Marina Fortes

LESTR Low Emission Saliva Test for Ruminants (2022–2026)

Enteric methane emissions, the rumen microbiome, and cattle metabolism are interconnected topics of interest for livestock sustainability. In this new industry fund project, we will investigate how pregnancy affects the metabolism of cows and may impact their enteric methane emissions. Further, we will collect rumen and saliva samples to study their microbiome. A desirable outcome of this project will be the development of a saliva test for ruminants that can indicate if an animal is a low or a high emitter of methane. A saliva test could become a practical tool for farmers to select and manage their cattle. Students in this project will have the opportunity to engage with all aspects of the research: cattle trials, molecular genetics work in the laboratory, bioinformatics, and data analyses.

Literature Review Project: Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Beef Farming

This project is suitable for Honours or Master students looking to do a literature review and/or write a research proposal about greenhouse gas emissions from beef farming. A variety of beef farming systems co-exist in Australia. The beef industry is interested in understanding which systems are more environmentally sustainable, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions.

The interface between genomes and diet in ruminants

Global population growth is placing increasing demands on the agriculture sector to produce greater amounts of food more efficiently. Livestock products provide a nutritious source of protein for the world population and more efficient production will be required in the future to meet increasing demand. Breeds and individual cattle and sheep can show substantial differences in response to diet with some animals responding more productively than others. The proposed research program will investigate which parts of the genome likely underpin response to diet in cattle and sheep. Biochemical pathways relevant to the new science of nutrigenomics will be uncovered primarily through investigation of genome-wide gene expression data sets available for metabolically important tissues such as muscle, fat, and liver. Cutting edge bioinformatics tools including the latest approaches from network science will be deployed. This knowledge may help us understand why some animals fare better than others under given nutritional circumstances and perhaps inform decisions regarding diet formulation.

This project is a collaboration with Dr. Nick Hudson https://researchers.uq.edu.au/researcher/14636