Functional analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins. Pore-forming toxins, such as anthrax, hemolysin, cholera and diphtheria toxins, are among the most virulent microbial toxins, posing a threat to humans and lifestock. We are using a novel functional approach to test possible lectin and antimicrobial peptide functions of a typical and economically important pore-forming toxin, the crystal endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, to examine why toxicity of the lectin-containing toxin is ....Functional analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins. Pore-forming toxins, such as anthrax, hemolysin, cholera and diphtheria toxins, are among the most virulent microbial toxins, posing a threat to humans and lifestock. We are using a novel functional approach to test possible lectin and antimicrobial peptide functions of a typical and economically important pore-forming toxin, the crystal endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, to examine why toxicity of the lectin-containing toxin is restricted to invertebrates only, while the amphipathic peptide alone is also toxic to many vertebrate cells. The outcome of these experiments has important implications for the sustainable use of biopesticides and for the prevention and containment of infectious diseases.Read moreRead less
Asymmetric Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Bioactive Alkaloids and their Analogues. We propose to develop innovative methods for preparing bioactive natural products and their analogues with potential applications as new and safer therapeutic drugs and agricultural chemicals. This project would make important scientific contributions to the advancement of the fundamentals of synthetic organic chemistry and contribute to Australia's development as a knowledge-based economy. The methodolo ....Asymmetric Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Bioactive Alkaloids and their Analogues. We propose to develop innovative methods for preparing bioactive natural products and their analogues with potential applications as new and safer therapeutic drugs and agricultural chemicals. This project would make important scientific contributions to the advancement of the fundamentals of synthetic organic chemistry and contribute to Australia's development as a knowledge-based economy. The methodology and products developed may have potential pharmaceutical and agricultural applications from which the country could benefit from in the future. This project would help developed skilled people that may develop innovative outcomes in the future, especially in the developing pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Stereoselective Synthesis of Bioactive Alkaloids for Structure Elucidation and Drug Discovery. It is proposed to develop innovative methods for preparing bioactive natural products and their analogues with potential applications as new and safer therapeutic drugs and agricultural chemicals. This project would make important scientific contributions to the advancement of the fundamentals of synthetic organic chemistry and contribute to Australia's development as a knowledge-based economy. The m ....Stereoselective Synthesis of Bioactive Alkaloids for Structure Elucidation and Drug Discovery. It is proposed to develop innovative methods for preparing bioactive natural products and their analogues with potential applications as new and safer therapeutic drugs and agricultural chemicals. This project would make important scientific contributions to the advancement of the fundamentals of synthetic organic chemistry and contribute to Australia's development as a knowledge-based economy. The methodology and products developed are likely to have potential pharmaceutical and agricultural applications from which the country could benefit in the future. This project will train skilled people who may develop innovative outcomes in the future, especially in the developing pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Large Scale Production of Stemona Alkaloids for Agricultural Applications and New Drug Discovery. The Stemona alkaloids form a large group of natural products that have significant potential as agricultural and pharmaceutical drugs. Extracts of these natural products have many applications in traditional medicine and as insecticides in Asia. We propose to develop innovative methods for the large scale production and synthesis of these bioactive alkaloids. The methodology and products developed ....Large Scale Production of Stemona Alkaloids for Agricultural Applications and New Drug Discovery. The Stemona alkaloids form a large group of natural products that have significant potential as agricultural and pharmaceutical drugs. Extracts of these natural products have many applications in traditional medicine and as insecticides in Asia. We propose to develop innovative methods for the large scale production and synthesis of these bioactive alkaloids. The methodology and products developed may have potential pharmaceutical and agricultural applications from which the country could benefit in the future. This project would help develop skilled people who may produce innovative outcomes in the future, especially in the developing pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in Australia.Read moreRead less
Extraction of flavour enhancers, antimicrobials and nutraceuticals from olive mill effluent. The project aims to recover valuable materials from olive mill waste. Natural flavours will be recovered from the wastewater and from the dry pomice after oil extraction. The research and development will see these flavour compounds added back to olive oil to enhance the flavours of bland oils and to increase the shelf life of olive oil. The same compounds also have uses as enhancing the flavours of food ....Extraction of flavour enhancers, antimicrobials and nutraceuticals from olive mill effluent. The project aims to recover valuable materials from olive mill waste. Natural flavours will be recovered from the wastewater and from the dry pomice after oil extraction. The research and development will see these flavour compounds added back to olive oil to enhance the flavours of bland oils and to increase the shelf life of olive oil. The same compounds also have uses as enhancing the flavours of foods in general and provide a source of naturally occurring antioxidants. The compounds will be tested as natural antibiotics as a means of controlling fungal infections in vineyards and in vegetable production. Read moreRead less
