Efficient organelle transformation. Chloroplasts and mitochondria are the powerhouses of plant and animal cells. Ability to express introduced genes in these organelles has enormous biotechnological potential in agriculture and medicine, but practical development has been almost stalled for 15 years by very low transformation efficiency. Plastid transformation is today routine only in tobacco; and mitochondrial transformation has been achieved only in yeasts and algae. We have developed a soluti ....Efficient organelle transformation. Chloroplasts and mitochondria are the powerhouses of plant and animal cells. Ability to express introduced genes in these organelles has enormous biotechnological potential in agriculture and medicine, but practical development has been almost stalled for 15 years by very low transformation efficiency. Plastid transformation is today routine only in tobacco; and mitochondrial transformation has been achieved only in yeasts and algae. We have developed a solution, and achieved the key technical requirements for proof of concept. This collaboration between industry, government and university partners will deliver key Australian-owned IP, for environmentally-friendly plant biofactories, and for treatment of mitochondrial genetic disorders.Read moreRead less
Regulation of ion homeostasis by two-component signalling elements. Dryland salinity is continuously claiming Australian lands and is a serious threat to our agricultural industry, native flora and fauna, and infrastructure. Attempting to feed an increasing population whilst agricultural land is disappearing, places an ever-increasing burden on our remaining land. While there is no simple solution to this problem, understanding how plants regulate cellular ion concentrations will help to generat ....Regulation of ion homeostasis by two-component signalling elements. Dryland salinity is continuously claiming Australian lands and is a serious threat to our agricultural industry, native flora and fauna, and infrastructure. Attempting to feed an increasing population whilst agricultural land is disappearing, places an ever-increasing burden on our remaining land. While there is no simple solution to this problem, understanding how plants regulate cellular ion concentrations will help to generate plants that are suitable for restoration of damaged lands or crop plants that are more tolerant to saline soils. Furthermore, knowledge acquired from the proposed project will also be useful for generating healthier crop plants with enhanced levels of ions essential for the human diet. Read moreRead less
The other half of the G-protein story: Functional analysis of the plant G-protein gamma subunits. It is now established that G-proteins are involved in the transduction of a number of important processes in plants (Cell division, stomata control, defence, light perception, etc). Nevertheless the data accumulated to date is based on the study of one of the two subunits (alpha) of the G-proteins. Almost nothing is known about the role of the second (and independent) subunit: beta-gamma. We will st ....The other half of the G-protein story: Functional analysis of the plant G-protein gamma subunits. It is now established that G-proteins are involved in the transduction of a number of important processes in plants (Cell division, stomata control, defence, light perception, etc). Nevertheless the data accumulated to date is based on the study of one of the two subunits (alpha) of the G-proteins. Almost nothing is known about the role of the second (and independent) subunit: beta-gamma. We will study for the first time the role of the beta-gamma subunit in plants. We will use a comprehensive approach combining biochemical, physiological, phenotypic, genomic and proteomic studies.Read moreRead less