Centre for Animal Science - Winter Research Programs
General information on the program, including how to apply, is available from the UQ Student Employability Centre’s program website.
Wolbachia: A potential biocontrol for animal parasites
Primary Supervisor: Dr Ali Raza | A.raza@uq.edu.au
Duration: 4 weeks (36 hours per week); onsite
Wolbachia is an obligate intracellular bacterium that infects insects and filarial nematodes and is transmitted vertically from mother to offspring. Wolbachia is of much current interest for non-chemical control insects and insect-vectored diseases because of its ability to induce cytoplasmic incompatibility (functional sterility) when mated to uninfected insects, a range of deleterious fitness effects (for example inability to survive winter) and reduced vectorial capacity. This project aims to transinfect Lucilia cuprina, the sheep blowfly, with Wolbachia and test the resultant biological effects, with a view to better control of this devastating animal parasite.
Expected outcomes: The student will learn techniques associated with cell culture, ovarial microinjection and a range of molecular and entomological methods.
Suitability: This project is open to applications from students with a background in Animal Science, Parasitology, Entomology, Molecular biology and Biological Sciences.
Silencing the methanogens: nanocarrier enabled RNA-based reductions in ruminant methane emissions.
Primary Supervisor: Dr Karishma Mody | k.mody@uq.edu.au
Duration: 4 weeks (25-36 hours); onsite
The atmosphere lifetime of methane (CH4) is 12 years, which despite being shorter than carbon dioxide (CO2), poses a greater atmospheric threat, as CH4 is more efficient at trapping radiation than CO2. Kilogram for kilogram, the comparative impact of CH4 is 25 times greater than CO2 over a 100-year period. Animal agriculture is a large component of livestock industry and contributes to the Australian and the global methane emissions. An average ruminant produces 250 to 500 L of methane per day, with this amount contributing a significant proportion to the total atmospheric methane content. More specifically, seventy percent of agricultural emissions are from ruminant fermentation, and 90% of these emissions are from grazing cattle, sheep, and goats. Reducing emissions from grazing livestock will require substantial research innovation, infrastructure, investment, and capacity to develop scalable science driven solutions. The recent advancements in RNA biology, bioinformatics, and integration of nanotechnology have shown various advantages in safe delivery of RNA-based technologies.
This collaborative multidisciplinary project aims to deliver two unique solutions to reduce the methane emissions contributed by grazing ruminants by combining emerging RNA technology with nanotechnology. The research project includes identifying RNA precussors by specific to cattle methanogens from published literature, loading RNA on different nanomaterials and testing them in lab assays, amplying by PCR. It also involves participation in the other team activities in the lab.
Expected outcomes: The student will learn valuable techniques and strong skills in experimental design, molecular biology (cloning, PCR, qRTPCR, sequencing, RNA/DNA extractions), bioinformatics, material science and the application of precursor RNA for reducing cattle methane emissions. The student will work closely with Dr Karishma Mody and other members of Professor Neena Mitter’s laboratory at UQ.
Suitability: This project is open to applications from students with a background in molecular biology or biotechnology. Highly suitable for Masters/Honours students.