Drought and Salinity Tolerance in Metal Hyperaccumulating Plants: A Functional Role for the Metals? A few plant species can ?hyperaccumulate? metal ions to 100-1000 times the concentrations seen in ?normal? plants. Just why these plants have evolved such an extreme response to metalliferous soils remains an enigma. Many of the hyperaccumulators so far described are endemic to xeric environments, or saline soils prone to rapid drying. We hypothesize that the metals might act as osmotica, enha ....Drought and Salinity Tolerance in Metal Hyperaccumulating Plants: A Functional Role for the Metals? A few plant species can ?hyperaccumulate? metal ions to 100-1000 times the concentrations seen in ?normal? plants. Just why these plants have evolved such an extreme response to metalliferous soils remains an enigma. Many of the hyperaccumulators so far described are endemic to xeric environments, or saline soils prone to rapid drying. We hypothesize that the metals might act as osmotica, enhancing plant survival during water stress. This will be tested for Australian native and non-native hyperaccumulator plants. The study will clarify our understanding of the evolutionary significance of hyperaccumulation, and has important applications for extracting metals from contaminated soils.Read moreRead less
Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for impro ....Community-level selection: Empirical tests in a microbial system. Given the profile of the question of community-level selection as a long-running controversy, the main benefit of the proposed work, which will critically test the idea in an empirical system, will be to increase recognition of Australia's position as a research nation in evolutionary biology. In exploring mechanisms of floc formation, a key component of wastewater treatment, the work will establish important foundations for improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Improvement in performance of only a few percent will bring important economic savings. This is evidenced by recent commitment of >$US 230 billion to improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment in Germany, Italy and Spain over 5 years.Read moreRead less
Recovery and characterization of monooxygenases for biocatalysis and bioremediation through development of novel DNA- and protein-based technology. Australia contains hundreds of sites contaminated with toxic waste and judged to pose significant risk of harm to the public. This project will identify enzymes and organisms capable of remediating such contaminated sites by natural processes. It will also result in training of persons and development of techniques that will contribute to making bi ....Recovery and characterization of monooxygenases for biocatalysis and bioremediation through development of novel DNA- and protein-based technology. Australia contains hundreds of sites contaminated with toxic waste and judged to pose significant risk of harm to the public. This project will identify enzymes and organisms capable of remediating such contaminated sites by natural processes. It will also result in training of persons and development of techniques that will contribute to making bioremediation an environmentally sustainable and cost-effective technology. The environmental proteomics strategy is a frontier technology, expected to have broad applications in health, food science and the environment. Our development of this technology will create a wide range of opportunities for Australian scientists and companies.Read moreRead less