Co-evolution of the host pathogen interaction between Leptosphaeria maculans and Brassica species. Brassica canola is Australia's third largest export crop, producing 13% of the world's canola oil. However, blackleg disease, caused by the fungus Leptospheria maculans leads to annual yield losses of 15%, with 100% loss associated with breakdown of resistance. International investment has provided novel genome resources for Brassica and L. maculans. Applying these resources to understand the co-ev ....Co-evolution of the host pathogen interaction between Leptosphaeria maculans and Brassica species. Brassica canola is Australia's third largest export crop, producing 13% of the world's canola oil. However, blackleg disease, caused by the fungus Leptospheria maculans leads to annual yield losses of 15%, with 100% loss associated with breakdown of resistance. International investment has provided novel genome resources for Brassica and L. maculans. Applying these resources to understand the co-evolution of this plant-fungal interaction could prevent the current boom-bust cycle of canola production in Australia. This study will also provide a model and knowledge base for applications in other species, leading to enhanced crops with increased plant protection and robust, reliable productivity.Read moreRead less
Regulation of Plant Development by Small RNAs. Understanding the roles of small RNAs and their pathways is a new field of research that is giving, and will continue to give profound insights into how multicellular organisms regulate gene expression at a genomic level. Research in this area has already led to RNA interference technology, by which almost any gene can be switched off, and there is considerable potential for other gene silencing and trait modification technologies to emerge. The pro ....Regulation of Plant Development by Small RNAs. Understanding the roles of small RNAs and their pathways is a new field of research that is giving, and will continue to give profound insights into how multicellular organisms regulate gene expression at a genomic level. Research in this area has already led to RNA interference technology, by which almost any gene can be switched off, and there is considerable potential for other gene silencing and trait modification technologies to emerge. The project will yield insights into fundamental biological processes which are expected to engender applications in agriculture and biotechnology. It will maintain and enhance Australia's position in this area.Read moreRead less
Small RNAs: what makes a plant, a plant. Understanding the roles of small RNAs and their pathways is a young field of research that is giving, and will continue to give, profound insights into how multicellular organisms regulate gene expression at a genomic level. Research in this area has already led to RNA interference technology, by which almost any gene can be switched off, and there is considerable potential for other gene silencing and trait modification technologies to emerge. The projec ....Small RNAs: what makes a plant, a plant. Understanding the roles of small RNAs and their pathways is a young field of research that is giving, and will continue to give, profound insights into how multicellular organisms regulate gene expression at a genomic level. Research in this area has already led to RNA interference technology, by which almost any gene can be switched off, and there is considerable potential for other gene silencing and trait modification technologies to emerge. The project will yield insights into fundamental biological processes which are expected to engender applications in agriculture and biotechnology. It will maintain and enhance Australia's position in this area.Read moreRead less
Integrating a physical and functional genetic map of Prunus dulcis. Genome wide physical mapping is the centrepiece of current genomics research in virtually all plant and animal species. The proposal seeks to champion the development of Prunus dulcis (Rosaceae) as a model perennial species towards parity with other plant model systems for gene discovery and validation. The Rosaceae represents a rich repository of genes of relevance to perenniality, adaptation, sustainable agriculture, health a ....Integrating a physical and functional genetic map of Prunus dulcis. Genome wide physical mapping is the centrepiece of current genomics research in virtually all plant and animal species. The proposal seeks to champion the development of Prunus dulcis (Rosaceae) as a model perennial species towards parity with other plant model systems for gene discovery and validation. The Rosaceae represents a rich repository of genes of relevance to perenniality, adaptation, sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition and the bioindustries. Ultimately, comparative genomics across the family will advance molecular eco-genetics via dissection of traits determining adaptive response. Access to user-friendly molecular markers will also bring greater precision to breeding programmes. Read moreRead less
Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell su ....Integrons in Xanthomonas pathovars: Do they have a role in plant pathogenicity? Bacteria in the genus Xanthomonas cause serious diseases of plants, identification being based on the plant species from which they were originally recovered. Xanthomonads contain integrons, genetic elements capable of acquiring and expressing diverse genes. In other bacterial groups, the gene content of integrons varies significantly between strains of the same species, and in many cases these genes code for cell surface proteins. These characteristics are precisely those we might expect to be responsible for interactions between plants and bacteria. This project aims to examine a large collection of xanthomonads for integrons, and determine whether particular integron gene contents are associated with host-pathogen specificity.
