Evolutionary genetics and genomics

New methods in genetics and genomics have allowed a rapid expansion of research into the basis of variations in phenotype, development and the epigenetic variations induced by diet and other lifetime experiences. Genetics research in the Research School of Biology spans plants and animals and model and non-model organisms. We have a strong reputation in epigenetics, chromosome evolution, developmental biology and in plant-animal interactions and are well equipped in large scale sequencing facilities.

Project Groups
Acacia evolution: why do some species evolve faster than others?
New methods in phylogenetics
Reading the history of mutations in individual plants
A molecular view of Australian biodiversity - exploring insect genomes for major shifts in functional genes
A synthetic biology approach to detect pathogen molecules in crops
A unique non-human model for the evolution of musical tool use: drumming by the palm cockatoo
Are evolutionary refugia traps for endemic species?
Australian Mountain Research Facility (AMRF, ARC LIEF project)
Beating the heat? Population genomics of climate change in Australian birds
BeePocalypse Now: How the arrival of parasitic bee mites will change Australia's ecosystem and agriculture
Behavioural and life history variation in a wild population of eastern grey kangaroos (current PhD)
Bioinformatic / Computational methods
Bioinformatics Summer Scholarship projects
Building resilience to change for mammals in a multi-use landscape
C4 Rice Project
Characterising the Zymospetoria tritici - wheat interaction
Chromosomal evolution in the Social huntsman spider Delena cancerides
CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria and plants, & Synthetic Biology strategies for transplanting cyanobacterial CO2 Concentrating mechanism parts in crop plants
Comparative genomics and development of corals
Conservation Genetics of the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect
Coral development and comparative genomics
Detection of fungal pathogens and their associated microbiome
Development of the coral nervous system and its role in metamorphosis
Do repetitive elements contribute to variation in chromosome structure between populations?
Domestic applicants for PhDs in Ecology & Evolution
Ecological processes in evolutionary radiations
Ecology, genetics and physiology of animal-plant interactions
Epigenetic integration of genomic and environmental information in honey bees
Epigenetics of brain plasticity
Evolution at extremes: Macroevolutionary responses to harsh environments
Evolution of salt tolerance in plants
Evolution of scald and net form of net blotch
Evolution of the Australian Onychophora
Evolutionary biology of Australian reptiles and amphibians
Evolutionary causes and ecological consequences of ageing in superb fairy-wrens (current PhD)
Evolutionary significance of early developmental environments: Interaction between maternal effects and offspring thermal environment on phenotypic development and fitness
Evolvability
Evolving with sexually transmitted infections
Factors impacting gene silencing efficacy in plants
Food matters - Studying and disentangling the interconnection of monocultures, the microbiome and honey bee health
Fungal bioinformatics
Fungal genomics, evolution, and host adaptation
Genes, diet and environment
Genetics and evolution of variation in chemical defence against herbivores
Genetics to improve production of essential oils from Australian trees
Genital evolution in insects
Genome wide association mapping
Genomes on islands: Improving management of Australia's threatened mammals
Hangry? Examining the link between metabolism, aggression and social behaviour
Honours projects are now available to study a wide range of topics in biosecurity and pathogenesis
HONOURS/MSC PROJECTS: Thermal tolerance and response to climate change in plants from extreme environments
Identification of 2000 novel protein isoforms in the human and mouse genomes
Identification of molecular mechanisms of action and direct target genes of developmental signalling pathways in sponges
Identification of target genes of developmental transcription factors Brachyury, Gata and Caudal in sponges
Impact of early thermal environments on thermal behaviour and physiology in lizards
Landscape genomics
Living on the edge: how do Australian plants cope with extreme temperature? (ARC Linkage 2019-22)
Maternal effects and phenotypic development in lizards
Metagenomics and the analysis of microbial genomes
MicroRNA target recognition; the role of the target RNA secondary structure.
Molecular evolution and Phylogenetics
Multi-trait plasticity: understanding temperature response of alpine plants in a warming world (ARC Discovery 2017-20)
New approaches to discovering biodiversity and understanding its response to climate change
Nutrient acquisition in apicomplexan parasites
Organic components of the coral skeleton
Pest resistance and sustainable plantation management of eucalypts
PhD projects are now available to study a wide range of topics in biosecurity and pathogenesis
PHD STUDENT RESEARCH - Ecology and ecophysiology in Australian desert and alpine plant species
Phylogenetics of Eucalypt beetles
Phylogeny, biogeography and diversification of Australian plants
Postgraduate projects with research support: Drivers of climate change responses in the Australian Alps
Rate of contemporary adaptation in wild vertebrates
Rates of molecular evolution in parasites
Re-assembly of biological communities during the Cenozoic
Seed and seedling ecology
Sexual selection in changing in environments
Skeleton formation in soft corals and calcareous sponges
Sponge and coral microbiomes
Statistical methods of sequence divergence
Student opportunities in molecular analysis of CO2 acquisition by cyanobacteria
Testing environmental causes of population decline in an Australian song-bird (current PhD)
The biology of the mitochondrion of apicomplexan parasites
The causes and consequences of dispersal in seed beetles
The chemical, biochemical, genetic and ecological basis of pollinator-driven speciation in Australian orchids
The ecological and molecular basis of pollinator-driven speciation in Australian orchids
The ecology and evolution of aposematism
The evolution and functional sigificance of leaf shape
The evolution of cooperative behaviour in Rabbit fish
The impact of climate change on inter-specific interactions
The role of hormones in parental care
Transcriptome and genome sequencing of the coral, Acropora millepora
Using approximate Bayesian computation to infer ancestral population size of pre-Columbian North American human populations
Wild eco-evolutionary dynamics: why is an iconic Australian bird declining? (ARC Discovery 2019-2023))
Wolbachia infection of honey bee parasites