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Genomics and Collections: Adaptation to Macroevolution
Genomics and collections: adaptation to macroevolution is jointly organised and funded by CSIRO's Cutting Edge Science Symposium and the Centre for Biodiversity Analysis.
In the last few years, annual conferences of the Centre for Biodiversity Analysis (CBA), a joint research facility of the Australian National University and CSIRO, have explored use of emerging technologies, especially those of genomics and informatics. We have looked at species delimitation, management of biodiversity data, and even how the explosion of new genomic data might inform policy. Each conference has tried to bring together biologists of many stripes.
For this conference, our focus turns to biological collections and genomics. How can we best tap the genomic potential in the millions of specimens held in collections worldwide? How do we enhance the analytical power of thousands rather than tens of loci for systematics and population genetics? How might we study temporal diversity in collections? All specimens in collections, when seen as available for molecular work, will increase by orders of magnitude the sample sizes available for most groups.
One key area of interest that has been not so quietly developing is of interest to all of us considering these questions: adaptation. This applies not only at the level of DNA itself but also at the level of interactions between the genome, the individual, the population and the environment.
In this joint meeting, a CSIRO Cutting Edge Symposium will bring together biologists working both within and outside collections to focus on adaptation. How might we all change our respective practices in light of what we hear from each other at this conference?
To complement this, the CBA has chosen speakers to review, assess and plan for the future in phylogenomics and emerging insights into speciation and macroevolution. This will take stock on our progress towards realizing the promise of phylogenomics as highlighted in previous CBA conferences, especially the inaugural meeting on Biodiversity Genomics in 2013.
We hope that the sequence of invited speakers’ talks will set the broad directions of the meeting. So too the contributed talks will constantly remind of the interplay among various major themes.
A few years ago, the introduction and welcome to our first CBA conference on genomics concluded with the remarks “This is just the beginning…”. With this year's meeting we look forward to a first wave of synthesis and renewal.
Leo Joseph | Group Leader, Vertebrate Collections, CSIRO
Craig Moritz | Director, Centre for Biodiversity Analysis
Sessions
| Time | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Tea & coffee | |
| 08:50 | Welcome Chair - Leo Joseph | |
| 09:00 | Climate change and the evolution of seasonal camouflage Jeffrey Good (U Montana) | |
| 09:30 | nderstanding rapid evolution using historical pest genomes Angela McGaughran (ANU) | |
| 09:45 | Eucalypts, climate, and geochemistry Andrew Thornhill (JCU / CSIRO) | |
| 10:00 | Disentangling phylogenetic evolution of rock-wallabies informs the pattern and process of chromosome evolution Sally Potter (ANU) | |
| 10:15 | Insights into the population genetic structure of desert-dwelling marsupials using RAD sequencing Linette Umbrello (UWA) | |
| 10:30 | Morning tea | |
| 11:00 | Old Specimens and Ancient Genes Sarah Mathews (ANH, CSIRO) | |
| 11:30 | Restore and Renew: from Herbarium vouchers to restoration via genome scans Hannah McPherson (Royal Botanic Gardens) | |
| 11:45 | Spatio-temporal evolution of Australia’s rich endemic orchid flora: a phylogenomic study Katharina Nargar (ATH, CSIRO) | |
| 12:00 | The value of museum collections for generating high-dimensional morphological datasets Marta Vidal-García (ANU) | |
| 12:15 | A minimalist nested PCR approach for next generation sequencing of insect collections Trace Akankunda (U Adelaide) | |
| 12:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 | The role of gut microbes in ant evolution Corrie Moreau (Field Museum of Natural History, Illinois) | |
| 14:30 | Phylogenomics and the complexity of millipede chemical warfare through time Juanita Rodriguez (ANIC, CSIRO) | |
| 14:45 | X-ray CT Imaging of Invertebrate Collections - A Case Study with Thynnine Wasps Tom Semple (ANU) | |
| 15:00 | Afternoon tea | |
| 15:30 | Evolutionary transitions to disparate light environments: approaching a genomics–collections rapport Simon Tierney (UWS) | |
| 16:00 | Back from the dead: genomic confirmation that the Lord Howe Island stick insect is not extinct using museum specimens Alexander Mikheyev (ANU) | |
| 16:15 | Unlocking Genomic Diversity without Assembly or Alignment Norman Warthmann (ANU) | |
| 16:30 | ‘Illuminating’ the black box of NGS library preparation from degraded specimens Kerensa Mcelroy (CSIRO) | |
| 16:45 | End of Day 1 talks | |
| 18:00 | Social function Courtyard Cocktail Party, Drawing Room, University House, 1 Balmain Cres, ANU (6.00-8.30pm) |
