New dispersants for improved agrochemical and allied formulations. This project will deliver substantial benefits for national regional communities and the environment through improved agrochemical dispersion, and reduced pesticide and water use. This project will deliver improved products for agrochemicals and animal food, bringing significant agricultural advantages to Australia. This will help Huntsman with cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing agrochemical and related products for the n ....New dispersants for improved agrochemical and allied formulations. This project will deliver substantial benefits for national regional communities and the environment through improved agrochemical dispersion, and reduced pesticide and water use. This project will deliver improved products for agrochemicals and animal food, bringing significant agricultural advantages to Australia. This will help Huntsman with cutting-edge technologies in manufacturing agrochemical and related products for the national and global markets. We will provide advanced training for postgraduate and research personnel that will be sought-after by the agrochemical and allied industries.Read moreRead less
Sensor Integration for Low-Cost Robust Machine Automation. Machine automation (MA) radically improves efficiency of mining and construction operataions. When used for farming, it makes Australia more competitive with subsidised competitors in Europe and USA. In one case, a 50% reduction in tractor fleet resulted when night plowing was made possible using MA techniques. The systems developed in this project will make MA far more attractive to Australian agriculture, mining and construction indust ....Sensor Integration for Low-Cost Robust Machine Automation. Machine automation (MA) radically improves efficiency of mining and construction operataions. When used for farming, it makes Australia more competitive with subsidised competitors in Europe and USA. In one case, a 50% reduction in tractor fleet resulted when night plowing was made possible using MA techniques. The systems developed in this project will make MA far more attractive to Australian agriculture, mining and construction industries, by making it more robust and less susceptible to difficult conditions, such as under trees.Read moreRead less
Investigation of almond transformation for self-fertility and virus resistance. This project addresses the long-term goal of the Australian almond industry to produce cultivars that are self-fertile and resistant to Prunus necrotic ringspot and prune dwarf viruses. Both self-sterility and virus infection can result in unreliable and often low yields. Research will address the control of gene expression relating to self-sterility and the introduction of virus resistance, via sequencing of self- ....Investigation of almond transformation for self-fertility and virus resistance. This project addresses the long-term goal of the Australian almond industry to produce cultivars that are self-fertile and resistant to Prunus necrotic ringspot and prune dwarf viruses. Both self-sterility and virus infection can result in unreliable and often low yields. Research will address the control of gene expression relating to self-sterility and the introduction of virus resistance, via sequencing of self-fertility and self-sterility genes, construct development and improved regeneration of transformed almond in vitro without the use of antibiotics.Read moreRead less
Synthesis and assembly of bacterial repeat unit polysaccharides. Bacteria make an enormous range of surface polysaccharides. The complexity was first appreciated as antigenic diversity, but we now have hundreds of chemical structures and perhaps a hundred sequences of their gene clusters, but the number in nature must be many thousands. Our knowledge of gene function is growing but is not keeping up with the discovery of new sequences and structures. The aim is to determine structure and functio ....Synthesis and assembly of bacterial repeat unit polysaccharides. Bacteria make an enormous range of surface polysaccharides. The complexity was first appreciated as antigenic diversity, but we now have hundreds of chemical structures and perhaps a hundred sequences of their gene clusters, but the number in nature must be many thousands. Our knowledge of gene function is growing but is not keeping up with the discovery of new sequences and structures. The aim is to determine structure and function of key O antigen processing genes and the functions of a range of glycosyl transferases, and to use the information to generate novel gene clusters to synthesise novel polysaccharidesRead moreRead less
Elucidation of bacterial glycosylytransferase specificity. The benefits are involvement in the growth area of polysaccharide research, with potential for major industrial spin off. Polysaccharides are critical in all organisms as signalling, structural and storage compounds. Bacteria make a wide variety with extensive use of unusual sugars, some with uses from oil emulsifiers to food thickeners. The project is on the enzymes that assemble bacterial polysaccharides. We are world leaders in genet ....Elucidation of bacterial glycosylytransferase specificity. The benefits are involvement in the growth area of polysaccharide research, with potential for major industrial spin off. Polysaccharides are critical in all organisms as signalling, structural and storage compounds. Bacteria make a wide variety with extensive use of unusual sugars, some with uses from oil emulsifiers to food thickeners. The project is on the enzymes that assemble bacterial polysaccharides. We are world leaders in genetics of the gene clusters especially synthesis of the unusual sugars. We now aim to fill a major gap by determining which enzymes make which bonds, leading to options for new gene combinations and novel structures. We have a lead in research in this area and Australia gains if we maintain that lead.Read moreRead less
