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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE200100181
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,050,000.00
Summary
Crossing the biology meso-nanoscale divide by scanning electron microscopy. This project aims to establish complementary scanning electron microscope (SEM) facilities at The University of Melbourne and LaTrobe University to advance research into crops, disease, neurosciences and coral reefs. SEMs are rapidly evolving instruments that permit high resolution imaging of visible size samples such as parts of plants and animals. The potential innovations, applications and benefits to society are far ....Crossing the biology meso-nanoscale divide by scanning electron microscopy. This project aims to establish complementary scanning electron microscope (SEM) facilities at The University of Melbourne and LaTrobe University to advance research into crops, disease, neurosciences and coral reefs. SEMs are rapidly evolving instruments that permit high resolution imaging of visible size samples such as parts of plants and animals. The potential innovations, applications and benefits to society are far reaching, with the facility expected to impact the development of drought and salinity tolerance in crops, production of fibres by plants, resilience of Great Barrier Reef corals to warming, advances in medicinal agriculture, control of important diseases of livestock and humans, and sensory processing and ocular disease.Read moreRead less
How is the plant genome reactivated and controlled during seed germination? This project aims to determine the mechanisms by which plant genomes are regulated during seed germination. The genomes of cells in mature, inactive seeds are repressed, but later must be rapidly reactivated to allow the gene expression that drives early seedling growth and development. This project will study proteins that turn genes on and off, and how these interact with the structure of DNA, in order to understand ho ....How is the plant genome reactivated and controlled during seed germination? This project aims to determine the mechanisms by which plant genomes are regulated during seed germination. The genomes of cells in mature, inactive seeds are repressed, but later must be rapidly reactivated to allow the gene expression that drives early seedling growth and development. This project will study proteins that turn genes on and off, and how these interact with the structure of DNA, in order to understand how spatial and temporal patterns of gene expression are controlled. It will advance our understanding of genome regulatory programs controlling germination and growth, and how they vary between Arabidopsis and barley. This can improve our ability to manipulate seed behaviour which would benefit growers and producers. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210101200
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$453,675.00
Summary
Deciphering how nutrient status impacts plant defence. This project aims to transform our understanding of the relationship between nutrient availability and plant defence. Plant defences are activated by responses to cell wall damage, caused by pathogens. My preliminary data uncovered that the response to cell wall damage depends on the nitrogen status of the plant; providing a direct link between nutrients and defence. The research will use new mutants that disengage this link to uncover molec ....Deciphering how nutrient status impacts plant defence. This project aims to transform our understanding of the relationship between nutrient availability and plant defence. Plant defences are activated by responses to cell wall damage, caused by pathogens. My preliminary data uncovered that the response to cell wall damage depends on the nitrogen status of the plant; providing a direct link between nutrients and defence. The research will use new mutants that disengage this link to uncover molecular mechanisms underlying this process. The outcomes will provide new approaches to breed crop plants with improved nitrogen use efficiency and disease resistance. It will benefit agriculture by reducing the use of costly fertilisers and pesticides and mitigate the huge environmental damage they cause.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL190100056
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,795,000.00
Summary
Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order ....Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order to generate 'smart plants' that are higher-yielding and more resilient in both good and bad seasons by precisely switching on and off resilience. Such re-imaginings of crop systems, inclusive of societal implications, will help chart the future of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Phosphorus-efficient Australian plants: applications for crop improvement. This project aims to investigate ways to improve the phosphorus (P) efficiency of selected crops (Lupinus) in Australia. The phosphorus impoverished soils in Australia has allowed the evolution of plants that are highly efficient at acquiring and using phosphorus. Increasing understanding of highly-efficient phosphorus use mechanisms at the physiological, biochemical, anatomical and molecular biological levels will provid ....Phosphorus-efficient Australian plants: applications for crop improvement. This project aims to investigate ways to improve the phosphorus (P) efficiency of selected crops (Lupinus) in Australia. The phosphorus impoverished soils in Australia has allowed the evolution of plants that are highly efficient at acquiring and using phosphorus. Increasing understanding of highly-efficient phosphorus use mechanisms at the physiological, biochemical, anatomical and molecular biological levels will provide knowledge of traits to guide breeding efforts to develop more phosphorus efficient crops that can perform well in P-limited environments; an outstanding strategy to balance the phosphorus demand for increasing global food production with gradually decreasing non-renewable phosphorus reserves. An expected outcome of this project is to develop crops better able to use scarce phosphorus.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
Deciphering organelle transport mechanisms in plants. Plant growth, productivity and seed yield all depend on organelle function which requires metabolites and proteins
to be transported across membranes. This mechanism of transport is carried out by specific transporters that have
the ability to transport macromolecules, and regulate organelle function. We have identified new transporters that
are involved in amino acid and protein transport in the mitochondria, chloroplast and peroxisomes. We ....Deciphering organelle transport mechanisms in plants. Plant growth, productivity and seed yield all depend on organelle function which requires metabolites and proteins
to be transported across membranes. This mechanism of transport is carried out by specific transporters that have
the ability to transport macromolecules, and regulate organelle function. We have identified new transporters that
are involved in amino acid and protein transport in the mitochondria, chloroplast and peroxisomes. We will assign
function to each protein and investigate the importance in regulating organelle biogenesis. This will allow us to
modulate plant energy production for optimal growth and to withstand abiotic stress, all of which have
agriculturally beneficial consequences. 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
How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Aust ....How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Australian plant agriculture. This project will investigate novel technologies that re-engineer nitrate transport activity. The project will also investigate the biochemical and molecular links between nitrogen uptake on root development required for improved plant growth.Read moreRead less