Bioplatforms Australia and its network of genomics, proteomics and metabolomics facilities are pleased to announce our collaboration with Ukrainian researchers impacted by the ongoing conflict with Russia. We will partner with the Australian Academy of Science through the Ukraine-Australia Facility Research Fund Activity 2 – Facility access.
Bioplatforms and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria will support the taxonomic identification of the Ukrainian flowering plant genus Buglossoides (Lithospermum). This research is led by Dr Tetiana Dvirna, Dr Myroslav Shevera (M.G. Kholodny Institute of Botany) and Dr Yurii Gamulya (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University). The project will be performed through the Australian Genome Research Facility (AGRF), and the Genomics for Australian Plants (GAP) Framework Data Initiative. The GAP Initiative is developed in partnership with Australian State and National Herbaria and Botanic Gardens researchers to build genomics and bioinformatics capability to enhance our understanding of plant evolution and contribute to the conservation of Australia’s flora. The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria will assist the Ukrainian researchers with material importation, preparation and transfer to the AGRF facility for processing through the GAP phylogenomics pipeline and further analysed using standards GAP initiative workflows.
Bioplatforms is also supporting a multi-omics project investigating adaptation of bank voles (Myodes glareolus), a key rodent species for forest ecosystems. The project will evaluate the risk of radiation overexposure by looking at the dietary choice, metabolism, and adaptation in a controlled experiment at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Dr Eugene Tukalenko (Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) is leading this endeavour. Samples provided by the Ukrainian team will be analysed by the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility (Macquarie University, Sydney). the Ramaciotti Centre for Genomics (UNSW Sydney) and Metabolomics Australia (Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne)
Bioplatforms facilities are also involved with two additional projects – AGRF will be partner with Dr Iryna Kozeretska (State Institution National Antarctic Scientific Centre of Ukraine) on a genomic project; and the Australian Proteome Analysis Facility will partner with Oleh Platonov (Palladin Institute of Biochemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine) on a proteomics project.
Bioplatforms Australia and our network of facilities reaffirm our commitment to fostering international collaboration with researchers affected by global challenges.