NewsBlog
Sex in Dragons -- Modelling evolutionary transitions
Posted in Team Pogona on May 08, 2017
Sex in Dragons – Modelling evolutionary transitions in sex determination. We are currently seeking a PhD student with interests in biological responses to climate change, evolution and theoretical biology to investigate the evolutionary and ecological dynamics of sex determination in the dragon lizard, Pogona vitticeps. Expressions of interest before June 10.
PhD Project Scholarship: Sex in Dragons
Posted in Team Pogona on May 05, 2017
Sex in Dragons – Pinning down the mechanisms of sex determination in a reptile. We are currently seeking at least one, but potentially several, PhD students with interests in genetics, evolution and developmental genomics to investigate the molecular mechanisms through which sex is determined in the Australian central bearded dragon lizard, *Pogona vitticeps*. Expressions of interest before June 10.
NCBI Pogona annotation complete
Posted in Team Pogona on Apr 24, 2017
NCBI has completed the annotation of the Pogona genome generated by the genetics and genomics team of the IAE, and made it widely available to the global research community. From the NCBI site, you can download the genome, view details of the annotation, blast any sequence against the genome, see the genes in "Gene", and in a few weeks, browse the genome using the NCBI Browser.
Workshop: Museum genomics in practice
Posted in Turtle Research, Education and Outreach on Apr 05, 2017
Having a great time at the Museum Genomics in Practice workshop organised by Craig Moritz and the team at the Centre for Biodiversity Analysis.
Risk-based ecohydrological assessement of flow regimes -- Qld DNRM
Posted in Turtle Research on Mar 29, 2017
Determining strategies to protect or restore flow regimes to achieve ecological outcomes is a focus of water policy and legislation in many parts of the world. A team from Queensland DNRM has developed a risk-based ecohydrological approach that links ecosystem values to desired ecological outcomes. This allows the relative risk from different flow management scenarios to be evaluated at relevant spatial-scales and a robust and useful foundation upon which to build the information needed to support water planning decisions. A case study using the eastern long-necked turtle is presented, with input from IAE staff and former students.
NCBI adopts Pogona
Posted in Team Pogona on Mar 20, 2017
The US National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) has made the annotated genome sequence of Fabian, the ZZ dragon lizard, available to the international research community. The IAE made the genome available in 2013 through its local server, but we expect uptake to accellerate now that it is available through NCBI. Through the NCBI servier it is possible to BLAST sequence against the Pogona genome, pull down the sequences and annotation, and search for specific genes and regions. Well done to Denis O'Meally for making this all happen.
Dragons in Anthropocene Archipelagos!
Posted in Team Pogona on Mar 15, 2017
Great new paper from Celine Frere on the water dragon in the suburbs and what appears to be rapid diversification in a novel environment. Top marks also for the fabulous title -- Archipelagos of the Anthropocene: Rapid and extensive differentiation of native terrestrial vertebrates in a single metropolis.
Meghan Castelli secures CSIRO support
Posted in Team Pogona on Feb 21, 2017
Congratulations to IAE PhD student Meghan Castelli on securing support for her project from CSIRO. Meghan is working on *sex and stress: How the environment shapes the genome, phenotype, physiology and behaviour of a widespread Australian reptile, as part of the recently ARC funded project on Pogona vitticeps*.
Pogona embryos sexed in UQ/UC collaboration
Posted in Team Pogona on Feb 20, 2017
Sarah Whiteley visited the Wildife Genetics Laboratories at UC from University of Queensland this week to apply our PCR sex test to embryos from an Pogona embryological series she is developing as part of her honours program. Her work is throwing up some novel insights to the gonadal development of sex reversed lizards likely to change our understanding of this process.
Stable Cretaceous sex chromosomes enable molecular sexing in softshell turtles
Posted in Team Pogona on Feb 16, 2017
My colleagues, Michail Rovatsos, Peter Praschag, Uwe Fritz & Lukáš Kratochvíl have identified differentiated ZZ/ZW sex chromosomes in two species of the softshell turtles (Trionychidae) and Z-specific genes were identified in one of these species. Our knowledge of sex chromosome genes is growing rapidly across a range of reptile species, and so much closer is the discovery of a sex determining gene in a reptile. Further information -- Scientific Reports | 7:42150 | DOI: 10.1038/srep42150.