Discovery and directed evolution of small molecule biosensors. This project aims to address the need for novel small molecule biosensing capability in diverse fields including food and wine production, environmental monitoring, biocatalysis, and diagnostics using a synthetic biology approach. The significance of this work is the development of new biosensors by a strong interdisciplinary team contributing bioinformatics to identify new biosensors, innovative protein engineering approaches, and c ....Discovery and directed evolution of small molecule biosensors. This project aims to address the need for novel small molecule biosensing capability in diverse fields including food and wine production, environmental monitoring, biocatalysis, and diagnostics using a synthetic biology approach. The significance of this work is the development of new biosensors by a strong interdisciplinary team contributing bioinformatics to identify new biosensors, innovative protein engineering approaches, and cutting-edge directed evolution methodologies. Intended outcomes include enhanced institutional capacity for interdisciplinary collaboration; discovery of fundamentally important bacterial sensors; and development of synthetic regulatory circuits enabling outgrowth of non-biological biocatalysis industries.Read moreRead less
Striving for the path of least herbicide resistance. This project aims to investigate novel strategies to mitigate the rise in herbicide resistance threatening Australian agricultural production and exports. The project expects to pioneer long-term strategies for the development of herbicides that “resist” resistance generation in weeds to prolong their effectiveness. Expected outcomes include advances in the development of single- and multi-target herbicidal compounds with new modes of action, ....Striving for the path of least herbicide resistance. This project aims to investigate novel strategies to mitigate the rise in herbicide resistance threatening Australian agricultural production and exports. The project expects to pioneer long-term strategies for the development of herbicides that “resist” resistance generation in weeds to prolong their effectiveness. Expected outcomes include advances in the development of single- and multi-target herbicidal compounds with new modes of action, and validation of their potential to yield synergistic combinations and delay the evolution of resistance. This should lay the foundations for significant long-term benefits to farmers and consumers, both in Australia and globally, including increased crop yields and improved food security.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH190100022
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,787,259.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection. The Hub aims to develop and commercialise an innovative biological alternative to chemical fungicides targeting economically significant diseases of broadacre and horticultural crops. It addresses industry challenges of fungicide resistance, chemical residues in food, off-target effects and environmental harm. It builds on ground-breaking ‘BioClay’ platform to deliver pathogen targeting RNA using clay particles as non-genetically modified crop pr ....ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection. The Hub aims to develop and commercialise an innovative biological alternative to chemical fungicides targeting economically significant diseases of broadacre and horticultural crops. It addresses industry challenges of fungicide resistance, chemical residues in food, off-target effects and environmental harm. It builds on ground-breaking ‘BioClay’ platform to deliver pathogen targeting RNA using clay particles as non-genetically modified crop protection. An expert multidisciplinary team uniting science, commercial and social licence pathways ensures industry and consumer uptake advancing $60B Australian Agriculture. The Hub translates to increased productivity, market access and enhanced environmental credentials of Australian food.
Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100282
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,181.00
Summary
Delivering breeding-oriented genetic tools for cereal disease resistance. This project will focus specifically on delivering the genetic tools to the industry partner to assist its wheat and barley breeders to increase the accuracy and efficiency of incorporating the durable wheat stripe rust disease and barley leaf rust disease resistance into their core germplasm collections, respectively. The expected outcomes will also contribute to filling our knowledge gap in understanding the cereal rust ....Delivering breeding-oriented genetic tools for cereal disease resistance. This project will focus specifically on delivering the genetic tools to the industry partner to assist its wheat and barley breeders to increase the accuracy and efficiency of incorporating the durable wheat stripe rust disease and barley leaf rust disease resistance into their core germplasm collections, respectively. The expected outcomes will also contribute to filling our knowledge gap in understanding the cereal rust innate immune system and benefit other cereal fungal pathosystems. The wide application of the expected outcomes from the proposed project will reduce the utilisation of fungicides and subsequently will subsequently contribute to the resilience of cereal crops and sustainable global food security.Read moreRead less
Cell wall structure and dynamics in emerging fungal pathogens of crops. The project aims to understand the role of fungal cell wall biosynthetic enzymes in cell wall stability. The fungal cell wall is a dynamic structure whose composition constantly changes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and at different developmental stages. The devastating fungal crop pathogen Fusarium graminearum is responsible for the head blight disease in cereals. The project aims to understand the molecular ev ....Cell wall structure and dynamics in emerging fungal pathogens of crops. The project aims to understand the role of fungal cell wall biosynthetic enzymes in cell wall stability. The fungal cell wall is a dynamic structure whose composition constantly changes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and at different developmental stages. The devastating fungal crop pathogen Fusarium graminearum is responsible for the head blight disease in cereals. The project aims to understand the molecular events that govern metabolism and dynamics of the cell wall of F. graminearum. The project also plans to characterise the molecular interactions involved in plant defence against fungal pathogens and fungal responses to plant immune factors called defensins. Expected long-term outcomes include the development of novel strategies for disease control and crop protection.Read moreRead less