Science Collected Works - Theses
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ItemGeological investigations in the Murray Basin in New South Wales(University of Melbourne, 1962)
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ItemNo Preview AvailablePartition chromatography and its applications(University of Melbourne, 1949)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSome physico-chemical aspects of naturally occurring pigments(University of Melbourne, 1948)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableBases of mathematical theories of plasticity(University of Melbourne, 1951)
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ItemSilurian trilobites of central Victoria(University of Melbourne, 1996)
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ItemThe importance of Tetrarrhena juncea R. Br. in the ecology of Eucalyptus regnans stands in Sherbrooke Forest Park(University of Melbourne, 1985)The native, climbing grass Tetrarrhena juncea (forest wiregrass) exhibits unusually prolific growth in Sherbrooke Forest Park. The distribution and abundance of this species within stands of Eucalyptus regnans and related forest types was investigated in relation to the range of vegetation in order to elucidate factors responsible for this prolific growth. Computer based techniques of pattern analysis were used to describe and compare the range of variation in vegetation floristics and structure, and in environmental features within the E. regnans and related forest types, for an area of approximately 290 ha located in the western section of the park. The major themes of variation in the vegetation parallel a suite of environmental changes. These are the maturity of the E. regnans over storey, an underlying topographical moisture gradient and the levels of light which are likely to penetrate to the forest floor. The fire history of the area is such that the majority of sites may be arranged along a multivariate environmental gradient. Mature forests, with dense small tree strata generally occur in the wetter sites, while younger (spar) forests with less dense small tree strata occur in drier areas. However, a small proportion of spar stands are associated with riparian environments. Changes in the abundance of T. juncea parallel the multivariate environmental gradient; this species is least abundant in moist sites dominated by mature E. regnans and most abundant in the drier sites where spar-aged stands predominate. Whilst the environmental pattern present is characterised by a suite of characters, the majority of the variation (91%) in the cover of T. juncea within the study area may be accounted for in terms of the level of light which penetrates the combined cover of the small tree stratum and the ground fern Polystichum proliferum. The activity of lyrebirds and wombats was investigated in relation to the cover of T. juncea. Dense cover of T. juncea excludes lyrebirds from feeding in certain areas, but provides an important food source for a small population of wombats. Field trials showed that grazing by wombats has potentially damaging effects upon the structure and regenerative capacity of dense swards, suggesting that recurrent grazing is likely to limit sward formation. However, the wombat population was shown to be small and the effects of their grazing to be localised. The development of the dense swards in Sherbrooke Forest Park is discussed in relation to the likely effects of grazing upon the post-wildfire development of vegetation in even-aged stands of E. regnans and the increasing pressures of urbanisation of the Dandenong Ranges during the post-war period.
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ItemIdentification and characterization of a style specific glycoprotein from Nicotiana alata Link et Otto(University of Melbourne, 1988)Monoclonal antibodies were raised to an extract from Nicotiana alata Link et Otto (genotype S1S3) styles. The cell lines which produced antibodies that bound to N. alata style extracts but which did not recognize AGPs were partially characterized and one cell line was chosen for further study. This cell line (cell line 58 (766)) secreted an antibody which specifically bound to a major style glycoprotein (120 kD). The antibody was directed to the carbohydrate moiety of the glycoprotein; binding between the antibody and style extract was preferentially inhibited by ?-D- Galp-(l?6)-D-Gal. The N. alata style component that bound the monoclonal antibody 58 (766) is style specific, but does not segregate with self-incompatibility genotype. It is localized in the extracellular matrix of the style and is concentrated in the top section of the style. The concentration of the 120 kD component is developmentally regulated, increasing with maturation of the style. A polyclonal antiserum raised to a commercial preparation of Solanum tuberosum (potato) tuber, lectin also binds to the 120 kD component and the possibility that the 120 kD component is a lectin was investigated. Although style extracts contained no haemagglutinating activity and the 120 kD component did not bind to either fetuin or chitin oligomers, the strong cross-reactivity between the anti-potato lectin antibody and the 120 kD component indicates at least partial structural homology. Approaches were also made to purify the 120 kD component. This component can be substantially purified using a combination of (NH4)2SO4 precipitation, and hydroxylapatite and immunoaffinity chromatography. The final preparation does not contain contaminating proteins or AGPs. However, the yield using this procedure is low and hence, other purification techniques were also investigated. Preliminary amino acid data has been obtained from material which was electroeluted from a SDS-polyacrylamide gel. The 120 kD component has a relatively high concentration of glycine, alanine, 1/2-cysteine and methionine, and a low amount of hydroxyproline and the basic amino acids, lysine, arginine and histidine. Finally, an algal biliprotein from the cryptomonad, Proteomonas sulcata was isolated and partially characterized. The purified pigment has a single absorption peak at 549 nm with a slight shoulder at 555 nm and a single fluorescent emission peak at 583 nm. It has two subunits with the apparent molecular weights of 11 kD and 19 kD on SDS-PAGE. This pigment is potentially useful as a fluorescent marker in immunocytochemistry.
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ItemA revision of the genus Bazzania Gray in Australia : with studies of selected species from New Zealand and New Guinea(University of Melbourne, 2008)The liverwort genus Bazzania is represented on all continents except Antarctica, but most species described to date have a tropical or subtropical distribution. Until this study, 17 species of a world-wide total of about 360 species had been reported from Australia. This study recognises the presence of 34 Bazzania species in Australia. Six species previously reported from Australia were found to be synonyms of other species, and another is probably also a synonym. Thus this study reduces the original 17 species to 10. One subspecies is proposed to be raised to specific rank, bringing this total to 11. An additional 24 species were found to occur in Australia during this study, including several very common and widely distributed species and several with very limited distributions. Seven of these species are new; the other seventeen were already known from nearby regions, mainly South East Asia and New Guinea. There are major affinities (at a species level) with New Zealand, the West Pacific Islands, New Guinea and South East Asia. There are tenuous affinities with Africa, West Asia, East Asia, the East Pacific Islands and South America, and no affinities at all with Europe and North America. A Gondwanan element of seven species, an Indomalayan element of 13 species and a New Endemic element of 11 to 14 species (included three that extend to New Caledonia or New Zealand) are suggested. Another species has perhaps the largest distribution of any Bazzania species, occurring in Africa, the western Indian Ocean islands, Australia, New Zealand and South America. Species richness in Australia is found to be highest in a narrow mountainous region in Far North Queensland, from the Bellenden Ker Range near Cairns to Mount Finnigan in Cedar Bay National Park. Most of the species treated in this study are poorly known, and illustrations of most species are either poor or non-existent. Most species are illustrated here in full for the first time, and distribution maps for each species are presented for the first time. Terminal branching, previously thought to be only homodromous in Bazzania, has been found in this study to be also antidromous in many species. Microphyllous ventral-intercalary branching, previously assumed to be random, was found to be non-random and to be different from leafy ventral-intercalary branching.