Development of Novel Pesticidal Agents. We have discovered a family of naturally occurring plant proteins called the cyclotides that have potent insecticidal activity against Helicoverpa species, one of the major pests on cotton and corn in Australia and world wide. Preliminary evidence has shown that they also have activity against major pests to livestock in Australia, including sheep blowflies. To develop these proteins as potential pesticidal agents it is necessary to understand the struct ....Development of Novel Pesticidal Agents. We have discovered a family of naturally occurring plant proteins called the cyclotides that have potent insecticidal activity against Helicoverpa species, one of the major pests on cotton and corn in Australia and world wide. Preliminary evidence has shown that they also have activity against major pests to livestock in Australia, including sheep blowflies. To develop these proteins as potential pesticidal agents it is necessary to understand the structural basis for their activity. We will do this by chemically synthesising peptides with selected residues mutated to determine their effects on activity.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0454050
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$312,205.00
Summary
Quarantine bioassay insectory. A climate-controlled, multi unit quarantine greenhouse to be located at the UWS Hawkesbury campus will support investigations into novel strategies for control of agricultural pests, particularly via bioassay. This world-class facility will enable researchers from Universities of Southern Cross, Sydney and Western Sydney to work with contained virulent/resistant strains of agricultural pests, and genetically modified organisms. It will enhance already existing coll ....Quarantine bioassay insectory. A climate-controlled, multi unit quarantine greenhouse to be located at the UWS Hawkesbury campus will support investigations into novel strategies for control of agricultural pests, particularly via bioassay. This world-class facility will enable researchers from Universities of Southern Cross, Sydney and Western Sydney to work with contained virulent/resistant strains of agricultural pests, and genetically modified organisms. It will enhance already existing collaboration between the institutions in the areas of: bioactives of biological origin, novel pesticide action, pesticide resistance management and new crop varieties, and will ensure better utilisation of existing excellent facilities within the consortium.
Read moreRead less
Compost extract: a new paradigm for disease management in sustainable horticulture. There is significant legislative and consumer pressure worldwide to reduce the amount of pesticide applied to food crops. Compost extract is a watery extract of mature compost that when applied to a crop canopy allows simultaneous suppression of a broad range of plant diseases while maintaining biodiversity in an agricultural ecosystem. This technology represents a paradigm shift from the monoculture approach o ....Compost extract: a new paradigm for disease management in sustainable horticulture. There is significant legislative and consumer pressure worldwide to reduce the amount of pesticide applied to food crops. Compost extract is a watery extract of mature compost that when applied to a crop canopy allows simultaneous suppression of a broad range of plant diseases while maintaining biodiversity in an agricultural ecosystem. This technology represents a paradigm shift from the monoculture approach of single-target fungicides or biological control agents. Scientific evaluation has been hampered by a lack of standard production techniques. Our aim is to identify and characterise compost extract technology that produces known and consistently high levels of effectiveness and safety.Read moreRead less
Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any ....Benign strategies to engineer nematode resistance in plant crops. Applications to other plant pests. Control of plant pests relies on the heavy use of chemical insecticides that cause an extraordinary impact on the environment. Some insect pests have been controlled by the production of toxins (like BT) by the plant. We will combine newly discovered RNA interference and genomics methods to develop innovative solutions to nematode resistance and insect control. Our methods can be tailored to any pest with wide or narrow spectrum of action and does not require the production of toxins by the plant. The novelty of our approach will generate a large amount of intellectual property.Read moreRead less
Control of foliar diseases in horticulture using milk components: widening applicability through understanding mechanisms. Fungal diseases, such as powdery mildew and botrytis grey mould, have the potential to cause considerable losses in horticultural crops. Chemical fungicides, some of which are broad-spectrum biocides potentially harmful to human health, are applied routinely in disease management. Milk and whey, which can damage powdery mildew fungi, offer alternatives to conventional fungic ....Control of foliar diseases in horticulture using milk components: widening applicability through understanding mechanisms. Fungal diseases, such as powdery mildew and botrytis grey mould, have the potential to cause considerable losses in horticultural crops. Chemical fungicides, some of which are broad-spectrum biocides potentially harmful to human health, are applied routinely in disease management. Milk and whey, which can damage powdery mildew fungi, offer alternatives to conventional fungicides. Identification of the components of milk which damage fungi, and their mechanisms of activity, will facilitate the development of environmentally sustainable strategies for management of fungal diseases in Australian horticulture. This will have particular benefits for personnel who regularly apply fungicides in glasshouses.Read moreRead less
