Finding the missing links in salt and water transport in plants. Grain crops and horticultural plants use proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes, but a group of these proteins can also transport some important nutrient ions as well as toxic sodium ions. This project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and ion transport via aquaporins using advanced techniques in biophysics and molecular biology. These results will provide novel insights into how plan ....Finding the missing links in salt and water transport in plants. Grain crops and horticultural plants use proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes, but a group of these proteins can also transport some important nutrient ions as well as toxic sodium ions. This project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and ion transport via aquaporins using advanced techniques in biophysics and molecular biology. These results will provide novel insights into how plants coordinate and adapt to changing water and salt conditions, addressing a missing link in how ions and water move in and out of plant vacuoles. Benefits include an expanded, innovative range of targets for plant breeding programs to improve plant productivity in our changing climate.Read moreRead less
Transport systems that underpin nitrogen efficient maize. This project aims to define the nitrogen transport network involved in the uptake, storage and redistribution of inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium) over the developmental life cycle of maize. This information will provide novel insight into the genetic control of nitrogen use in maize and other cereal crops.
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. We propose a novel approach to improve sustainable yield by optimising the overall efficiency of energy capture, conversion and use by plants. Efficiency gains in metabolism, transport, and development will be more effective than optimising single nutrient inputs or product outputs. Improving multiple parameters simultaneously is a necessary solution to the increasing demand for more crop yield from finite land, water, and nutrient resources. Unp ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. We propose a novel approach to improve sustainable yield by optimising the overall efficiency of energy capture, conversion and use by plants. Efficiency gains in metabolism, transport, and development will be more effective than optimising single nutrient inputs or product outputs. Improving multiple parameters simultaneously is a necessary solution to the increasing demand for more crop yield from finite land, water, and nutrient resources. Unpredictable environmental challenges adversely affect plant growth and further perturb plant energy balance, limiting yield. The epigenetic controls, gene variants and signals discovered will provide a new basis for sustainable productivity of crops and will future-proof plants in changing climates.Read moreRead less
Controlling accumulation of elements in the shoots of higher plants by manipulating processes in specific cell types in the roots. This project will provide novel, fundamental understanding of the processes controlling accumulation of elements in the shoots of plants. As such, it will impact on our understanding of processes relevant to stress tolerance, plant nutrition, human nutrition and the removal of toxic metals from soils by plants. These are all areas of great importance to Australian ag ....Controlling accumulation of elements in the shoots of higher plants by manipulating processes in specific cell types in the roots. This project will provide novel, fundamental understanding of the processes controlling accumulation of elements in the shoots of plants. As such, it will impact on our understanding of processes relevant to stress tolerance, plant nutrition, human nutrition and the removal of toxic metals from soils by plants. These are all areas of great importance to Australian agriculture, environmental sustainability and human health. The increased understanding arising from this project will underpin future work to increase agricultural productivity and the quality of life for all in the Australian and international communities.Read moreRead less
Development of advanced screening protocols for the identification of genes involved in nutrient sensing and nutrient efficiency in plants. Sustainable plant production in Australia builds on the concept of stable crop yield and high crop quality at low pesticide and fertilizer input. This requires a more efficient use of the plant's own mechanisms to efficiently explore nutrient patches in soils that are usually heterogeneously distributed. The identification of nutrient sensors in plants will ....Development of advanced screening protocols for the identification of genes involved in nutrient sensing and nutrient efficiency in plants. Sustainable plant production in Australia builds on the concept of stable crop yield and high crop quality at low pesticide and fertilizer input. This requires a more efficient use of the plant's own mechanisms to efficiently explore nutrient patches in soils that are usually heterogeneously distributed. The identification of nutrient sensors in plants will not only allow a deeper understanding of how plants manage to overcome nutrient-poor growth periods but also open new possibilities for enhancing nutrient efficiency in crop plants. The increased understanding arising from this project will underpin future work to increase agricultural productivity and the quality of life for all in the Australian and international communities.Read moreRead less
Salinity tolerance and long-distance transport in cereals. The aim of this program is to alter shoot accumulation of solutes in cereals by exploiting novel transgenic technology to manipulate processes in specific cell types in the roots. The primary objective is the generation of cereals which have increased tolerance of saline soils. This is clearly of much agricultural significance in Australia. More general outcomes include the generation of plants with altered concentrations of a range of n ....Salinity tolerance and long-distance transport in cereals. The aim of this program is to alter shoot accumulation of solutes in cereals by exploiting novel transgenic technology to manipulate processes in specific cell types in the roots. The primary objective is the generation of cereals which have increased tolerance of saline soils. This is clearly of much agricultural significance in Australia. More general outcomes include the generation of plants with altered concentrations of a range of nutrients in both leaves and grain. This will be of wide agricultural and nutritional benefit, as well as providing an understanding of principles underlying the long-distance co-ordination of processes in plants.Read moreRead less
Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants: Functional analysis of high-affinity ammonium transport in plant lines altered in ammonium transport capacity. Improving nitrogen fertiliser use in crop species will benefit Australia and world agriculture by reducing nitrogen-linked environmental pollution. Nitrogen fertilisers can be leached from soils and result in the pollution of ground water, rivers, estuaries and oceans. Using model plant systems we are dissecting the genes and their encod ....Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants: Functional analysis of high-affinity ammonium transport in plant lines altered in ammonium transport capacity. Improving nitrogen fertiliser use in crop species will benefit Australia and world agriculture by reducing nitrogen-linked environmental pollution. Nitrogen fertilisers can be leached from soils and result in the pollution of ground water, rivers, estuaries and oceans. Using model plant systems we are dissecting the genes and their encoded proteins responsible for ammonium nitrogen uptake into plants. Identifying the in planta function of these genes will allow new breeding approaches to specifically target genes that will improve the efficiency of ammonium uptake and lessen the reliance on the supply of nitrogen fertilizers in modern agricultural crop production.Read moreRead less
Defining pathways that establish and maintain reproductive cell identity in plant ovules and seeds. Unlike animals, individual somatic cells in plants have the remarkable ability to regenerate into new plants, depending on the signals they perceive. This developmental plasticity is particularly important during normal plant growth, when mature cells adopt new identities within multicellular environments. Tissue complexity is critical for the utilisation of plants in society as food, fuel and fib ....Defining pathways that establish and maintain reproductive cell identity in plant ovules and seeds. Unlike animals, individual somatic cells in plants have the remarkable ability to regenerate into new plants, depending on the signals they perceive. This developmental plasticity is particularly important during normal plant growth, when mature cells adopt new identities within multicellular environments. Tissue complexity is critical for the utilisation of plants in society as food, fuel and fibre, but how and why plant cells adopt or change identity has been difficult to determine. This project aims to employ next-generation molecular methods to identify pathways driving differentiation of specific ovule and seed cell-types, which directly impact crop quality, yield and end-use.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$980,358.00
Summary
Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcr ....Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcrossing characteristics. This project aims to reduce costs by improving wheat’s female receptivity to airborne pollen, a major bottleneck to commercial realization of hybrids globally. Higher and more stable yields from wheat hybrids will ensure food security in the face of climate uncertainty and growing population.Read moreRead less
What is the function of gamma-aminobutyric acid-gated anion channels in plants? The project will identify the molecular basis of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) signalling in plants. This is significant because GABA regulates proteins that release molecules involved in root-soil interactions, growth, and fertilisation. The project's discoveries will allow improvement of these agronomic traits that ultimately determine crop yield.