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Development of molecular markers for resistance to blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) in canola. Canola (Brassica napus) is a valuable oil seed crop grown in many parts of the world and contributes annually $A450 million to the Australian economy. The overall aim of this project is to develop molecular markers for blackleg resistance using Australian germplasm along with evaluation in Australian disease nurseries which are regarded worlwide to develop the highest levels of disease pressu ....Development of molecular markers for resistance to blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) in canola. Canola (Brassica napus) is a valuable oil seed crop grown in many parts of the world and contributes annually $A450 million to the Australian economy. The overall aim of this project is to develop molecular markers for blackleg resistance using Australian germplasm along with evaluation in Australian disease nurseries which are regarded worlwide to develop the highest levels of disease pressure. Once molecular marker systems are developed and evaluated, they will be applied to facilitate the selection of Nugrain's (Industry Partner) canola breeding programs. Any molecular markers and QTL developed for Australian cultivars would find commercial application in breeding programmes.Read moreRead less
Genomic Synteny in Legumes; Application to Crop Breeding. Synteny is defined as the degree of colinearity between the order of orthologous genes in chromosomes of related species. New data suggests that legumes share widespread synteny. Extensive genomic resources are being accumulated for the model legume, Medicago truncatula including the full genome sequence. We propose to use these resources to uncover patterns of synteny between M. truncatula and the cultivated legumes chickpeas, lupins, ....Genomic Synteny in Legumes; Application to Crop Breeding. Synteny is defined as the degree of colinearity between the order of orthologous genes in chromosomes of related species. New data suggests that legumes share widespread synteny. Extensive genomic resources are being accumulated for the model legume, Medicago truncatula including the full genome sequence. We propose to use these resources to uncover patterns of synteny between M. truncatula and the cultivated legumes chickpeas, lupins, faba-beans, lentils and lucerne. In addition to revealing patterns of chromosomal evolution in this large plant family, we will generate genetic maps and molecular markers for use in practical plant breeding of these important crops.Read moreRead less
Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentia ....Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentially provide new opportunities and platforms for improving the performance, yield and quality of crop plants. The proposed study is therefore consistent with the national research priority goals such as breakthrough science, frontier technologies and promoting an innovation culture.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0989147
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$950,000.00
Summary
Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to bi ....Advanced high throughput genomics facility for biological, medical, agricultural, environmental and evolutionary research. Infrastructure requested will expand the capacity of researchers in NSW/NT to undertake environmental, medical and evolutionary studies using state-of-the-art technologies based on the recent advances in DNA sequencing analyses. It will ensure the retention of leading researchers in the exciting areas of genomics and Systems Biology and make a significant contribution to biomolecular research in medicine, agriculture and environmental biology, thereby providing major benefits to the wider community. The application will enhance existing genomic technologies by substantially increasing the scope of experiments that can be performed leading to important advances in gene discovery.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of Genes involved in Secondary Metabolism in the Blackleg Pathogen of Canola. Blackleg caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans is the major disease of canola. In spite of the economic importance of this fungus, little is known about its metabolic pathways, its genes and how they are organised. We have sequenced a large piece of L. maculans DNA comprising eight genes, including a regulatory gene and one that may be may be involved in producing secondary metabolites such as ....Characterisation of Genes involved in Secondary Metabolism in the Blackleg Pathogen of Canola. Blackleg caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans is the major disease of canola. In spite of the economic importance of this fungus, little is known about its metabolic pathways, its genes and how they are organised. We have sequenced a large piece of L. maculans DNA comprising eight genes, including a regulatory gene and one that may be may be involved in producing secondary metabolites such as phytotoxins. We will determine the role of these genes in metabolism and the disease process, thus providing insights into secondary metabolism and gene regulation in this important plant pathogen.Read moreRead less