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
Finding the targets of natural products in complex botanical extracts. Many plants are used for nutritional and traditional medicine purposes and have demonstrated, evidence based effects. However, standard methods to identify single chemical compounds responsible for the observed effects fail as they rely on a single compound having a single target and ignore the overall effects of many interacting compounds on many targets. In this application we propose a new method to simultaneously identify ....Finding the targets of natural products in complex botanical extracts. Many plants are used for nutritional and traditional medicine purposes and have demonstrated, evidence based effects. However, standard methods to identify single chemical compounds responsible for the observed effects fail as they rely on a single compound having a single target and ignore the overall effects of many interacting compounds on many targets. In this application we propose a new method to simultaneously identify the molecular targets of many compounds in complex plant extracts, along with their subsequent validation by responses in gene expression to the plant extract. This research will revolutionise understanding of the nutritional and medicinal effects of plants and will allow our partners to accelerate commercialisation. Read moreRead less
Co-research supporting the development of Aboriginal plant knowledges. Successful commercial development of products manufactured from Australian plant extracts based on shared Aboriginal Knowledges and Western scientific evidence is limited. This research project partnering with an Aboriginal Corporation and a skincare company aims to understand the processes that would be needed for Aboriginal-led product development from a traditionally-used plant. This includes examining how plant materials ....Co-research supporting the development of Aboriginal plant knowledges. Successful commercial development of products manufactured from Australian plant extracts based on shared Aboriginal Knowledges and Western scientific evidence is limited. This research project partnering with an Aboriginal Corporation and a skincare company aims to understand the processes that would be needed for Aboriginal-led product development from a traditionally-used plant. This includes examining how plant materials could be sustainably managed and harvested on Aboriginal homelands, the quantities of plant materials needed for product development and the feasibility of a homelands business. The learnings from this project are expected to inform other First Nations groups seeking to develop their plant knowledges.Read moreRead less
Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations t ....Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations that optimise plant yield and fitness will be defined and explored in other, more complex, cereals such as wheat. Expected outcomes will be fundamental breakthroughs in understanding how plants respond to, and buffer, the effects of heat to lead to translational breeding strategies that bolster grain yield.Read moreRead less
Australia's native sorghums: a model for testing plant adaptation theories. This proposal tests an emerging theory that allocation of resources by plants to growth or defence are interrelated, not alternatives as currently assumed. Like many crops, sorghum produces toxic cyanide, especially during droughts but its wild relatives make much less. This project aims to discover why cyanide is so common in domesticated plants and why levels increase with stress. This has important implications for de ....Australia's native sorghums: a model for testing plant adaptation theories. This proposal tests an emerging theory that allocation of resources by plants to growth or defence are interrelated, not alternatives as currently assumed. Like many crops, sorghum produces toxic cyanide, especially during droughts but its wild relatives make much less. This project aims to discover why cyanide is so common in domesticated plants and why levels increase with stress. This has important implications for developing crops that are high yielding and also climate resilient. Expected outcomes include full genome sequences for all of Australia’s unique native sorghums, confirmation of new theories on the interrelationships between defence and growth and identification of new traits vital for developing the crops of the future. Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL180100139
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,973,547.00
Summary
Processes of plant growth that impact agriculture and horticulture. The project aims to discover the genes and processes that control plant shoot architecture, which is a major driver of yield in field, horticultural and forestry crops. Shoot branching is the result of the complex interplay of genes, environment and crop management. By investigating cellular processes governing growth and development, as well as physiology and molecular genetics, this project will enhance Australian capacity and ....Processes of plant growth that impact agriculture and horticulture. The project aims to discover the genes and processes that control plant shoot architecture, which is a major driver of yield in field, horticultural and forestry crops. Shoot branching is the result of the complex interplay of genes, environment and crop management. By investigating cellular processes governing growth and development, as well as physiology and molecular genetics, this project will enhance Australian capacity and multidisciplinary innovation. An improved understanding of shoot branching and how it may be manipulated will improve our knowledge of plant sciences that could contribute to agricultural expansion and food security in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less
Molecular dissection of systemic regulation of nodulation in legumes. This project aims to discover and characterise critical new factors that control legume nodule numbers. Legume plants can increase crop productivity and improve agricultural sustainability by forming specialised root nodules that house nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria. The project will use a multidisciplinary approach to identify the elusive Shoot Derived Inhibitor molecule and define its interaction with novel genes, microRN ....Molecular dissection of systemic regulation of nodulation in legumes. This project aims to discover and characterise critical new factors that control legume nodule numbers. Legume plants can increase crop productivity and improve agricultural sustainability by forming specialised root nodules that house nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria. The project will use a multidisciplinary approach to identify the elusive Shoot Derived Inhibitor molecule and define its interaction with novel genes, microRNAs and phytohormones in nodulation control. Findings will considerably enhance the current nodulation models and will benefit strategies to generate new compounds and crop varieties that mitigate fertiliser requirements, improve soil conditions and increase food security.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE200100800
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$415,693.00
Summary
Legume meristem signalling peptides: an untapped niche. This project aims to characterise novel signalling peptides regulating legume stem cell niches to enhance molecular-genetic networks and uncover potential key targets for crop improvement. Legumes represent agricultural sustainability through their decreased fertiliser requirements resulting in reduced carbon and nitrogen footprints. However, their unique gene signalling networks are poorly understood in comparison to traditional cereal cro ....Legume meristem signalling peptides: an untapped niche. This project aims to characterise novel signalling peptides regulating legume stem cell niches to enhance molecular-genetic networks and uncover potential key targets for crop improvement. Legumes represent agricultural sustainability through their decreased fertiliser requirements resulting in reduced carbon and nitrogen footprints. However, their unique gene signalling networks are poorly understood in comparison to traditional cereal crops. The proposed research intends to generate new knowledge in peptide signalling, plant development and legume symbiosis using multidisciplinary techniques. Expected project outcomes will increase understanding of peptide signalling in legume growth and adaption with useful findings for crop enhancement.Read moreRead less
My enemy’s enemy is my friend: The genetics of major plant pathogen killers. Fungi are devastating agents of crop diseases. These plant pathogens, in turn, are often parasitized by other fungi in the field. The project will focus on such interactions between powdery mildews, important pathogens of many crops and wild plants, and their common fungal parasites (Ampelomyces spp.) that have already been utilised as
biocontrol agents in crop protection. Genetic and genomic tools will be used to deter ....My enemy’s enemy is my friend: The genetics of major plant pathogen killers. Fungi are devastating agents of crop diseases. These plant pathogens, in turn, are often parasitized by other fungi in the field. The project will focus on such interactions between powdery mildews, important pathogens of many crops and wild plants, and their common fungal parasites (Ampelomyces spp.) that have already been utilised as
biocontrol agents in crop protection. Genetic and genomic tools will be used to determine if these parasites evolved by switching host from plants to plant pathogens. The project has the potential to make a ground-breaking discovery in this field, and also establish the starting point for new innovative methods to protect a wide diversity
of crops using these fungi or specific compounds derived from them.Read moreRead less