Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any ....Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any pest with wide or narrow spectrum of action and does not require the production of toxins by the plant. The novelty of our approach will generate a large amount of intellectual property.Read moreRead less
To move or not to move: are insect movement strategies driven by plant-induced defences? Plants change chemically when damaged by insects. By showing how movement and feeding is related to these induced defences we can manipulate plant defences to resist insect attack in a more focused way. Our target insects are major pests against which we use large amounts of insecticide. Our research will decrease insect damage to crops using existing genetic machinery of plants as opposed to inserting 'nove ....To move or not to move: are insect movement strategies driven by plant-induced defences? Plants change chemically when damaged by insects. By showing how movement and feeding is related to these induced defences we can manipulate plant defences to resist insect attack in a more focused way. Our target insects are major pests against which we use large amounts of insecticide. Our research will decrease insect damage to crops using existing genetic machinery of plants as opposed to inserting 'novel' toxin-expressing genes. This project builds on Australia's strong record of achievement in agricultural and natural resource research by increasing understanding of the interplay between plant traits and insects. We will build cross-disciplinary research capacity training a new generation of biologists in an exciting area of science.Read moreRead less
Novel compounds as natural herbicides for weed management. The development by weeds of herbicide resistance has undermined these systems and limited prospect for development of new chemicals with different modes of actions through traditional methods. Such methods of searching for new herbicides are yielding diminishing returns and the associated costs are becoming prohibitive.
This project aims to develop herbicides by evaluating, isolating and identifying novel natural compounds present in a ....Novel compounds as natural herbicides for weed management. The development by weeds of herbicide resistance has undermined these systems and limited prospect for development of new chemicals with different modes of actions through traditional methods. Such methods of searching for new herbicides are yielding diminishing returns and the associated costs are becoming prohibitive.
This project aims to develop herbicides by evaluating, isolating and identifying novel natural compounds present in a range of weeds and crop plants.
The outcomes will be reduced herbicide inputs, and the development of a new group of natural herbicides to counteract the threat imposed by the development of herbicide resistance.
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Novel compounds as natural herbicides for weed management. The development by weeds of herbicide resistance has undermined minimum-tillage systems and heightened the limited prospects for development of new chemicals with different modes of actions through traditional methods. Such methods of searching for new herbicides are yielding diminishing returns and the associated costs are becoming prohibitive.
This project aims to develop herbicides by evaluating, isolating and identifying novel nat ....Novel compounds as natural herbicides for weed management. The development by weeds of herbicide resistance has undermined minimum-tillage systems and heightened the limited prospects for development of new chemicals with different modes of actions through traditional methods. Such methods of searching for new herbicides are yielding diminishing returns and the associated costs are becoming prohibitive.
This project aims to develop herbicides by evaluating, isolating and identifying novel natural compounds present in a range of weeds and crop plants.
The outcomes will be reduced herbicide inputs, and the development of a new group of natural herbicides to counteract the threat imposed by the development of herbicide resistance.Read moreRead less
Plant cell wall - aluminium interactions: a role in aluminium stress. Soil acidity, resulting in Al toxicity, affects production on circa 50% of Australia's intensively used agricultural land, resulting in 8.5 times more foregone agricultural income than dryland salinity (National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001). Often, remediation with lime is not possible or affordable. By understanding Al reactions with cell wall components, we aim to identify root parameters related to Al resistance by ....Plant cell wall - aluminium interactions: a role in aluminium stress. Soil acidity, resulting in Al toxicity, affects production on circa 50% of Australia's intensively used agricultural land, resulting in 8.5 times more foregone agricultural income than dryland salinity (National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001). Often, remediation with lime is not possible or affordable. By understanding Al reactions with cell wall components, we aim to identify root parameters related to Al resistance by plants. These parameters will be useful as selection markers to identify and breed Al-tolerant crop genotypes. This, in turn, will improve yields and farm profitability, allowing farmers to use lime to prevent further acidification. This increases sustainability of cropping operations on the 50 Mha with acid soils.Read moreRead less
