Breaking the nexus: more biomass in cereal grain. Grain yield is controlled by complex, regulated genetic networks or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) derived from natural variations in many crop plants. Yield is a product of the three major parameters: panicle number, grain number and grain size, trade-offs are commonly observed between grain number and size. There is evidence to suggest it is possible to improve grain size without altering overall biomass. With the genomic and genetic resource t ....Breaking the nexus: more biomass in cereal grain. Grain yield is controlled by complex, regulated genetic networks or quantitative trait loci (QTLs) derived from natural variations in many crop plants. Yield is a product of the three major parameters: panicle number, grain number and grain size, trade-offs are commonly observed between grain number and size. There is evidence to suggest it is possible to improve grain size without altering overall biomass. With the genomic and genetic resource tools at hand. This project will elucidate the genetic architecture of grain size, and manipulate the key loci to generate more biomass in the grain, minimising or eliminating the adverse impact on seed number. This will maximise harvestable yield without imposing increased demand for water and nutrients.Read moreRead less
Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. ....Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. An expected outcome of the project is enhanced drought adaptation for cereals in a dry world. This should provide significant benefits to farmers and consumers in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Extreme expression: building a platform for industrial plant biotechnology. Plants have remarkable potential as bioreactors for the production of usually non-plant compounds such as medical proteins, industrial proteins including enzymes and polymers. However, to realise this potential, there needs to be very significant advances in the amount of target compounds produced in the bioreactor plants and to develop other plant species as bioreactors. The aim of this project is to develop technologie ....Extreme expression: building a platform for industrial plant biotechnology. Plants have remarkable potential as bioreactors for the production of usually non-plant compounds such as medical proteins, industrial proteins including enzymes and polymers. However, to realise this potential, there needs to be very significant advances in the amount of target compounds produced in the bioreactor plants and to develop other plant species as bioreactors. The aim of this project is to develop technologies that provide the platform to produce large quantities of target novel compounds in plants and extend the range of plant species that can be used as bioreactors. These technologies will provide the basis of a dynamic biofarming industry in Australia.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
Towards high efficiency biofuel systems: a molecular resolution three-dimensional atlas of the photosynthetic machinery of a high-efficiency green algae cell. Solar-powered single-cell green-algae systems represent a powerful and environmentally friendly biotechnology used to produce clean fuels, food and high value products. This project is focused on solving the three-dimensional structure of key components of the photosynthetic machinery to improve the efficiency and profitability of advance ....Towards high efficiency biofuel systems: a molecular resolution three-dimensional atlas of the photosynthetic machinery of a high-efficiency green algae cell. Solar-powered single-cell green-algae systems represent a powerful and environmentally friendly biotechnology used to produce clean fuels, food and high value products. This project is focused on solving the three-dimensional structure of key components of the photosynthetic machinery to improve the efficiency and profitability of advance microalgae production systems.Read moreRead less
Bioengineering High Efficiency Solar Driven H2 Production. The project aims to bio-engineer high-efficiency microalgae cell-lines that can drive solar powered H2 production from water. It plans to do so by increasing proton and electron supply to the H2-producing hydrogenase. It builds on patented cell lines that have enhanced light capture efficiency and H2 production capabilities. The aim of this project is to increase the efficiency of the last stage of the process (three fold) in a major ste ....Bioengineering High Efficiency Solar Driven H2 Production. The project aims to bio-engineer high-efficiency microalgae cell-lines that can drive solar powered H2 production from water. It plans to do so by increasing proton and electron supply to the H2-producing hydrogenase. It builds on patented cell lines that have enhanced light capture efficiency and H2 production capabilities. The aim of this project is to increase the efficiency of the last stage of the process (three fold) in a major step in developing economic solar-fuel systems. National benefits include the development of advanced microalgae fuels systems to increase future fuel security, reduce CO2 emissions and assist with regional development.Read moreRead less
Advanced solar powered hydrogen production systems based on green algal cells. This project aims to enhance the efficiency of solar powered hydrogen production from water and will facilitate the co-production of H2 and oil through microalgal biofuel systems. This frontier science project will therefore deliver a process with high solar conversion efficiency and will deliver multiple product streams increasing profitability.
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
Digging deeper to improve yield stability. This project aims to provide innovative breeding solutions that harness the ‘hidden’ part of the plant, roots, to support the development of more productive crops in the face of climate variability. The project expects to generate new insights into the biology and genetics of root development in barley, a model cereal crop, by applying cutting-edge genome editing, phenotyping and genomics technologies. Anticipated outcomes include novel methodologies to ....Digging deeper to improve yield stability. This project aims to provide innovative breeding solutions that harness the ‘hidden’ part of the plant, roots, to support the development of more productive crops in the face of climate variability. The project expects to generate new insights into the biology and genetics of root development in barley, a model cereal crop, by applying cutting-edge genome editing, phenotyping and genomics technologies. Anticipated outcomes include novel methodologies to accelerate breeding for diverse production environments, with direct applications in barley, and other major cereals including wheat and oats. This should provide significant economic and social benefits to the Australian grains industry through yield stability amidst climate variability.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis seeks to develop and harness advances in photosynthesis research, crop bioengineering, plant phenomics and computational tools to realise increased and sustainable crop yields, opening new routes to achieving the next revolution in plant productivity. It will deliver improved yield by undertaking a continuum of fundamental and applied photosynthesis research and targeting proj ....ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis. The ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis seeks to develop and harness advances in photosynthesis research, crop bioengineering, plant phenomics and computational tools to realise increased and sustainable crop yields, opening new routes to achieving the next revolution in plant productivity. It will deliver improved yield by undertaking a continuum of fundamental and applied photosynthesis research and targeting projects with a high probability of producing increased yield. Links with national and international institutions, consortia and breeding companies will enhance the prospects of translating genetic improvements into crops such as wheat, rice and sorghum for improved yield.Read moreRead less