Can we engineer plants to grow on salty soils? This project aims to answer questions about how plants can sustain their growth on salty soils. Plant-derived products constitute a pillar for our society. However, crop yields may be severely penalised due to unfavourable growth conditions, including soil salinity. This is particularly relevant for Australia as a large fraction of its arable land is affected by salt. This project aims to use molecular and cell biology techniques to resolve mechanis ....Can we engineer plants to grow on salty soils? This project aims to answer questions about how plants can sustain their growth on salty soils. Plant-derived products constitute a pillar for our society. However, crop yields may be severely penalised due to unfavourable growth conditions, including soil salinity. This is particularly relevant for Australia as a large fraction of its arable land is affected by salt. This project aims to use molecular and cell biology techniques to resolve mechanisms of how the synthesis of cellulose, which constitutes the bulk of a plant's biomass, is maintained in plants during salt stress. This project has potential for climate change mitigation, enhanced plant biomass production and improved fuel security.Read moreRead less
Mineral content of leaves and the ratio of water loss to carbon gain: environmental and genetic controls and comparison with stable isotopic measures. The ash content of leaves has promise as a cheap screen of water-use efficiency or of 'vigour' in crop plants, but the underlying mechanisms are not understood. The underlying science is at the intersection of plant growth, water use and nutrition. This project will aid breeders in understanding the conditions under which the screen may work.
Developing eucalypt plantations for pharmaceutical flavanone production. The project aims to produce the tools and knowledge required to establish plantations of mallee eucalypts for the production of pinocembrin and structurally related flavanones. This is important because these flavanones have been shown to have a range of medicinal applications, including treatment of diseases of the central nervous system. The research plans to focus on producing and establishing trees with improved flavano ....Developing eucalypt plantations for pharmaceutical flavanone production. The project aims to produce the tools and knowledge required to establish plantations of mallee eucalypts for the production of pinocembrin and structurally related flavanones. This is important because these flavanones have been shown to have a range of medicinal applications, including treatment of diseases of the central nervous system. The research plans to focus on producing and establishing trees with improved flavanone content and growth rates, and on understanding the biochemical mechanisms that underlie flavanone production and structural modification. Expected outcomes include supporting the development of profitable plantations in rural Australia and the establishment of plantations more widely in southern Australia, especially on marginal land.Read moreRead less
Adding value to blue mallee plantations. The project aims to develop the tools and knowledge required for establishing and enhancing the profitability of plantations of blue mallee (Eucalyptus polybractea). This is important because mallees have considerable potential for sustainable essential oil and biomass production in low rainfall regions, and they can sequester considerable amounts of carbon in their below-ground parts. The project intends to produce trees with improved oil quality and yie ....Adding value to blue mallee plantations. The project aims to develop the tools and knowledge required for establishing and enhancing the profitability of plantations of blue mallee (Eucalyptus polybractea). This is important because mallees have considerable potential for sustainable essential oil and biomass production in low rainfall regions, and they can sequester considerable amounts of carbon in their below-ground parts. The project intends to produce trees with improved oil quality and yields through chromosome doubling and breeding, and to dissect the mechanisms that underpin essential oil production through the production of mutants and studies of the main monoterpene producing enzyme.Read moreRead less
Connecting soil nitrogen and plant uptake for greener agriculture. This project will use synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, root and rhizosphere biology and rhizosphere modelling to establish detailed mechanistic knowledge of the nitrogen (N) transport and uptake processes at the soil-root interface to develop new, efficient urease and nitrification inhibitors for reliable provision of N to the plant/root system. The reduction of excessive N fertilisation has significant environmental be ....Connecting soil nitrogen and plant uptake for greener agriculture. This project will use synthetic organic chemistry, biochemistry, root and rhizosphere biology and rhizosphere modelling to establish detailed mechanistic knowledge of the nitrogen (N) transport and uptake processes at the soil-root interface to develop new, efficient urease and nitrification inhibitors for reliable provision of N to the plant/root system. The reduction of excessive N fertilisation has significant environmental benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution. This project will lead to a breakthrough for the triple challenge of food security, environmental degradation and climate change, while improving plant productivity and increasing the profitability of agriculture through lower fertiliser costs.Read moreRead less
A novel DNA motif involved in plant mitochondrial stress responses. The future of Australia's agriculture is threatened by limited water resources, temperature extremes and soil salinity. This project aims to unravel how plants are able to adapt to this continuously changing environment, by focusing on the role of mitochondria - cellular compartments essential for energy metabolism and plant stress responses.
Profitable plantations of blue mallee for essential oil production. This project will develop the methods and knowledge required for establishing plantations of eucalypts (blue mallee) with very high and economically viable yields of eucalyptus oil. It is expected that the research will underpin an expansion of the essential oil industry both in Victoria and elsewhere in Australia.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE130100073
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$280,000.00
Summary
High-throughput sample preparation robotics to enable emerging large-scale plant genomics, metabolomics and proteomics research. Discovering and breeding plants that are best suited for new environmental conditions requires the analysis of many samples to discover the underlying genes, metabolites and proteins. The project will build two robotic instruments that will facilitate the rapid grinding and extraction of plant tissues to facilitate these discoveries across Australia.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140101143
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$395,220.00
Summary
An electrophysiological insight into the role of chloroplasts in stomatal drought signalling. Drought implies a range of stresses with which plants have to cope. Drought is not only a domestic issue for Australian people who live in this dry continent but also significantly affects global food supply and drives climate change. Stomata guard cells exert major controls on global water and carbon cycles. Although the total stomatal pore area may be five per cent of a leaf surface, transpirational w ....An electrophysiological insight into the role of chloroplasts in stomatal drought signalling. Drought implies a range of stresses with which plants have to cope. Drought is not only a domestic issue for Australian people who live in this dry continent but also significantly affects global food supply and drives climate change. Stomata guard cells exert major controls on global water and carbon cycles. Although the total stomatal pore area may be five per cent of a leaf surface, transpirational water loss through the stomata contributes to 70 per cent of total agricultural water usage. As an environmental signal, drought regulates stomatal movements. This project seeks to understand the mechanisms of drought induced molecular retrograde signals and their regulation over stomata. The outcomes will aid the development of strategies for reducing water loss from crops.Read moreRead less
On the physiology of plant transpiration. This project aims to better understand plant transpiration. It is significant from both a basic and a practical perspective. It intends to solve a conundrum of the biophysics of the evaporative sites within leaves. That is, in dry air, the relative humidity of intercellular air spaces suggests much lower liquid water potentials than those typically measured. At a practical level, the failure to sustain transpiration in dry conditions leads to desiccation ....On the physiology of plant transpiration. This project aims to better understand plant transpiration. It is significant from both a basic and a practical perspective. It intends to solve a conundrum of the biophysics of the evaporative sites within leaves. That is, in dry air, the relative humidity of intercellular air spaces suggests much lower liquid water potentials than those typically measured. At a practical level, the failure to sustain transpiration in dry conditions leads to desiccation and tissue death, and plants differ in this vulnerability. The aim is to apply a novel nanoparticle technique to measure the water potential distribution within the leaf, identify hydraulic resilience attributes, and develop a modern theory of optimal transpiration under varying conditions.Read moreRead less