Discovery of pathways to embryogenesis in pathogenic flatworm parasites using microdissection and transcriptomic technologies. The cost to Australia of flatworm parasites to animal production and human health is substantial (hundreds of millions of dollars per year). This research will give new insights into how flatworms reproduce and equip their progeny for survival, providing impetus for new vaccine or drug therapies to be developed. As these pathogens are more significant in Australia's ne ....Discovery of pathways to embryogenesis in pathogenic flatworm parasites using microdissection and transcriptomic technologies. The cost to Australia of flatworm parasites to animal production and human health is substantial (hundreds of millions of dollars per year). This research will give new insights into how flatworms reproduce and equip their progeny for survival, providing impetus for new vaccine or drug therapies to be developed. As these pathogens are more significant in Australia's near neighbours, this project will strengthen Australia's international leadership in this field. Our study will provide, for the first time for any helminth parasite, a freely available genetic database that profiles the gene expression repertoire of individual parasite tissues, a development likely to enhance the international effort in controlling these harmful diseases.Read moreRead less
Genetic and epigenetic control of developmental competence. Development is an important biological process of life and understanding development has important medical and economic benefits for Australia. This research aims to study development using a simple, easily manipulated and well established experimental organism, a fungus, as a model for development in other organisms, including humans. In addition, fungi directly impact on life at many levels. Fungi can be pathogens of humans, other ani ....Genetic and epigenetic control of developmental competence. Development is an important biological process of life and understanding development has important medical and economic benefits for Australia. This research aims to study development using a simple, easily manipulated and well established experimental organism, a fungus, as a model for development in other organisms, including humans. In addition, fungi directly impact on life at many levels. Fungi can be pathogens of humans, other animals or plants significantly affecting our health, agriculture and industry. Fungi are also beneficial to other organisms, especially to many plants, and are used to manufacture pharmaceuticals and enzymes used in the health and biotechnology industries.Read moreRead less
Phasevarions of Haemophilus influenzae: mechanisms and origins of a novel epigenetic system controlling coordinated random switching in expression of multiple genes. Central to the utilisation of biological information is our ability to identify and interpret DNA sequence information from genomes. In bacteria that cause disease, these investigations can identify key aspects of the infectious process or potential components of vaccines or new targets for antibiotics. Our recent work has identifie ....Phasevarions of Haemophilus influenzae: mechanisms and origins of a novel epigenetic system controlling coordinated random switching in expression of multiple genes. Central to the utilisation of biological information is our ability to identify and interpret DNA sequence information from genomes. In bacteria that cause disease, these investigations can identify key aspects of the infectious process or potential components of vaccines or new targets for antibiotics. Our recent work has identified a new genetic system, the 'phasevarion', that mediates random expression of multiple genes. The proposed research aims to advance our understanding of gene expression at the most basic level, revealing how bacteria generate diverse populations to evade environmental and immune stresses, and facilitating improved interpretation and use of DNA sequences for researchers and industry in this field.Read moreRead less
Chromatin barriers in Plasmodium falciparum gene regulation. Malaria is a major world disease that kills around 2 million people annually. The genome of the causative agent has now been completely sequenced, but we still know very little of how and why some genes are activated while their neighbours are turned off. I will study the DNA barriers that separate such genes, and the proteins that interact with these regions to better understand how genetic regulation functions in these parasites. A b ....Chromatin barriers in Plasmodium falciparum gene regulation. Malaria is a major world disease that kills around 2 million people annually. The genome of the causative agent has now been completely sequenced, but we still know very little of how and why some genes are activated while their neighbours are turned off. I will study the DNA barriers that separate such genes, and the proteins that interact with these regions to better understand how genetic regulation functions in these parasites. A better understanding of gene regulation in malaria parasites will help us to better combat the tricks utilised by this and other organisms to elude our immune systems.Read moreRead less
