Eukaryote Evolution and Cotton Biotechnology

Molecular evolution in eukaryotes  

A major aim of our laboratory is to elucidate the evolutionary processes that have driven endosymbiotic evolution, with particular emphasis on the origin and evolution of the genetic interaction between the chloroplast and the nucleus. Our recent research has shown that DNA transfers from extant and ancestral forms of mitochondria and chloroplasts and this DNA has made a massive contribution to the genes that have evolved in the nucleus. For example, it has been concluded that about 5,000 of the total 24,000 known genes in the plant nucleus originated by gene transfer from a cyanobacterial precursor of the chloroplast. Further it has been shown that 75% of yeast nuclear genes are derived from the ancestral mitochondrial genome. We are looking at transfer of genetic material in real time in a model plant, tobacco. 

Molecular genetics of cotton fibre development

Cotton is an important crop in Australia, contributing over $1 billion annually to the Australian economy. Apart from the commercial significance of studies on cotton fibre development, fibre cells are an ideal system in which to study cellular and developmental events, being enormous, highly specialised single cells which synchronously elongate from the surface of ovules.

We are involved in research, funded by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation (CRDC), which aims to investigate the genes which are expressed in growing cotton fibres. Molecular genetics has the potential to improve both the quality and quantity of cotton produced by Australian varieties, and our long-term goal is to use the knowledge gained from our research to genetically manipulate fibre qualities such as length, strength and fineness, and thereby improve the cotton crop. More generally, our work addresses fundamental aspects of the control of gene expression in plants and the evolution of polyploids.