Water information services to boost irrigation productivity. This project aims to develop an integrated irrigation scheduling, benchmarking and forecasting capability delivered through a water ordering portal that is used by most Australian irrigation farmers and many farmers internationally. Ensuring adoption is critical and this will be facilitated through integration into the existing water ordering system. Expected outcomes include improved ability to manage irrigation water through better u ....Water information services to boost irrigation productivity. This project aims to develop an integrated irrigation scheduling, benchmarking and forecasting capability delivered through a water ordering portal that is used by most Australian irrigation farmers and many farmers internationally. Ensuring adoption is critical and this will be facilitated through integration into the existing water ordering system. Expected outcomes include improved ability to manage irrigation water through better use of existing weather observations and forecasts, irrigation data, and satellite observations to inform farmer decisions. This is expected to result in improvement in water productivity, leading to economic benefit and an improved ability to meet growing global food demands.Read moreRead less
Enhancement of Novel Flower Colours. The demand for novel colours and varieties of cutflowers is the most important driver for the floriculture industry. This project will increase the understanding of the factors that regulate flower colour and produce flowers with novel colours. This novelty is a consumer trait, and is likely to translate into increased sales and revenue to the Industry Partner, with income from these worldwide sales translating directly into the employment of research and dev ....Enhancement of Novel Flower Colours. The demand for novel colours and varieties of cutflowers is the most important driver for the floriculture industry. This project will increase the understanding of the factors that regulate flower colour and produce flowers with novel colours. This novelty is a consumer trait, and is likely to translate into increased sales and revenue to the Industry Partner, with income from these worldwide sales translating directly into the employment of research and development staff in Australia. This project will maintain Australian expertise in the production of horticultural commodities and provide research training to a post-graduate student with industry experience.Read moreRead less
Engineering of anti-platelet antibodies for the diagnosis and therapy of infants with bleeding disorders. Foeto-maternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FMAIT) is a serious clinical condition where infants suffer potentially fatal bleeding disorders from 14 weeks gestation to 1-2 weeks post delivery. The cause of the disease is through maternal antibodies destroying foetal platelets. Our aim is to produce human antibodies, which will be used as diagnostic agents to screen for the condition in preg ....Engineering of anti-platelet antibodies for the diagnosis and therapy of infants with bleeding disorders. Foeto-maternal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (FMAIT) is a serious clinical condition where infants suffer potentially fatal bleeding disorders from 14 weeks gestation to 1-2 weeks post delivery. The cause of the disease is through maternal antibodies destroying foetal platelets. Our aim is to produce human antibodies, which will be used as diagnostic agents to screen for the condition in pregnant women, and to further develop such antibodies for therapy. Identification of mothers at risk of FMAIT and the development of a specific therapy are vital to the management and prevention of this serious condition.Read moreRead less
Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value ad ....Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value added wheat varieties that cannot be achieved through conventional breeding and will provide Australian industry competitive advantage in rapidly growing world wide market for new health promoting foods.Read moreRead less
The genes and pathways regulated by the AMYB80 network are involved in Arabidopsis pollen development. Tapetum is the inner layer of an anther essential for pollen formation. The project will study tapetal AtMYB80 network regulating pollen development. Knowledge of the network will be important in developing means to protect crop yields against cold and drought. Regulation of AtMYB80 activity is being used to create hybrid crops of high productivity.
