Integrating nutritional immunology. What an organism eats affects both its susceptibility to disease and the community of beneficial microorganisms living within its gut. This project will study how nutrition, immunity and the flora of the gut interact, and whether hosts are able to select a diet that optimises their immune response and gut flora in the face of disease challenges.
Dynamic signaling pathways of dispersal in bacterial biofilms. This Breakthrough Science project will result in an increased understanding of the molecular processes that govern biofilm development and dispersal. While the outcomes will be directly applicable where P. aeruginosa infections continue to cause health-threatening conditions, such as in Cystic Fibrosis chronic infections, it will also be instrumental for the rational design of novel products and strategies to control biofilms of othe ....Dynamic signaling pathways of dispersal in bacterial biofilms. This Breakthrough Science project will result in an increased understanding of the molecular processes that govern biofilm development and dispersal. While the outcomes will be directly applicable where P. aeruginosa infections continue to cause health-threatening conditions, such as in Cystic Fibrosis chronic infections, it will also be instrumental for the rational design of novel products and strategies to control biofilms of other single species or of mixed species populations in many other settings. Countless environmental, industrial and clinical applications will benefit from improved antimicrobial strategies and reduced usage of antibiotics.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100977
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,016.00
Summary
How ecology shapes the viromes of wild birds. This project will reveal the host factors associated with the diversity, evolution and dynamics of viruses using state-of-the-art metatranscriptomics in Australian wild birds. The structure of virus communities and their associated ecological drivers in wild animal hosts remain a black-box, even though they are the largest source of viral diversity in nature. This project expects to generate key insights into host-associated drivers of viral communit ....How ecology shapes the viromes of wild birds. This project will reveal the host factors associated with the diversity, evolution and dynamics of viruses using state-of-the-art metatranscriptomics in Australian wild birds. The structure of virus communities and their associated ecological drivers in wild animal hosts remain a black-box, even though they are the largest source of viral diversity in nature. This project expects to generate key insights into host-associated drivers of viral community dynamics and the subsequent effect of anthropogenic factors such as urbanisation and poultry production. Identifying host factors that affect viral ecology in wild birds will constitute a cornerstone in understanding the emergence of virulent viruses and/or their spread to poultry or humansRead moreRead less
Altering host-parasite interactions through wildlife conservation strategies. Disease outbreaks are heightened in endangered animals but strategies used to conserve these species often increase risk of disease; nowhere is this more critical than in species recovery programs. The project will study disease in a recovery program to improve conservation practice and protect Australia's wildlife, ensuring our ecosystems are sustained.
Skin Microbes and Animal Health: Understanding the Ecological Context. This project aims to understand the fundamental ecological relationships between animal hosts (frogs, geckos) and bacteria on their skin by separating host effects from environmental factors that determine skin microbiome composition. The research is significant because it will generate new knowledge needed to understand how skin microbes function in providing protection against disease. Expected outcomes include the provisio ....Skin Microbes and Animal Health: Understanding the Ecological Context. This project aims to understand the fundamental ecological relationships between animal hosts (frogs, geckos) and bacteria on their skin by separating host effects from environmental factors that determine skin microbiome composition. The research is significant because it will generate new knowledge needed to understand how skin microbes function in providing protection against disease. Expected outcomes include the provision of essential information that will guide future research efforts on the factors that determine a healthy skin microbial community (which is needed before skin diseases can be combated). The research will provide significant benefits, including more targeted conservation efforts to combat wildlife skin diseases.Read moreRead less
Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project wi ....Linking individual traits, the gut microbiome and parasite load in wildlife. This project aims to apply principles of community ecology to the gut microbiome of an urban exploiter – the common brushtail possum - to reveal how animal traits influence individual variation in the load of gut parasites that cause disease in both humans and wildlife. By combining assays defining the behavioural and physiological states of individuals with sophisticated analyses of their gut microbiome, our project will provide a new, yet crucial, perspective on how and why diseases spread. Our discoveries will help understand and manage the burden of infectious diseases from parasites in and beyond our cities and across the human-wildlife interface; essential for improving human and wildlife health in an increasingly urbanised Australia.Read moreRead less
What do Microorganisms do Season by Season, Year after Year in the Frigid Antarctic Wilderness? Antarctica is arguably the world’s most important continent for influencing the Earth’s climate and global ocean ecosystem. Like most natural aquatic environments on Earth, in Antarctica microorganisms dominate the genetic pool and biomass and play the key roles in maintaining proper ecosystem function. The project aims to determine how microbial communities change throughout a complete annual cycle i ....What do Microorganisms do Season by Season, Year after Year in the Frigid Antarctic Wilderness? Antarctica is arguably the world’s most important continent for influencing the Earth’s climate and global ocean ecosystem. Like most natural aquatic environments on Earth, in Antarctica microorganisms dominate the genetic pool and biomass and play the key roles in maintaining proper ecosystem function. The project aims to determine how microbial communities change throughout a complete annual cycle in three climate sensitive, Antarctic lakes. By establishing what the microorganisms do in different seasons the study will learn which microbial processes change and how environmental perturbation will impact on normal ecological cycles. This will form the basis for evaluating the effects of climate change on sensitive ecosystems in the Antarctic.Read moreRead less