Expression profiling of giant cells induced in host plant roots by root-knot nematodes. Root-knot nematodes cause crop losses of over $400 million per annum in Australia. Control by toxic chemical nematicodes is expensive and can pollute groundwater. Benefits from this research for the Australian community are: (i) it will ensure that Australian researchers stay at the forefront of research in plant nematology, (ii) it provides significant local and international linkages that will stimulate res ....Expression profiling of giant cells induced in host plant roots by root-knot nematodes. Root-knot nematodes cause crop losses of over $400 million per annum in Australia. Control by toxic chemical nematicodes is expensive and can pollute groundwater. Benefits from this research for the Australian community are: (i) it will ensure that Australian researchers stay at the forefront of research in plant nematology, (ii) it provides significant local and international linkages that will stimulate research outputs, and (iii) new knowledge will be generated on how plants respond to attack by nematodes - this will generate new intellectual property, leading to better control methods and reduced costs that will support rural communities, and reduce environmental pollution.Read moreRead less
Development of a novel, non-chemical technique based on the EppoMNPV baculovirus for the control of the lightbrown apple moth. Lightbrown apple moth (LBAM) is a serious pest of many horticultural crops in Australia, costing the economy about $21 M pa. Methods for controlling LBAM have relied on the use of insecticides. However, the pest has developed resistance to a wide range of chemicals used against it. This proposal aims to assess the potential of the EppoMNPV polyhedrosis virus as an alt ....Development of a novel, non-chemical technique based on the EppoMNPV baculovirus for the control of the lightbrown apple moth. Lightbrown apple moth (LBAM) is a serious pest of many horticultural crops in Australia, costing the economy about $21 M pa. Methods for controlling LBAM have relied on the use of insecticides. However, the pest has developed resistance to a wide range of chemicals used against it. This proposal aims to assess the potential of the EppoMNPV polyhedrosis virus as an alternative to insecticides for its control. Successful development of the virus will provide an environmentally benign alternative to insecticides that can be used to control LBAM in a range of different circumstances including broadacre and organic production.Read moreRead less
Protecting tomato crops from Fusarium wilt through the efficient application of new genetic resources. The tomato industry is a major horticultural industry in Australia, and Queensland is the major producer of tomatoes for the fresh food market. In Queensland, the tomato industry has expanded in the face of the threat that Fusarium wilt could re-emerge as a major disease problem. This research will ensure that measures can be taken quickly and efficiently to protect existing genetic resources u ....Protecting tomato crops from Fusarium wilt through the efficient application of new genetic resources. The tomato industry is a major horticultural industry in Australia, and Queensland is the major producer of tomatoes for the fresh food market. In Queensland, the tomato industry has expanded in the face of the threat that Fusarium wilt could re-emerge as a major disease problem. This research will ensure that measures can be taken quickly and efficiently to protect existing genetic resources used to control Fusarium wilt. It will also improve our knowledge about the mechanisms plants use to defend themselves against Fusarium wilt diseases.Read moreRead less
Manipulation of apoptosis-related genes to generate novel disease resistances in banana. Bananas are one of Australia's most important fruit crops. However, the industry is continually threatened by numerous diseases including yellow and black Sigatoka, Fusarium wilt and bunchy top. Control of these diseases currently requires either extensive pesticide treatments or complex agronomic procedures, of which most are ineffective, expensive or environmentally damaging. The aim of this project is to ....Manipulation of apoptosis-related genes to generate novel disease resistances in banana. Bananas are one of Australia's most important fruit crops. However, the industry is continually threatened by numerous diseases including yellow and black Sigatoka, Fusarium wilt and bunchy top. Control of these diseases currently requires either extensive pesticide treatments or complex agronomic procedures, of which most are ineffective, expensive or environmentally damaging. The aim of this project is to utilise a novel strategy to generate transgenic bananas with resistance to these diseases. The benefit will be both economic and environmental as implementation should significantly reduce or eliminate pesticide use. Importantly, this strategy can potentially be extrapolated to many other crops.Read moreRead less
Generating broad and stable resistance to gemini- and nanoviruses. The ssDNA geminiviruses and nanoviruses are considered a major threat to crop production in the tropics and subtropics. There are currently no effective control strategies for these viruses. We have been developing a novel transgenic strategy for generating resistance to ssDNA viruses based on the activation of a suicide gene in the presence of the viral Rep protein. Importantly, we have demonstrated proof-of-principle using Toba ....Generating broad and stable resistance to gemini- and nanoviruses. The ssDNA geminiviruses and nanoviruses are considered a major threat to crop production in the tropics and subtropics. There are currently no effective control strategies for these viruses. We have been developing a novel transgenic strategy for generating resistance to ssDNA viruses based on the activation of a suicide gene in the presence of the viral Rep protein. Importantly, we have demonstrated proof-of-principle using Tobacco yellow dwarf mastrevirus. In this project, we aim to further develop this strategy into a broad and stable mechanism for generating resistance to all known geminiviruses and nanoviruses.Read moreRead less