Are plants wasting water in the dark? This project aims to measure stomatal conductance to water vapour in the dark in economically important species to understand how conductance is regulated in the dark, and its adaptive significance. Leaves of most plants continue to lose water in the dark because stomata remain open. No photosynthetic carbon fixation can occur in the dark so water-use efficiency is reduced, and this reduction influences crop yield, forest growth, catchment water yield and c ....Are plants wasting water in the dark? This project aims to measure stomatal conductance to water vapour in the dark in economically important species to understand how conductance is regulated in the dark, and its adaptive significance. Leaves of most plants continue to lose water in the dark because stomata remain open. No photosynthetic carbon fixation can occur in the dark so water-use efficiency is reduced, and this reduction influences crop yield, forest growth, catchment water yield and climate feedback. Existing mechanistic models of stomatal conductance will be extended to include responses in the dark, and aim to be used to predict the reduction in potential daytime water loss (which is coupled to carbon gain) due to nocturnal stomatal conductance for crops and forests.Read moreRead less
Novel laser isotopic techniques to assess the potential for water-use efficiency improvement of Australian crops. This project aims to develop new methods to reduce the water used by grain crops while maintaining productivity by advancing knowledge of the regulation plant carbon gain and water loss. Novel laser-lased measurement systems developed and applied in this project will provide new mechanistic understanding of plant carbon-water dynamics for individual leaves and at the whole crop scal ....Novel laser isotopic techniques to assess the potential for water-use efficiency improvement of Australian crops. This project aims to develop new methods to reduce the water used by grain crops while maintaining productivity by advancing knowledge of the regulation plant carbon gain and water loss. Novel laser-lased measurement systems developed and applied in this project will provide new mechanistic understanding of plant carbon-water dynamics for individual leaves and at the whole crop scale. Water availability is the most pressing environmental issue facing the Australian grain industry, so improvements in the efficiency with which water is used will have profound economic and environmental effects.Read moreRead less
Transport systems that underpin nitrogen efficient maize. This project aims to define the nitrogen transport network involved in the uptake, storage and redistribution of inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium) over the developmental life cycle of maize. This information will provide novel insight into the genetic control of nitrogen use in maize and other cereal crops.
The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drou ....The failure-threshold of leaves in drought. This project aims to reveal how specific water-stress thresholds damage the leaves of Australian crop and forest species during drought. Water stress affects agricultural productivity and plant survival in drought-prone regions such as Australia. Using optical and X-ray techniques, this project seeks to visualise and quantify the dynamic processes of damage and repair in leaves under stress. Anticipated outputs include a practical basis to predict drought-induced canopy death; identification of threats to ecologically sensitive plants; and selection and screening tools to improve the drought resilience of agriculturally important crop species.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0561161
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,000.00
Summary
Joint Facility for Genome Analysis of Nutrient Transport Proteins. The joint facility for genome analysis of nutrient transport proteins is a new initiative between the University of Adelaide, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, and the University of Western Australia to use a high throughput Xenopus oocyte expression system to screen plant cDNA/cRNA collections for genes encoding nutrient transport proteins. The facility will also provide a platform to rapidly accelerate our p ....Joint Facility for Genome Analysis of Nutrient Transport Proteins. The joint facility for genome analysis of nutrient transport proteins is a new initiative between the University of Adelaide, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, and the University of Western Australia to use a high throughput Xenopus oocyte expression system to screen plant cDNA/cRNA collections for genes encoding nutrient transport proteins. The facility will also provide a platform to rapidly accelerate our present capacity for Xenopus oocyte expression analysis of nutrient transport proteins. This facility will greatly aid our current research quantum in this field and allow for new discoveries related to nutrient transport in plants.Read moreRead less
