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
Sterol interference as a new approach to the control of insect pests of crops. This project aims to develop a new approach to control chewing insect pests of crops. This will be achieved by interfering with insect sterol metabolism so that they fail to grow and reproduce normally.
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
Metabolic engineering of sugarcane: production of a biodegradable bioplastic as a test-case. The aim of this project is to produce a commercially valuable bioplastic called PHB in transgenic sugarcane. This bioplastic has similar properties to petrochemically produced polypropylene, but is fully biodegradable. PHB has been produced in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana at commercially viable levels. The expected outcome of high-level production of PHB in sugarcane would have significant ben ....Metabolic engineering of sugarcane: production of a biodegradable bioplastic as a test-case. The aim of this project is to produce a commercially valuable bioplastic called PHB in transgenic sugarcane. This bioplastic has similar properties to petrochemically produced polypropylene, but is fully biodegradable. PHB has been produced in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana at commercially viable levels. The expected outcome of high-level production of PHB in sugarcane would have significant benefits to the Australian sugar industry, the rural economy, and the Australian environment.Read moreRead less
Investigation of almond transformation for self-fertility and virus resistance. This project addresses the long-term goal of the Australian almond industry to produce cultivars that are self-fertile and resistant to Prunus necrotic ringspot and prune dwarf viruses. Both self-sterility and virus infection can result in unreliable and often low yields. Research will address the control of gene expression relating to self-sterility and the introduction of virus resistance, via sequencing of self- ....Investigation of almond transformation for self-fertility and virus resistance. This project addresses the long-term goal of the Australian almond industry to produce cultivars that are self-fertile and resistant to Prunus necrotic ringspot and prune dwarf viruses. Both self-sterility and virus infection can result in unreliable and often low yields. Research will address the control of gene expression relating to self-sterility and the introduction of virus resistance, via sequencing of self-fertility and self-sterility genes, construct development and improved regeneration of transformed almond in vitro without the use of antibiotics.Read moreRead less
Understanding and avoiding transgene silencing in sugarcane. Sugarcane is one of the world's major crops for food (sugar) and fuel (ethanol, electricity co-generation). It is one of the most appealing target crops for metabolic engineering aimed at renewable biomaterials and biofuels. Australia has invested strongly to achieve scientific leadership in gene technologies in our major export crops including sugarcane. Field tests show that development of methods to avoid unstable expression or 'sil ....Understanding and avoiding transgene silencing in sugarcane. Sugarcane is one of the world's major crops for food (sugar) and fuel (ethanol, electricity co-generation). It is one of the most appealing target crops for metabolic engineering aimed at renewable biomaterials and biofuels. Australia has invested strongly to achieve scientific leadership in gene technologies in our major export crops including sugarcane. Field tests show that development of methods to avoid unstable expression or 'silencing' of introduced genes is now a critical requirement for practical application. The current project emerges from industry recognition of the need to understand and avoid transgene silencing. The methods developed using sugarcane are expected to have rapid applicability for wider benefits in agriculture.Read moreRead less
Practical strategies for engineering the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, whose subunits are encoded in different subcellular compartments. My recent replacement of the plant CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a less efficient bacterial version, with a single type of subunit encoded by a single gene, demonstrated the feasibility of replacing Rubisco. This encourages ongoing attempts to replace plant Rubisco with more efficient versions that would allow the plants to grow with less water, fertiliser or ....Practical strategies for engineering the CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, whose subunits are encoded in different subcellular compartments. My recent replacement of the plant CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, with a less efficient bacterial version, with a single type of subunit encoded by a single gene, demonstrated the feasibility of replacing Rubisco. This encourages ongoing attempts to replace plant Rubisco with more efficient versions that would allow the plants to grow with less water, fertiliser or light. The most efficient Rubiscos are more complex, with two different types of subunits which, in plants, are encoded in different subcellular compartments (nucleus and plastid). This proposal addresses the challenges associated with complementary engineering both genomes to substitute foreign Rubiscos into higher-plant chloroplasts.Read moreRead less
Fungal Glucanase Genes for Engineering Disease Resistance in Plants. Plants can be engineered for resistance to fungal diseases by transformation with recombinant genes encoding chitinase or glucanase. Although fungi are prolific producers of glucanases, with some species producing novel forms, they have been unexplored as a source of useful glucanases. This project will isolate glucanase-producing fungi from soil, screen them for antifungal activity, and clone the glucanase genes from one or m ....Fungal Glucanase Genes for Engineering Disease Resistance in Plants. Plants can be engineered for resistance to fungal diseases by transformation with recombinant genes encoding chitinase or glucanase. Although fungi are prolific producers of glucanases, with some species producing novel forms, they have been unexplored as a source of useful glucanases. This project will isolate glucanase-producing fungi from soil, screen them for antifungal activity, and clone the glucanase genes from one or more isolates. In view of the high degree of biodiversity in WA soils, we have a high expectation of finding novel glucanases which will be useful for engineering disease resistance in plants, or for other industrial processes.Read moreRead less
Exploiting the Arabidopsis genome sequence as a molecular 'toolbox' for Brassica improvement. Australia's position as a major exporter of canola (Brassica napus) is under threat from genetic improvements in yield and quality being made by our international competitors. We will identify genes from Arabidopsis (the 'tool-box') that will be used to increase the speed of selection of new canola varieties with improved oleic acid content, disease resistance, and agronomic traits such as early flower ....Exploiting the Arabidopsis genome sequence as a molecular 'toolbox' for Brassica improvement. Australia's position as a major exporter of canola (Brassica napus) is under threat from genetic improvements in yield and quality being made by our international competitors. We will identify genes from Arabidopsis (the 'tool-box') that will be used to increase the speed of selection of new canola varieties with improved oleic acid content, disease resistance, and agronomic traits such as early flowering and cold tolerance. Genome similarity between Arabidopsis and canola will be exploited to map specific genes from Arabidopsis directly into canola. Based on this knowledge, we will develop gene-specific molecular markers for rapid selection of Australian-adapted canola varieties.Read moreRead less
Enhancing plant photosynthesis by engineering the carbon dioxide (CO2)-fixing enzyme Rubisco. Improving the ability of crops to use water, sunlight and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits for Australia and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. Photosynthesis research has confirmed that such improvements are theoretically possible by enhancing the efficiency of the protein, Rubisco, which initiates the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon ....Enhancing plant photosynthesis by engineering the carbon dioxide (CO2)-fixing enzyme Rubisco. Improving the ability of crops to use water, sunlight and fertiliser more efficiently would have economic benefits for Australia and ease the environmental impacts associated with agricultural practices. Photosynthesis research has confirmed that such improvements are theoretically possible by enhancing the efficiency of the protein, Rubisco, which initiates the conversion of carbon dioxide into carbon compounds required for growth. The biotechnological research proposed here uses unique capabilities to improve our understanding of structural features in Rubisco that influence its assembly and functional efficiency in plants. This knowledge will pave the way for transplanting more efficient Rubisco into crops to improve their growth.Read moreRead less