa: black cockatoos, ghost bats and woylies. Genomic data provide a powerful lens through which to study species, but the applications of genomic techniques in conservation biology have been sparse. Effective restoration and conservation initiatives require an understanding of species' former population sizes, connectivity and biodiversity. The project seeks to elucidate the population genetic, phylogenetic, and conservation genetic parameters of the three species at the genomic level using DNA isolated from modern and ancient sources (eg museum skins and fossils). The information gained may inform conservation efforts for some of Australia’s endangered biota.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE170100225
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$410,000.00
Summary
Western Australia single-cell isolation and genomics preparation facility. This project aims to give Western Australian researchers direct access to new platforms in single-cell isolation and single-cell RNA, genome and exome sample library preparation, so they can participate in the precision single-cell based research driving biology worldwide. This project will give researchers access to single-cell analysis techniques, integrated with other analysis methods, microscopy, and preclinical imagi ....Western Australia single-cell isolation and genomics preparation facility. This project aims to give Western Australian researchers direct access to new platforms in single-cell isolation and single-cell RNA, genome and exome sample library preparation, so they can participate in the precision single-cell based research driving biology worldwide. This project will give researchers access to single-cell analysis techniques, integrated with other analysis methods, microscopy, and preclinical imaging. The characterisation of rare and complex biological samples is expected to advance effective, socio-economically important research programmes in cell and molecular biology, sports science, plant and crop sciences, agriculture, clean energy (biofuels) resources and production, greenhouse gas reduction, environmental microbiology and marine science.Read moreRead less