Mining the rice genome for alleles of value in rice improvement. Food production and quality are determined by the varieties of food plants that are used in agriculture. A high quality rice genome sequence became available in 2005. This project will mine the data in the sequence to identify genes associated with key production and quality traits. New technologies and strategies will be developed and applied. The discoveries will be of value for the model crop, rice and for other cereal and foo ....Mining the rice genome for alleles of value in rice improvement. Food production and quality are determined by the varieties of food plants that are used in agriculture. A high quality rice genome sequence became available in 2005. This project will mine the data in the sequence to identify genes associated with key production and quality traits. New technologies and strategies will be developed and applied. The discoveries will be of value for the model crop, rice and for other cereal and food crops. Human health benefits from the availability of technologies to combine desirable nutritional traits and attractiveness to humans. This ensures healthy foods will be produced and consumed.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH140100013
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,972,614.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. This research hub aims to provide Australian growers and industrial stakeholders with improved plant materials to maximise production, environmental sustainability and profitability. In particular, the research aims to improve the nitrogen delivery capacity of legumes and their resilience to abiotic stress, which will be an important consideration as our climate changes. Grain legu ....ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. ARC Research Hub for Legumes for Sustainable Agriculture. This research hub aims to provide Australian growers and industrial stakeholders with improved plant materials to maximise production, environmental sustainability and profitability. In particular, the research aims to improve the nitrogen delivery capacity of legumes and their resilience to abiotic stress, which will be an important consideration as our climate changes. Grain legumes are often grown in rotation with cereal crops for their high nutritional seed value and their unique ability to develop a self-sufficient nitrogen-fixing symbiosis with soil bacteria. Maintaining legume productivity against the challenges of climate change and the need for increased food production is important to the future of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Developing Zn-dense, high-yielding wheat by molecular marker technology. The objective of this project is to identify pathways leading to the accumulation of zinc — an important element for human nutrition — in wheat. The project aims to provide biochemical and molecular markers for breeding programs that will facilitate the selection of superior breeding lines for improved human nutrition and seed health. This project builds on studies using a wheat diversity panel with 90 000 gene-based single ....Developing Zn-dense, high-yielding wheat by molecular marker technology. The objective of this project is to identify pathways leading to the accumulation of zinc — an important element for human nutrition — in wheat. The project aims to provide biochemical and molecular markers for breeding programs that will facilitate the selection of superior breeding lines for improved human nutrition and seed health. This project builds on studies using a wheat diversity panel with 90 000 gene-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, where zinc–SNP associations were identified. The project also builds on recent studies that show particular metabolites and macronutrients around anthesis are linked to improved grain zinc concentration at maturity.Read moreRead less
Understanding leaf water isotope composition. This project aims to quantify variation in leaf water isotopes and develop mechanistic models for paleoclimatologists and plant scientists to constrain global carbon cycles. Leaf water stable isotopes influence the isotope compositions of atmospheric oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, and impart an evaporative signal on the isotope composition of plant organic material. These isotope signals have been used to constrain global carbon and water c ....Understanding leaf water isotope composition. This project aims to quantify variation in leaf water isotopes and develop mechanistic models for paleoclimatologists and plant scientists to constrain global carbon cycles. Leaf water stable isotopes influence the isotope compositions of atmospheric oxygen, carbon dioxide and water vapour, and impart an evaporative signal on the isotope composition of plant organic material. These isotope signals have been used to constrain global carbon and water cycles and reconstruct past climates. This project aims to quantify variation in leaf water isotopes and develop mechanistic models for use by paleoclimatologists, plant scientists and to constrain global carbon cycles and develop accurate models of leaf water isotopes to reduce uncertainty in climate models.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200027
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,308,668.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. This Research Hub, in partnership with wheat breeding companies, aims to deliver advanced technologies, germplasm and information to produce new stress tolerant varieties. Genetic diversity and novel traits will be introduced from exotic germplasm and high-throughput field-phenotyping tools will be deve ....ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. This Research Hub, in partnership with wheat breeding companies, aims to deliver advanced technologies, germplasm and information to produce new stress tolerant varieties. Genetic diversity and novel traits will be introduced from exotic germplasm and high-throughput field-phenotyping tools will be developed to assist in selection of superior lines. Strategic research will be targeted towards the development of wheat with combined heat and drought tolerance and maintenance of high grain protein.Read moreRead less