| Time | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Tea & coffee | |
| 09:00 | Sex chromosomes and the genomic signatures of sexual conflict Judith Mank (University College London) | |
| 09:30 | Epigenetics and Sex Determination Jennifer Marshall Graves (La Trobe University) | |
| 09:45 | Do chromatin modifier genes control reptile temperature-dependent sex determination? Clare Holleley (ANWC, CSIRO | |
| 10:00 | Phylogenomics to adaptation: exon capture of extant and extinct Australian rodents Emily Roycroft (Museums Victoria & U Melbourne) | |
| 10:15 | Using high-throughput amplicon sequencing of museum ethanol collections to explore the biodiversity of Australian microgastrine parasitoid wasps Erinn Fagan-Jeffries (U Adelaide) | |
| 10:30 | Morning tea | |
| 11:00 | Human pigmentation genetics to functional genomics with application across species Rick Sturm (U QLD) | |
| 11:30 | Lightning talks (5 min talk, 2 min question time; accompanying poster presented at 5pm) | |
Using past and present genetic clines to assess responses to climate change in alpine grasshoppers Rachel Slatyer (U Wisconsin-Madison) | ||
Sex across time and space: Can we detect historical sex reversal in formalinized bearded dragons using target enrichment for sex-linked SNPs? Meghan Castelli (U Canberra) | ||
he genetic consequences of species introductions Catriona Campbell (U Canberra) | ||
Successful DNA extraction from herbarium specimens - personal experiences Kerry Gibbons (Royal Botanic Gardens) | ||
The Oz Mammals Genomics initiative: mammal genomics, evolution and conservation at a continental scale Anna MacDonald (ANU) | ||
De novo whole genome sequencing and assembly of the superb fairywren (Malurus cyaneus) Josh Penalba (ANU) | ||
| 12:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 | Climate adaptation, mitonuclear interactions and population divergence Paul Sunnucks (Monash U) | |
| 14:30 | Is it time to embrace the polytomy? Resolving the rapid radiation of Australian elapid snakes Ian Brennan (ANU) | |
| 14:45 | Reconstricting the evolutionary history of the world’s largest snakes: phylogenomics of the pythons using anchored hybrid enrichment Damien Esquerré (ANU) | |
| 15:00 | Afternoon tea | |
| 15:30 | mproving phylogenomic, phylogeographic, and population genomic estimates using high-throughput genomic data: uncovering the history of speciation in the North American chorus frogs (Pseudacris) Emily Moriarty Lemmon (Florida State U) | |
| 16:00 | Lightning talks (5 min talk, 2 min question time; accompanying poster presented at 5pm) | |
PhyloMAd: Efficient assessment of phylogenomic model adequacy David Duchêne (U Sydney) | ||
Comparison of Methods for Molecular Species Delimitation across a Range of Speciation Scenarios Arong Luo (U Sydney) | ||
An integrative taxonomy approach to determine the systematics and host associations of the Australian parasitic wasp genus Gasteruption (Hymenoptera: Gasteruptiidae) Ben Parslow (Flinders U) | ||
Phylogenetic and phenotypic diversity of the Australian Gehyra geckos Lauren Ashman (ANU) | ||
Employing a transcriptome-based exon capture approach for resolving a phylogeny of closely related nudibranch species Kara Layton (UWA) | ||
“Buzziness as usual” taxonomic capacity limits future research capability Scott Groom (Adelaide U) | ||
Phylogenetic relationships of the Australian carnivorous land snails (Rhytididae: Stylommatophora) using exon capture Luisa Teasdale (ANIC, CSIRO) | ||
| 17:00 | Poster presentations with drinks and finger food | |
| 18:30 | Free evening |
| Time | Session | |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Tea & coffee | |
| 09:00 | Connecting micro- and macroevolution using comparative genomics of museum specimens Michael Harvey (University of Michigan) | |
| 09:30 | Genomic introgression across an Australian bird suture zone Josh Penalba (ANU) | |
| 09:45 | ntegrating fossils and genetic data to infer the evolutionary timescale of passerine birds Simon Ho (University of Sydney) | |
| 10:00 | Analysis of Phylogenomic Tree Space Resolves Relationships Among Marsupial Families David Duchêne (University of Sydney) | |
| 10:15 | Marsupials: A case study linking geography and genes Margarita Medina-Romero (University of Canberra) | |
| 10:30 | Morning tea | |
| 11:00 | From sea to land and into the sky - a look at the evolution of Pancrustacea through transcriptomics Andreas Zwick & Luisa Teasdale (ANIC, CSIRO) | |
| 11:30 | Are multilocus genomic approaches to species delimitation an answer to rampant taxonomic inflation? Arthur Georges (University of Canberra) | |
| 11:45 | Phylogenomics at the tips / Overview, Thanks Craig Moritz (ANU) | |
| 12:30 | Lunch | |
| 14:00 | Conference close |
- Full registration: AUD 225
- Student/retired registration: AUD 100
- Social function (a 'Courtyard Cocktail Party’ at University House with substantial canapes, desserts and drinks): AUD 75
Conference registration includes morning and afternoon teas and lunches, and refreshments for an evening poster session.