Plant heterotrimeric G proteins: new roles in defence, stomatal control and ABA perception. Agriculture is an important economic activity in Australia that results in considerable export revenues. Two of the major problems facing agriculture around the globe are the incidence of diseases and the scarcity of water. Agricultural losses caused by plant pathogens and low water availability account for billions of dollars every year and have profound economic and social implications. Water is an extr ....Plant heterotrimeric G proteins: new roles in defence, stomatal control and ABA perception. Agriculture is an important economic activity in Australia that results in considerable export revenues. Two of the major problems facing agriculture around the globe are the incidence of diseases and the scarcity of water. Agricultural losses caused by plant pathogens and low water availability account for billions of dollars every year and have profound economic and social implications. Water is an extremely scarce resource in Australia and periodic droughts inflict immense losses to the Australian agricultural sector. Our research will explore new and cleaner strategies to provide crop protection as well as to increase water use efficiency.Read moreRead less
Combining molecular plant physiology and breeding to improve canola (Brassica napus) performance in dry environments. Canola is Australia's most important oilseed crop with 1,400,000 hectares sown annually worth $560m. The major abiotic factor limiting canola production in Australia is water availability. Transpiration efficiency (TE) is a trait with potential to contribute to improved drought tolerance of grain crops. This project seeks to select canola germplasm with improved TE by indirect s ....Combining molecular plant physiology and breeding to improve canola (Brassica napus) performance in dry environments. Canola is Australia's most important oilseed crop with 1,400,000 hectares sown annually worth $560m. The major abiotic factor limiting canola production in Australia is water availability. Transpiration efficiency (TE) is a trait with potential to contribute to improved drought tolerance of grain crops. This project seeks to select canola germplasm with improved TE by indirect selection for carbon-isotope-discrimination. In addition we will use the extensive Brassica-Arabidopsis genome synteny to locate and alter the expression of genes involved in TE using Arabidopsis as a model. The longterm aim is to improve the reliability and overall grain production of canola in Australia. Read moreRead less
NextGen Sorghum: Genomic approaches to novel renewable bioproducts. Next Gen Sorghums will have enhanced nutritional and processing qualities for humans and animals, and be ideal feedstocks for the bio-economy for the delivery of novel products. Our approaches in reverse genetics to identify gene networks which control sorghum seed development, cell size, cell wall thickness and the way in which starch and protein are packaged within the grain will generate knowledge to underpin the future utili ....NextGen Sorghum: Genomic approaches to novel renewable bioproducts. Next Gen Sorghums will have enhanced nutritional and processing qualities for humans and animals, and be ideal feedstocks for the bio-economy for the delivery of novel products. Our approaches in reverse genetics to identify gene networks which control sorghum seed development, cell size, cell wall thickness and the way in which starch and protein are packaged within the grain will generate knowledge to underpin the future utilisation of this important grain. This will help to drive the future of Australian cereals industries, with health benefits to consumers, the enhanced delivery of specialised feedstocks for novel and renewable bio-products, and financial benefits to farmers.Read moreRead less
Australia, the centre of diversity and the centre of origin of rice? Wild relatives of rice are found across northern Australia. The project aims to apply emerging technologies for efficient whole genome sequencing to determination of the genetic diversity of these populations in relation to cultivated rice and wild rice from other parts of the world. The role of the Australian populations in the evolution of rice and the potential of these populations to contribute valuable diversity to rice cr ....Australia, the centre of diversity and the centre of origin of rice? Wild relatives of rice are found across northern Australia. The project aims to apply emerging technologies for efficient whole genome sequencing to determination of the genetic diversity of these populations in relation to cultivated rice and wild rice from other parts of the world. The role of the Australian populations in the evolution of rice and the potential of these populations to contribute valuable diversity to rice crops worldwide are intended to be analysed. The impact of domestication on rice in Asia is expected to be established by the characterisation of the related Australian populations that were isolated from the impacts of agriculture for around 7000 years. Whole genome associations with environment may provide clues to adapting agriculture to climate.Read moreRead less
Targeting and stabilizing proteins in sugar storage vacuoles for metabolic engineering in sugarcane. We have isolated a novel gene for an enzyme that efficiently converts sucrose into a product of much higher value. We have shown that the enzyme functions in sugarcane, a first example of the potential for new biosynthetic capacities in this highly productive crop. Because 90% of stored sucrose is in specialized vacuoles, the enzyme needs to be directed into these vacuoles, and made stable and ac ....Targeting and stabilizing proteins in sugar storage vacuoles for metabolic engineering in sugarcane. We have isolated a novel gene for an enzyme that efficiently converts sucrose into a product of much higher value. We have shown that the enzyme functions in sugarcane, a first example of the potential for new biosynthetic capacities in this highly productive crop. Because 90% of stored sucrose is in specialized vacuoles, the enzyme needs to be directed into these vacuoles, and made stable and active there. This is feasible by building on recent discoveries about vacuolar targeting in plants. The outputs include scientific understanding to underpin metabolic engineering in plants, and a profitable high-technology export industry for Australia.Read moreRead less