Identifying Novel Biosynthetic Pathways in Mycobacteria using DNA Microarray Technology. DNA microarrays are a powerful new bioinformatics-based technology and an ideal tool for characterising complex biosynthetic pathways since the expression of all genes in the bacterial genome can be monitored in a single experiment. In this project we aim to construct and use a DNA microarray to identify novel biosynthetic pathways in mycobacteria. Of particular interest are pathways used to create compone ....Identifying Novel Biosynthetic Pathways in Mycobacteria using DNA Microarray Technology. DNA microarrays are a powerful new bioinformatics-based technology and an ideal tool for characterising complex biosynthetic pathways since the expression of all genes in the bacterial genome can be monitored in a single experiment. In this project we aim to construct and use a DNA microarray to identify novel biosynthetic pathways in mycobacteria. Of particular interest are pathways used to create components of the highly complex and poorly characterised cell wall. Since this structure is unique in the bacterial world, we expect to identify and characterise pathways that are unique to mycobacteria.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775587
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$532,000.00
Summary
Correlating Genomics and Proteomics for Systems Biology: integrating the '-omics'. Acquisition of the infrastructure requested will maintain and extend the expertise developed by researchers in NSW and will allow retention and attraction of leading researchers who can contribute to understanding how genes and proteins interact in the development of the organism - the central focus of systems biology. The enhancement of the facility will allow a better understanding of biomolecular interactions ....Correlating Genomics and Proteomics for Systems Biology: integrating the '-omics'. Acquisition of the infrastructure requested will maintain and extend the expertise developed by researchers in NSW and will allow retention and attraction of leading researchers who can contribute to understanding how genes and proteins interact in the development of the organism - the central focus of systems biology. The enhancement of the facility will allow a better understanding of biomolecular interactions in health and disease, providing both community and national benefits. The focus of this LIEF application is to provide infrastructure platforms for the study of the systems biology of organisms and additional capacity by the facility for the expected increased demand for this technology in this new area. Read moreRead less
Transcriptional regulation of erythropoiesis. The major expected outcome from this proposal will be development of a pipeline for the study of how transcription factors work at a genome level. There will be national benefit in the areas of Frontier Technologies, and Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. There will be specific outcomes with respect to development of tests for human blood diseases, future design of drugs to target the aberrant activities of transcription factors in genetic and de ....Transcriptional regulation of erythropoiesis. The major expected outcome from this proposal will be development of a pipeline for the study of how transcription factors work at a genome level. There will be national benefit in the areas of Frontier Technologies, and Promoting and Maintaining Good Health. There will be specific outcomes with respect to development of tests for human blood diseases, future design of drugs to target the aberrant activities of transcription factors in genetic and degenerative diseases. Also, a strong bridge will be built upon the previous collaborations of the research teams in Brisbane and Pennsylvania, which will facilitate advanced teaching and training of Australian PhD and post-doctoral scientists.Read moreRead less
A Genomic analysis of macrophage differentiation: Epigenetic factors that determine transcriptional choices in a lineage dependant manner. Our genetic information is fundamental to who we are, how we develop, & how we age. This project will build the research capacity of Australia's genome sciences, providing an analytical framework to describe & study the many products expressed from any single gene and to assess the function of genetic variation & test genome regulatory events. An immediate ou ....A Genomic analysis of macrophage differentiation: Epigenetic factors that determine transcriptional choices in a lineage dependant manner. Our genetic information is fundamental to who we are, how we develop, & how we age. This project will build the research capacity of Australia's genome sciences, providing an analytical framework to describe & study the many products expressed from any single gene and to assess the function of genetic variation & test genome regulatory events. An immediate outcome is a better understanding of the regulation of our immune system. This approach will fuel the discovery of new signalling molecules & their effects on a population of cells, & likewise provides a novel approach to study the dysregulation of cell signalling pathways.Read moreRead less
A genetic analysis of the role of an atypical hexokinase in gene regulation. This project addresses a question which is relevant to all living things-how do changes in the environment of a cell bring about a change in gene expression? The aim of this project is to investigate the role of hexokinases in gene regulation by studying the Aspergillus nidulans xprF gene, which encodes an an unusual hexokinase. Hexokinases are thought to be the glucose sensors in plants, animals and fungi, and play a ....A genetic analysis of the role of an atypical hexokinase in gene regulation. This project addresses a question which is relevant to all living things-how do changes in the environment of a cell bring about a change in gene expression? The aim of this project is to investigate the role of hexokinases in gene regulation by studying the Aspergillus nidulans xprF gene, which encodes an an unusual hexokinase. Hexokinases are thought to be the glucose sensors in plants, animals and fungi, and play a role in the development of diabetes in humans. In plants, sugars affect many processes including growth, flowering, photosynthesis, nitrogen metabolism, starch synthesis, pigmentation and response to pathogens.Read moreRead less