Dissecting the Indigo Pathway in Natural Indigo Producing Plants: Intricate Pathway Engineering for the Generation of Blue-Fibre Cotton. Australian cotton growers must maintain a sustained competitive advantage in the future to compete within the global cotton market by commanding higher margins for specialty cotton lint over and above current revenues. Development, via biotechnology, of naturally-colored, 'blue' lint cottons is the technical goal, where novel environmentally-benign textile prod ....Dissecting the Indigo Pathway in Natural Indigo Producing Plants: Intricate Pathway Engineering for the Generation of Blue-Fibre Cotton. Australian cotton growers must maintain a sustained competitive advantage in the future to compete within the global cotton market by commanding higher margins for specialty cotton lint over and above current revenues. Development, via biotechnology, of naturally-colored, 'blue' lint cottons is the technical goal, where novel environmentally-benign textile products could be produced without the use of toxic synthetic dyes or caustic dyeing processes. Success will provide a unique opportunity to re-establish an Australian cotton/textile industry by allowing direct participation in the development, branding and marketing of novel Australian textile products, generating potential revenue upwards of $10B/year. Read moreRead less
How antibiotic resistance is transferred from animal manure to vegetable. This project aims to decipher the transmission routes of antibiotic resistance from animal manure to manured soil and vegetable. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) threaten human health, but the pathways and mechanisms for transmission of ARGs in the environment are unknown. This project will investigate all the major classes of ARGs in typical animal manure and vegetable form, and possible routes for their transmission fr ....How antibiotic resistance is transferred from animal manure to vegetable. This project aims to decipher the transmission routes of antibiotic resistance from animal manure to manured soil and vegetable. Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) threaten human health, but the pathways and mechanisms for transmission of ARGs in the environment are unknown. This project will investigate all the major classes of ARGs in typical animal manure and vegetable form, and possible routes for their transmission from manure to soil and to vegetable surfaces and endophytic bacterial communities. The results are expected to identify the ARGs indicators likeliest to spread into the food chain, and develop management options to tackle the environmental antibiotic resistance.Read moreRead less
Diversity, interaction and change in prehistory: the third millennium BCE in Cyprus. This project will enhance the high reputation Australians have developed over many years in Mediterranean archaeology, maintaining and broadening Australia's cultural and economic relationships with Cyprus. It will be relevant to both scholars and the general public in Cyprus and the large Cypriot community in Australia. It will involve the training of students from both Australian and Cypriot universities in al ....Diversity, interaction and change in prehistory: the third millennium BCE in Cyprus. This project will enhance the high reputation Australians have developed over many years in Mediterranean archaeology, maintaining and broadening Australia's cultural and economic relationships with Cyprus. It will be relevant to both scholars and the general public in Cyprus and the large Cypriot community in Australia. It will involve the training of students from both Australian and Cypriot universities in all aspects of archaeological fieldwork, laboratory analysis and research.Read moreRead less
Pacific Labour and Australian Horticulture. This 18-month research project will investigate the costs and benefits of increasing labour mobility between the Pacific and Australia, including the feasibility of a seasonal labour program to employ agricultural workers from Pacific Island nations in the Swan Hill/Mildura region during periods of peak labour demand. It will forge a ground-breaking collaboration between an international development agency and local government to investigate how such a ....Pacific Labour and Australian Horticulture. This 18-month research project will investigate the costs and benefits of increasing labour mobility between the Pacific and Australia, including the feasibility of a seasonal labour program to employ agricultural workers from Pacific Island nations in the Swan Hill/Mildura region during periods of peak labour demand. It will forge a ground-breaking collaboration between an international development agency and local government to investigate how such a scheme might contribute simultaneously to economic and social development in Pacific Island nations (through remittances and skills transfers) and in regional Australia (by improving the labour supply to key horticultural industries).Read moreRead less
A cohort analysis of the demand for meat and the impact of food scares. Australia is the largest beef exporter in the world. In 1999, there were 22.7 million beef cattle, producing 2 million tonnes with a gross value of $4.4 million. To date, Australia has been unaffected by the growing number of major health scares currently plaguing many European and South American countries. Equivalent scares in Australia would be devastating and hence research into the impact of scares on the behaviour of co ....A cohort analysis of the demand for meat and the impact of food scares. Australia is the largest beef exporter in the world. In 1999, there were 22.7 million beef cattle, producing 2 million tonnes with a gross value of $4.4 million. To date, Australia has been unaffected by the growing number of major health scares currently plaguing many European and South American countries. Equivalent scares in Australia would be devastating and hence research into the impact of scares on the behaviour of consumers is of paramount importance. It is the purpose of this research project to quantify the effects of such health/product scares on the demand for meat.
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