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When fire and water mix: do carbon dioxide-related water savings drive woody plant thickening and fire dynamics in a grassy woodland? Australia's woodland landscapes have experienced widespread shrub expansion in the last century due to changes in fire, grazing and atmospheric carbon dioxide. This project will endevour to fill critical gaps in the nexus between carbon dioxide-induced effects on vegetation and fire disturbance to help explain this phenomenon and help manage Australian woodlands i ....When fire and water mix: do carbon dioxide-related water savings drive woody plant thickening and fire dynamics in a grassy woodland? Australia's woodland landscapes have experienced widespread shrub expansion in the last century due to changes in fire, grazing and atmospheric carbon dioxide. This project will endevour to fill critical gaps in the nexus between carbon dioxide-induced effects on vegetation and fire disturbance to help explain this phenomenon and help manage Australian woodlands into the future.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC150100026
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,732,019.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Fruit Fly Biosecurity Innovation. ARC Training Centre for Fruit Fly Biosecurity Innovation. This training centre aims to transform the way that horticulture industries combat invasive fruit flies that threaten Australian crops, which are valued at $9 billion per year. For generations, Australia has relied on insecticides to protect crops. Owing to environmental damage and concerns for consumer health, the most effective insecticides have recently been banned for use on ma ....ARC Training Centre for Fruit Fly Biosecurity Innovation. ARC Training Centre for Fruit Fly Biosecurity Innovation. This training centre aims to transform the way that horticulture industries combat invasive fruit flies that threaten Australian crops, which are valued at $9 billion per year. For generations, Australia has relied on insecticides to protect crops. Owing to environmental damage and concerns for consumer health, the most effective insecticides have recently been banned for use on many crops leaving no equivalent replacements. Horticulture industries are unprepared for this change, and are in desperate need of new sustainable practices to combat fruit flies. New researchers who are trained in both scientific approach and practical application will be well placed to deliver these new tools.Read moreRead less
Robotics for zero-tillage agriculture. This project will develop small agricultural robots to increase broad-acre crop production and reduce environmental impact. These robots will have advanced navigation capability, will cooperate to cover large areas and resupply themselves, while causing less soil damage and applying herbicide more intelligently.
Deciphering the role of microRNAs during pathogen attack: new concepts for disease resistance in plants. Small non-coding RNAs called ‘microRNAs’ regulate diverse pathways in plants including plant defence against pathogens. This project will investigate the roles of plant microRNAs in response to four economically important viruses and compare these to a bacterial and a fungal pathogen. The aim is to dissect the underlying molecular mechanism of microRNA-based gene regulation during pathogen in ....Deciphering the role of microRNAs during pathogen attack: new concepts for disease resistance in plants. Small non-coding RNAs called ‘microRNAs’ regulate diverse pathways in plants including plant defence against pathogens. This project will investigate the roles of plant microRNAs in response to four economically important viruses and compare these to a bacterial and a fungal pathogen. The aim is to dissect the underlying molecular mechanism of microRNA-based gene regulation during pathogen infection and specifically identify common microRNAs which have evident impact during virus attack. This study is crucial due to its focus on virus diseases that cause severe damage to many crop plants; a global issue with strong implications for food security. This project is expected to provide basic new concepts for disease resistance in plants.Read moreRead less
Rhizosphere priming regulates soil carbon cycle under high carbon dioxide. Australian farmers will be producing crops under elevated CO2 in the future. However, it is unknown how the increased CO2 level will affect agricultural production and soil health. This project aims to understand the effect of high atmospheric CO2 on carbon and nitrogen cycles in major cropping soils. It will examine how combinations of crop and soil types lead to differences in loss of soil organic carbon. Soil microorga ....Rhizosphere priming regulates soil carbon cycle under high carbon dioxide. Australian farmers will be producing crops under elevated CO2 in the future. However, it is unknown how the increased CO2 level will affect agricultural production and soil health. This project aims to understand the effect of high atmospheric CO2 on carbon and nitrogen cycles in major cropping soils. It will examine how combinations of crop and soil types lead to differences in loss of soil organic carbon. Soil microorganisms that link to carbon and nitrogen cycling in soils will be examined in the long-term field trials. The project intends to provide fundamental information that is essential to evaluate the future impact of climate change on the fertility and productivity of our poor, already infertile soils in semi-arid regions.Read moreRead less
An Integrated surface conversion for life extension of oil pipelines. This project will propose a novel, cost-effective surface engineering technique that synthesizes an effective surface coating during the pipeline manufacturing process. Seamless Steel pipelines conveying oil and contaminants can have a short life due to erosion-corrosion. The need to develop mitigation techniques against the internal corrosion-erosion has increased significantly as steel pipelines are used in more aggressive e ....An Integrated surface conversion for life extension of oil pipelines. This project will propose a novel, cost-effective surface engineering technique that synthesizes an effective surface coating during the pipeline manufacturing process. Seamless Steel pipelines conveying oil and contaminants can have a short life due to erosion-corrosion. The need to develop mitigation techniques against the internal corrosion-erosion has increased significantly as steel pipelines are used in more aggressive environments. The project expects to develop an integrated surface coating during the manufacturing process, which will provide long-term integrity and extend the life of the pipeline. The forensic evaluation and prediction of the life performance of the pipeline will quantify how the coating will combat effectively erosion-corrosion related problems in oil pipelines. Read moreRead less
Engineering the plant mitochondrial electron transport chain for tolerance of environmental stress. Plants often face hostile environments that place them under stress. Reactive oxygen molecules produced under these conditions act as signals to activate defense mechanisms, but also cause cell damage. Mitochondria are subcellular compartments involved in energy production and are essential for plant growth and development, but they have also been implicated in the response of plants to environmen ....Engineering the plant mitochondrial electron transport chain for tolerance of environmental stress. Plants often face hostile environments that place them under stress. Reactive oxygen molecules produced under these conditions act as signals to activate defense mechanisms, but also cause cell damage. Mitochondria are subcellular compartments involved in energy production and are essential for plant growth and development, but they have also been implicated in the response of plants to environmental stress, and in production of reactive oxygen molecules. This project will investigate special features of plant mitochondria that ameliorate oxidative stress. Potential outcomes include crops better able to cope with environmental stress.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130100018
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Understanding bioacoustics in plants. From lush tropical rainforests to small urban gardens, plants take advantage of the surrounding soundscape to flourish, yet how they do this is still unknown. This will be the first experimental study to explore how and why plants sense sound in their environment, hence pioneering a brand-new research area in behavioural and evolutionary ecology.
Eco-friendly pesticides for crop protection. The aims of the project are to develop robust methods for measuring bioactive pesticidal molecules in butterfly pea cultivars, characterise their modes of action, determine the exposure and persistence of these molecules in field runoff and waterways and, in the longer term, develop butterfly pea cultivars with optimised bioactivity and safety. The major outcome of the project is the generation of new knowledge that will contribute to the development ....Eco-friendly pesticides for crop protection. The aims of the project are to develop robust methods for measuring bioactive pesticidal molecules in butterfly pea cultivars, characterise their modes of action, determine the exposure and persistence of these molecules in field runoff and waterways and, in the longer term, develop butterfly pea cultivars with optimised bioactivity and safety. The major outcome of the project is the generation of new knowledge that will contribute to the development of novel antifungal and insecticidal agents. This outcome is significant as there is a huge need for new pesticidal agents that exhibit wide safety margins, reduce problems associated with resistance to existing treatments, and that are safe for the environment.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