Genetic modification and lyophilisation of microorganisms for the generation of bacteriological internal quality controls. The development of internal quality control micro-organisms in precise numbers is necessary for the evolution of standard methodology in microbiology, which until now, remains obsolete, because it relies on inaccurate methods to produce quantitative and qualitative results. The research described here is largely based on molecular techniques to genetically tag micro-organism ....Genetic modification and lyophilisation of microorganisms for the generation of bacteriological internal quality controls. The development of internal quality control micro-organisms in precise numbers is necessary for the evolution of standard methodology in microbiology, which until now, remains obsolete, because it relies on inaccurate methods to produce quantitative and qualitative results. The research described here is largely based on molecular techniques to genetically tag micro-organisms with fluorescent proteins and pigment producing enzymes, and on the manipulation of growth and storage conditions to maximize the survival of micro-organisms during lyophilisation. Successful completion and application of the proposed project through existing patents owned by BTF, will revolutionise the way microbiological tests are performed worldwide.Read moreRead less
Maximising the value of Australia’s sheepmeat industry with smart photonics. This project aims to investigate new photonics technologies to measure meat quality in lamb and mutton. It expects to develop new knowledge in the areas of fibre optics and 3D printing for use by the red meat and livestock industries. Expected outcomes of this project include development of a new technology to rapidly identify premium meat during meat processing. This should provide significant benefits for Australia’s ....Maximising the value of Australia’s sheepmeat industry with smart photonics. This project aims to investigate new photonics technologies to measure meat quality in lamb and mutton. It expects to develop new knowledge in the areas of fibre optics and 3D printing for use by the red meat and livestock industries. Expected outcomes of this project include development of a new technology to rapidly identify premium meat during meat processing. This should provide significant benefits for Australia’s red meat industry, helping to establish Australia as a leading supplier of high-quality meat to domestic and international markets.Read moreRead less
Fires of pesticides: New source of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in the environment. This project will quantify the emission of carcinogenic pollutants, produced as a consequence of intended and unintended combustion of pesticides and pesticide-contaminated biomass. The project will identify specific pesticides and agricultural practices (such as burning of sugar cane prior to harvest or burning biomass contaminated with pesticides for energy recovery) which may b ....Fires of pesticides: New source of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) in the environment. This project will quantify the emission of carcinogenic pollutants, produced as a consequence of intended and unintended combustion of pesticides and pesticide-contaminated biomass. The project will identify specific pesticides and agricultural practices (such as burning of sugar cane prior to harvest or burning biomass contaminated with pesticides for energy recovery) which may become regulated in Australia. The research will benefit Australia socially, by reducing the emissions of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and thus protecting the environment and the population, and economically by identifying pesticides that do not produce pollutants in combustion processes and thus do not contaminate biomass intended for energy recovery.Read moreRead less
Development of novel forms of Marguerite Daisies (Argyranthemum species). Nuflora International Pty. Ltd. and its partners have developed a world class breeding program in marguerite daisies which has seen this formerly minor garden plant become an important commercial commodity in the international nursery industry, with sales of PBR protected varieties now topping ten million plants per year. However, further commercialization of this species into diverse international markets, such as the cut ....Development of novel forms of Marguerite Daisies (Argyranthemum species). Nuflora International Pty. Ltd. and its partners have developed a world class breeding program in marguerite daisies which has seen this formerly minor garden plant become an important commercial commodity in the international nursery industry, with sales of PBR protected varieties now topping ten million plants per year. However, further commercialization of this species into diverse international markets, such as the cut flower market, is limited by the level of genetic diversity in the gene pool available to breeders. This project seeks to greatly expand the level of genetic variability in marguerite daisies through inter-specific hybridization, mutation and chromosome engineering.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresour ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space. This Centre aims to create on-demand, zero-waste, high-efficiency plants and plant products to address grand challenges in sustainability for Space and on Earth. Significant advances in plant, food, and sensory science; process and systems engineering; law and policy; and psychology are expected to deliver transformative solutions for Space habitation – and create enhanced plant-derived food and bioresources to capitalise upon emergent and rapidly expanding domestic and global markets. Anticipated outcomes include industry uptake of innovative plant forms, foods, technologies, and commodities; and an ambitious education and international co-ordination agenda to position Australia as a global leader in research supporting Space habitation.Read moreRead less