The conference social function at ANU's University House (Tues 12 Sept) is an optional event and you can choose to register with or without paying and attending.
The registration site will say "sold out" once the quota is filled.
* ANU participants please note: ANU purchase cards can not be used for purchases from within the ANU. This includes registrations for conferences, workshops, etc. held at the ANU. Please use the 'Promotion code' CBA2017 to register without using a credit card at the checkout. You will then need to email financial.shared.services@anu.edu.au to arrange a journal transfer of your registration amount (and social function costs if attending) to the CBA's GLC S4151002.
Venue (map)
The conference is being held at in Canberra at CSIRO Discovery (Clunies Ross St. Black Mountain), part of the new National Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Precinct (NAESP).
CSIRO Black Mountain is approximately 15-20 minutes drive from the Canberra Airport, a 5 minute drive from Canberra's CBD and is across the road from the ANU.
Parking
There is some visitor parking at CSIRO Discovery, however ANU may be a better option. The closest ANU car parks with Pay as you go (CellOPark) parking are those on Daley Road - you can just walk across Clunies Ross Street to CSIRO Discovery - see the campus map Parking -> Pay as you go.
Presentations
Please bring your presentation on a USB drive and put it on the computer in the lecture theatre prior to the session you are speaking in. The lecture theatre computer is a PC (if you're a Mac user and concerned about your slides, maybe also bring them as a PDF).
Lightning talks may be accompanied by up to five slides. The poster presentations will be held on Wednesday evening (13 Sept) where further questions and comments may be addressed to the presenter.
Poster display boards where posters will be hung are 1200mm wide x 1800mm tall.
Conference social function
If you are attending the social function on Tuesday 12 Sept, it will be held from 6pm at University House, 1 Balmain Cres, Acton (ANU), in the Drawing Room and adjacent veranda and garden. University House is about a 20 minute walk across campus from CSIRO Discovery and there is parking nearby.
6125 5211 | events.unihouse@anu.edu.au | Map
Dining
Braddon and New Acton are two excellent dining precincts if you are looking for somewhere nearby for drinks and a meal after the Poster session on Wednesday (or any other) evening.
Australian visa
All travellers to Australia (other than Australian and New Zealand citizens) are legally required to hold a valid visa. You can apply online.
Accommodation suggestions
- Visit Canberra
- University House (ANU)
- Self service apartments (ANU)
- Residential Colleges (ANU)
- Hotel Hotel »
- Novotel Canberra
- Rydges Capital Hill
- Other accomodation options near ANU
Canberra and surrounding regions
Canberra is Australia’s capital city with a population of 358,000. It is 150km from Australia's east coast with an elevation of approximately 580m. The city's design incorporates significant areas of natural vegetation that has earned Canberra the title 'the Bush Capital'. A diverse range of ecosystems - eucalypt forests and woodlands, temperate rainforest, native grassland, and alpine, riverine and coastal habitats - all occur within a few hours of the city.
Submissions
You are invited to submit an abstract for either:
- a 10-12 minute talk (15 minute time-slot), or
- a 5 minute lightning talk (with 2 minutes question time) accompanied by a poster.
Lightning talks may be accompanied by up to five slides. The poster presentations will be held on Wednesday evening (13 Sept) where further questions and comments may be addressed to the presenter.
Please bring your presentation on a USB drive and put it on the computer in the lecture theatre prior to the session you are speaking in. The lecture theatre computer is a PC (if you're a Mac user and concerned about your slides, maybe also bring them as a PDF).
Poster display boards where posters will be hung are 1200mm wide x 1800mm tall.
Please submit your abstract via email by 7 August 2017.
Include title, presenter's name, affiliation and email. Abstract text 300 words maximum. Please remember to state if your abstract is for a 15 min talk, or a poster + Lightning talk.
Submission dates
12 Apr - 7 Aug 2017
Financial support
Several travel grants of $750 AUD each will be available for Early Career Researchers (graduate students or post docs with three years or less experience) to assist with attending the conference.
Please email a short application to claire.stephens@anu.edu.au by 17 July 2017 that includes:
- Your name, affiliation and email.
- Any available funds you have from other sources to attend this meeting.
- A short paragraph describing your research and how attending this meeting would enhance it.
- An abstract for a presentation.
Successful applicants will be notified via email by 24 July 2017.