Published Tuesday, 03 June, 2008 at 01:55 PM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
Deadly organisms new target in quest to save reef
Developing high-tech tools to spot the early signs of disease-causing microorganisms killing coral on the Great Barrier Reef is the target of new Smart State research.
Dr Bryan Wilson has been awarded a $150,000 Smart State Fellowship to work with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville to develop a commercial application that will identify the early signs of Vibrio coralliilyticus (literally “coral dissolving”) bacteria on the reef.
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Desley Boyle said early detection was crucial.
“The Great Barrier Reef is under threat from a range of factors including bleaching and disease,” she said.
“But while we know these threats are real we still know very little about the processes in the marine environment that lead to coral disease and reef degradation.
“Dr Wilson’s research is therefore critical because his focus will be on one of the big coral killers – a disease that we may be able to prevent, if we can identify it in the early stages.”
Ms Boyle said the research had both environmental and economic implications.
“Our World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef complex on Earth and it’s under serious threat – if it isn’t preserved it will have a devastating effect on the world’s marine environment,” she said.
“The reef is also Australia’s premier tourist attraction, contributing some $6 billion a year to the nation’s economy – a healthy Australia needs a healthy reef.”
Dr Wilson said his project would involve working with an extensive array of samples from the Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Indo-Pacific region over the next three years.
“We will be using advanced molecular techniques to identify and characterise the harmful elements of pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria,” he said.
“AIMS recently completed a genomic library for one pathogen and this will be a part of the screening and characterising genes of interest.
“Our ultimate aim is to be able to identify the early signs of any changes in organisms that spell disease.
“Then by developing field-based monitoring technologies we can arm scientists with the tools to spot these changes early before disease outbreaks occur.”
Dr Wilson said the technology being developed would also help scientists improve their ability to monitor coral health and observe the effects of climate change.
“The Australian Institute of Marine Science continues to position Queensland at the forefront of the developing discipline of Environmental Biotechnology and this research aligns perfectly with their previous work into the genetic response of coral to environmental impacts.”
Dr Wilson will also be working with scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Undersea Research Centre at the University of Hawaii.
“With the worldwide distribution of coral disease, international collaborations are essential to tackle a problem that transcends land and ocean borders,” he said.
“This work will link closely with the research already undertaken in Hawaii and American Samoa, which are also suffering losses of coral reef habitat as a result of disease.”
Six Smart State Fellowships totalling $1.35 million have been awarded to Queensland researchers in the 2007/2008 round of grants.
The Smart State Fellowships are part of the Queensland Government’s $300 million Smart State Innovation Funding Program, which aims to build world-class research facilities, attract top-quality scientists to Queensland and stimulate cutting-edge research projects.
As well as State Government support, Dr Wilson’s project is being sponsored by the Australian Institute of Marine Science ($244,811) and the University of Hawaii ($143,090).
3 June 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcus Taylor (3225 1005 / 0419 025 326) or Kirstie Maier (3224 2007 / 0448 135 195)
AIMS contact: Liz Tynan 4753 4235
Dr Bryan Wilson has been awarded a $150,000 Smart State Fellowship to work with the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) in Townsville to develop a commercial application that will identify the early signs of Vibrio coralliilyticus (literally “coral dissolving”) bacteria on the reef.
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Desley Boyle said early detection was crucial.
“The Great Barrier Reef is under threat from a range of factors including bleaching and disease,” she said.
“But while we know these threats are real we still know very little about the processes in the marine environment that lead to coral disease and reef degradation.
“Dr Wilson’s research is therefore critical because his focus will be on one of the big coral killers – a disease that we may be able to prevent, if we can identify it in the early stages.”
Ms Boyle said the research had both environmental and economic implications.
“Our World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef complex on Earth and it’s under serious threat – if it isn’t preserved it will have a devastating effect on the world’s marine environment,” she said.
“The reef is also Australia’s premier tourist attraction, contributing some $6 billion a year to the nation’s economy – a healthy Australia needs a healthy reef.”
Dr Wilson said his project would involve working with an extensive array of samples from the Great Barrier Reef and reefs in the Indo-Pacific region over the next three years.
“We will be using advanced molecular techniques to identify and characterise the harmful elements of pathogenic (disease-causing) bacteria,” he said.
“AIMS recently completed a genomic library for one pathogen and this will be a part of the screening and characterising genes of interest.
“Our ultimate aim is to be able to identify the early signs of any changes in organisms that spell disease.
“Then by developing field-based monitoring technologies we can arm scientists with the tools to spot these changes early before disease outbreaks occur.”
Dr Wilson said the technology being developed would also help scientists improve their ability to monitor coral health and observe the effects of climate change.
“The Australian Institute of Marine Science continues to position Queensland at the forefront of the developing discipline of Environmental Biotechnology and this research aligns perfectly with their previous work into the genetic response of coral to environmental impacts.”
Dr Wilson will also be working with scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Undersea Research Centre at the University of Hawaii.
“With the worldwide distribution of coral disease, international collaborations are essential to tackle a problem that transcends land and ocean borders,” he said.
“This work will link closely with the research already undertaken in Hawaii and American Samoa, which are also suffering losses of coral reef habitat as a result of disease.”
Six Smart State Fellowships totalling $1.35 million have been awarded to Queensland researchers in the 2007/2008 round of grants.
The Smart State Fellowships are part of the Queensland Government’s $300 million Smart State Innovation Funding Program, which aims to build world-class research facilities, attract top-quality scientists to Queensland and stimulate cutting-edge research projects.
As well as State Government support, Dr Wilson’s project is being sponsored by the Australian Institute of Marine Science ($244,811) and the University of Hawaii ($143,090).
3 June 2008
MEDIA CONTACT: Marcus Taylor (3225 1005 / 0419 025 326) or Kirstie Maier (3224 2007 / 0448 135 195)
AIMS contact: Liz Tynan 4753 4235