Australian Grasslands Initiative – Request for Partnership 2024/2025

REQUEST FOR PARTNERSHIP GUIDELINES

Background and Aims

Today’s complex communities of rangeland grasses have evolved to dominate much of the Australian continent. Distinctive characteristics of a broad selection of grasses selected from diverse ecosystems throughout Australia will be revealed by applying the principles and technologies of biogeography, phenotyping, biochemistry, molecular genetics and evolutionary biology, thereby providing new insights into adaptation and traits that can inform conservation programs, agriculture and the national heritage.

Bioplatforms Australia has partnered with key research leaders from Macquarie University, Western Sydney University, The University of Adelaide, University of Western Australia, Royal Botanic Gardens of Sydney and Victoria, as well as National Herbaria, to provide insights into biomolecular basis of key traits, photosynthetic biochemistry, seed properties and ecological conservation. Application of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics will provide novel insights and opportunities for research and applications.

A number of genera have been identified and prioritised for analysis due to their distinctive distributions across Australia’s rangelands. These grassland communities from five common genera (Themeda, Astrebla, Cymbopogon, Triodia and Microlaena) have: (A) widely contrasting distributions at the genus level and (B) a diversity of species ranges, from narrow (e.g. Triodia biflora) to pan- continental (Themeda triandra). Accessions of Themeda (kangaroo grass) collected from every Australian biome, together with more narrowly distributed species, act as an ideal model for the study of acclimation during seasonal fluctuations and adaptation to long-term climate regimes.

Phenotypic plasticity in Kangaroo grass is investigated through field and common-garden (controlled environment) studies. An ancestral genome that has enabled Themeda to thrive in extremes of heat, cold, poor nutrition, high light and biotic stresses is a unique resource for exploring broader questions of evolution and the nature of stress tolerance in plants.

Request for Partnership 2024/2025

We are now calling for a Request for Partnership from the community to generate omics data that would enhance the aims and goals of the Australian Grasslands Initiative as follow:

  • Biogeography – define species’ ranges from existing rangeland distributions. Identify a ‘model set’ by distinguishing species with a very narrow range from others of the same genus but with broad distributions across diverse climate and/or soil environments, such as observed in some spinifex species.
  • Ecophysiology and phenotyping – test resilience of genotypes arising from the ‘model set’ to extremes of aridity, heat and cold, and light in controlled environments.
  • Biochemistry and proteomics – assess C3 and C4 grasses selected from temperate, savannah and tropical biomes for localised adaptations, particularly in the photosynthetic machinery.
  • Transcriptomics and proteomics – contrast the ‘model set’ (genotypes with varying natural ranges) in a matrix of heat, drought, light regimes to identify gene expression profiles
  • Genomics – investigate the importance of allele number (ploidy) in the ‘model set’. In combination with the transcriptomic and proteomic data, identify known stress-response elements and regulatory factors that might play a role in adaptation and stress tolerance.
  • Bioinformatics – interrogate omics data for alleles and networks that might explain the disparate species ranges, especially latitudinal and rainfall gradients.
  • Seed properties – identify accessions with seed phenotypes that appear to have agronomic potential and applications as a human food source.

Support provided
Bioplatforms will provide the following resources:

  1. Omics data generation support through our network of facilities.
  2. Project management and data management (raw data storage and access, with associated metadata).
  3. The Australian Grasslands Initiative will also provide access to the required computing and
    analytical resources through the Australian BioCommons.

Co-contributions
Project teams will provide co-contribution for the following:

  1. Project design
  2. Sample provision, preparation (DNA/RNA extraction etc), shipping and supply of metadata
  3. Bioinformatics/data analysis
  4. End-use application of the data
  5. Data publication
  6. Raw and analysed sequence data submission to international repositories

Data and Collaboration Policy
Data generated from the Australian Grasslands Initiative will be made accessible to project teams at the Bioplatforms Data Portal as per the Australian Grasslands Initiative Data and Collaboration Policy

Note: The is a 12-month embargo on the data to allow for first-access to project teams. During this time, access will only be given to you/your project collaborators. After the 12-month period, the data will be scheduled for public release in the “Open-access” phase, as outlined in the Australian Grasslands Initiative Data and Collaboration Policy.

Link 1: Australian Grasslands Collaboration Agreement
Link 2: Australian Grasslands Data Policy
Link 3: Australian Grasslands Communications Policy

To submit a partnership proposal:

  1. Submit all Request for Partnership using the online form at the following link https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1cNns8i05qcbugMaIdmIu9qDpyPwDK1xlRmqaan6pMQw/
  2. You can edit a submitted form right up until the deadline.
  3. Complete and submit one form per species of interest. If you are aware of other groups working on your species of interest, we encourage you to collaborate and submit a single proposal.
  4. Address all criteria/questions listed in the form. Please note you can edit a submitted form right up until the deadline.
  5. Please provide an estimated/known genome size and ploidy (where prompted) to assist with the proposal review and cost estimate.
  6. NOTE: This is not a grant application. The Australian Grasslands Initiative aims to support all projects that align with its objectives, within the limits of our available budget. Samples for sequencing and other omics experiments should be provided within 12 months of project acceptance.

Deadline: COB Friday, 28th February 2025

Contact information: Parties interested in participating in the Australian Grasslands Initiative, including this RFP, are welcome to get in contact with us at any time.

Mabel Lum, Program Manager, mlum@bioplatforms.com, 0435 387 007
Brian Atwell, Scientific Lead, brian.atwell@mq.edu.au

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