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 Genetics and Evolution


Dr Sureshkumar Balasubramanian

  • Uncovering cryptic genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana
  • Genetic basis of temperature responses in Arabidopsis thaliana


Dr Nigel Beebe

 

  • Evolution and distribution of malaria transmitting mosquitoes (Anopheles species) in the Southwest Pacific region
  • Evolution and distribution of arbovirus transmitting mosquitoes (Culex and Aedes species)  in Australasia
  • Evolution of multigene f

Dr Simon Blomberg

 

  • Missing data in phylogenetic comparative studies
  • Variance estimators for phylogenetic GEE models
  • Stochastic processes as models of evolution using the Itô calculus
  • Statistical evidence in evolutionary biology
  • Other projects involving statistics with applications in evolutionary biology


Prof Mark Blows

  • Sexual selection and the lek paradox
  • Evolution of mate recognition


Dr Steve Chenoweth

  • Population genomics of rainforest Drosophila
  • Problems with sex: genomic solutions to intralocus sexual conflict
  • Sex-biased gene expression in Drosophila
  • Finding genes that affect sexual behaviour
  • Why do males care who they mate with?
  • Geographical divergence in mating preferences in wild populations of Drosophila
  • Testing evolutionary theory using experimental evolution


Dr Lyn Cook

  • Chromosome evolution in scale insects
  • Population structure and dynamics of wind-dispersed insects
  • Phylogeny and evolution of the bottle-bushes (Melaleuca)
  • Phylogeny and evolution of tea-trees (Leptospermum)
  • Coevolution of endosymbionts and scale insects


Prof Bernie Degnan

  • Understanding the evolutionary origin of animal multicellularity through the study of the sponge genome and development
  • How to make a sea shell: molecular genetic basis of patterning and biofabrication of molluscan and other animal skeletons
  • How marine invertebrate larvae sense and respond to their environment: molecules to populations to ecology (with Dr S. Degnan and A/Prof G. Skilleter)


Dr Sandie Degnan

  • The role of the innate immune system in marine invertebrate larval settlement
  • Environmental genomics of native versus invasive seasquirt populations


A/Prof Paul Ebert

  • Molecular genetic basis of longevity
  • Stress resistance genetics and mitochondrial function/dysfunction
  • Toxicology and genetics of pesticide resistance in insect pests of stored grain
  • *Functional genomics and biotechnology
  • *Biomedicine – ageing and oxidative stress
  • *Agriculture – pest resistance genetics

 


Dr Diana Fisher

  • Mechanisms of sperm competition in Antechinus (Semester 2 start only)

 


Prof Greg Gibson

  • Human Gene Expression Variation

 


Dr Lexa Grutter

  • Interactions between coral reef larval fish and parasites


Dr Karyn Johnson

  • Can inactivated virus particles protect Drosophila from virus induced mortality?
  • Molecular mechanisms of prawn responses to virus infection
  • Induction of host immune responses by Drosophila C virus


Dr Dustin Marshall

 

  • Local adaption in the sea and the evolution of stress resistance
  • Phenotypic plasticity in marine organisms: can males produce pollution-resistant sperm?


Dr Beth McGraw

  • Genome evolution of symbionts
  • Evolution of insect immunity
  • Symbiont induced changes in mosquito behaviour

 


Prof Scott O'Neill

  • Development of a new approach to control lymphatic filariasis in the South Pacific through manipulation of mosquito longevity
  • Comparative genomics of Wolbachia endosymbionts of insects: understanding the molecular basis of symbiosis


Dr Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos

 

  • The role of sexual selection in driving reproductive isolation in plants
  • The genetic basis of conspecific pollen precedence
  • Tempo and mode of speciation in daisies
  • Testing the ecological speciation hypothesis in daisies
  • Molecular mechanisms controlling hybrid fitness
  • Are rates of molecular evolution higher in plant reproduction related genes than in other plant genes?


Dr Cynthia Riginos

  • Adaptive polymorphism of marine invertebrate fertilisation genes
  • Hybridisation and gene flow between invasive and native mussels


Dr Steve Salisbury

  • Evolution of Australian sauropod dinosaurs
  • Evolution of Australian ornithopod dinosaurs
  • Evolution of Australian crocodilians
  • Freshwater fishes from the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation of central-western Queensland
  • Bone histology in fossil archosaurs
  • *The bracing system of ankylosaurian dinosaurs
  • *The bracing system of basal ornithopod dinosaurs
  • *Taphonomy of a dinosaur bone bed in the Winton Formation


Dr Steve Salisbury

  • Evolution and genetics of sugarcane adn ancestral species in context of nutrient and water use

* Reseach projects for Phd/MPhil students only