Genome technology to save Australia's unique biodiversity
The woylie, a small marsupial, is listed as critically endangered. Photo: Sabrina Trocini.
Threatened Species
Launched today, the , will create a national library of genomic data to support decision-making for biodiversity conservation.
The science lead on the project, Dr Carolyn Hogg, from the School of Life and Environmental Sciences, said genetic diversity is key to adaptation. 鈥淏y having a library of our threatened species鈥� genetic diversity, we will be able to react quickly in times of crisis knowing where the critical populations are,鈥� Dr Hogg said. 鈥淲e need to stop being reactive. And start being proactive. Investing in our wildlife鈥檚 future to create a conservation legacy.鈥�
Orange-bellied parrot. Photo: Dejan Stojanovic
Saving the orange-bellied parrot
鈥淥ne of the species we will be looking at first is the orange-bellied parrot, Australia鈥檚 most critically endangered bird,鈥� Dr Hogg said. 鈥淓very year birds are released from the captive population into the wild to try and boost wild population numbers. We know they have low genetic diversity at some immune genes and suffer from different diseases. Yet without a genome we have no idea how low their diversity at important gene regions actually is. A genome will provide us with a roadmap for understanding the orange-bellied parrot鈥檚 biology and how we can make decisions about releases that can improve the parrot鈥檚 adaptive potential into the future.鈥�
The Tasmanian devil. Photo: Carolyn Hogg
Genomes
Dr Hogg said reference genomes for up to 50 threatened Australian species will be generated and made publicly available to the scientific community through Amazon Web Services , as well as a reduced set of genetic data for individuals of each species
鈥淭he conservation community will be able to leverage this genomic data to tackle critical biological and conservation issues,鈥� said Dr Hogg, who is Senior Research Manager of the Australasian Wildlife Genomics Group at the University of Sydney. 鈥淏y bringing together different disciplines, and working to our strengths, we can build this library. Recording what we have now and being able to rapidly respond to the next catastrophe.鈥�
A juvenile female plains wanderer. Photo: David Baker-Gabb
Working with Bioplatforms
Bioplatforms Australia General Manager Andrew Gilbert said: 鈥淭his initiative has an immediate practical aspect. It will support the development of a genomics resource for Australian threatened species that is directly tuned to empower conservation managers and inform their work.鈥�
Bioplatforms Australia is a not-for-profit organisation that manages Federal Government investment through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy in the domains of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics.
Research results will be fast-tracked into management outcomes. A website and training materials developed through education partners in the conservation sector will provide skills training to industry stakeholders enabling them to integrate genetic data to assist in their population management decisions.
This project brings together genome biologists, population biologists, bioinformaticians, population geneticists and zoologists with conservation agencies.
鈥淲e will be pioneering the use of genomic information to support threatened species recovery management for those at risk from threatening processes,鈥� Mr Gilbert said. 鈥淭his project will be an exemplar of how academia, government and industry can work together in the conservation arena and will build scale and focus in collaborative adaptive conservation management.鈥�
Declaration: The Threatened Species Initiative is funded by Bioplatforms Australia