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Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH190100022
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,787,259.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection. The Hub aims to develop and commercialise an innovative biological alternative to chemical fungicides targeting economically significant diseases of broadacre and horticultural crops. It addresses industry challenges of fungicide resistance, chemical residues in food, off-target effects and environmental harm. It builds on ground-breaking ‘BioClay’ platform to deliver pathogen targeting RNA using clay particles as non-genetically modified crop pr ....ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Crop Protection. The Hub aims to develop and commercialise an innovative biological alternative to chemical fungicides targeting economically significant diseases of broadacre and horticultural crops. It addresses industry challenges of fungicide resistance, chemical residues in food, off-target effects and environmental harm. It builds on ground-breaking ‘BioClay’ platform to deliver pathogen targeting RNA using clay particles as non-genetically modified crop protection. An expert multidisciplinary team uniting science, commercial and social licence pathways ensures industry and consumer uptake advancing $60B Australian Agriculture. The Hub translates to increased productivity, market access and enhanced environmental credentials of Australian food.
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Functional analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins. Pore-forming toxins, such as anthrax, hemolysin, cholera and diphtheria toxins, are among the most virulent microbial toxins, posing a threat to humans and lifestock. We are using a novel functional approach to test possible lectin and antimicrobial peptide functions of a typical and economically important pore-forming toxin, the crystal endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, to examine why toxicity of the lectin-containing toxin is ....Functional analysis of Bacillus thuringiensis crystal toxins. Pore-forming toxins, such as anthrax, hemolysin, cholera and diphtheria toxins, are among the most virulent microbial toxins, posing a threat to humans and lifestock. We are using a novel functional approach to test possible lectin and antimicrobial peptide functions of a typical and economically important pore-forming toxin, the crystal endotoxin from Bacillus thuringiensis, to examine why toxicity of the lectin-containing toxin is restricted to invertebrates only, while the amphipathic peptide alone is also toxic to many vertebrate cells. The outcome of these experiments has important implications for the sustainable use of biopesticides and for the prevention and containment of infectious diseases.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100282
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$475,181.00
Summary
Delivering breeding-oriented genetic tools for cereal disease resistance. This project will focus specifically on delivering the genetic tools to the industry partner to assist its wheat and barley breeders to increase the accuracy and efficiency of incorporating the durable wheat stripe rust disease and barley leaf rust disease resistance into their core germplasm collections, respectively. The expected outcomes will also contribute to filling our knowledge gap in understanding the cereal rust ....Delivering breeding-oriented genetic tools for cereal disease resistance. This project will focus specifically on delivering the genetic tools to the industry partner to assist its wheat and barley breeders to increase the accuracy and efficiency of incorporating the durable wheat stripe rust disease and barley leaf rust disease resistance into their core germplasm collections, respectively. The expected outcomes will also contribute to filling our knowledge gap in understanding the cereal rust innate immune system and benefit other cereal fungal pathosystems. The wide application of the expected outcomes from the proposed project will reduce the utilisation of fungicides and subsequently will subsequently contribute to the resilience of cereal crops and sustainable global food security.Read moreRead less
Nutritional ecology of predatory arthropods: molecular analysis of gut contents to elucidate prey choice and diet breadth. The evolution of genetic resistance in insect pest populations against synthetic and biological pesticides requires new integrated pest management strategies with increasingly large biological control components. This is the only sustainable approach to pest management in agricultural production and natural ecosystems. Biological control of insect pests can potentially be ac ....Nutritional ecology of predatory arthropods: molecular analysis of gut contents to elucidate prey choice and diet breadth. The evolution of genetic resistance in insect pest populations against synthetic and biological pesticides requires new integrated pest management strategies with increasingly large biological control components. This is the only sustainable approach to pest management in agricultural production and natural ecosystems. Biological control of insect pests can potentially be achieved with indigenous generalist predators, thereby reducing the risks associated with importing exotic natural enemies. This project provides new opportunities for enhancing biological control by examining the diets of generalist predators using new diagnostic technologies. This is crucial for the effective and reliable use of predators in biological control.Read moreRead less
Cell wall structure and dynamics in emerging fungal pathogens of crops. The project aims to understand the role of fungal cell wall biosynthetic enzymes in cell wall stability. The fungal cell wall is a dynamic structure whose composition constantly changes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and at different developmental stages. The devastating fungal crop pathogen Fusarium graminearum is responsible for the head blight disease in cereals. The project aims to understand the molecular ev ....Cell wall structure and dynamics in emerging fungal pathogens of crops. The project aims to understand the role of fungal cell wall biosynthetic enzymes in cell wall stability. The fungal cell wall is a dynamic structure whose composition constantly changes in response to biotic and abiotic stresses and at different developmental stages. The devastating fungal crop pathogen Fusarium graminearum is responsible for the head blight disease in cereals. The project aims to understand the molecular events that govern metabolism and dynamics of the cell wall of F. graminearum. The project also plans to characterise the molecular interactions involved in plant defence against fungal pathogens and fungal responses to plant immune factors called defensins. Expected long-term outcomes include the development of novel strategies for disease control and crop protection.Read moreRead less
Novel technologies to resolve interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, phosphate fertilisers and root disease in wheat production. Soils in Australia are often phosphate (P) deficient. Fertiliser P costs ~$1.5 billion pa, yet much is wasted because of fixation in soils. This waste must be stopped and soil reserves unlocked, because supplies of rock phosphate for fertiliser manufacture will run out in the next ~70 years. We will investigate the potential of combining two approaches ....Novel technologies to resolve interactions between arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, phosphate fertilisers and root disease in wheat production. Soils in Australia are often phosphate (P) deficient. Fertiliser P costs ~$1.5 billion pa, yet much is wasted because of fixation in soils. This waste must be stopped and soil reserves unlocked, because supplies of rock phosphate for fertiliser manufacture will run out in the next ~70 years. We will investigate the potential of combining two approaches to maximise P fertiliser use by wheat - application of new, fluid fertiliser formulations and soil management to increase populations of beneficial arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi that have large effects on the way plants absorb P from soil. A new DNA-based method to monitor AM fungal communities will be applicable both in agricultural management and studies of AM fungal biodiversity.Read moreRead less
Making Green Guard® greener: enhancing the efficacy of a biopesticide. The project aims to identify naturally occurring micro-organisms to increase the effectiveness of Green Guard ®, which is a biopesticide used against the Australian plague locust. The project will use next-generation sequencing and other molecular techniques to potentially identify candidate microbes or combinations of microbes that can be added to Green Guard to enhance locust susceptibility. The project also aims to quantif ....Making Green Guard® greener: enhancing the efficacy of a biopesticide. The project aims to identify naturally occurring micro-organisms to increase the effectiveness of Green Guard ®, which is a biopesticide used against the Australian plague locust. The project will use next-generation sequencing and other molecular techniques to potentially identify candidate microbes or combinations of microbes that can be added to Green Guard to enhance locust susceptibility. The project also aims to quantify the interactive impact of temperature and nutrition on immune function, disease resistance and host-plant quality of plague locusts; and to explore the combined effects of temperature, habitat and Green Guard, in combination with candidate microbes or pathogens, on the behaviour and collective movement of locusts. It is anticipated that this will have implications for management and control strategies.Read moreRead less
Extraction of flavour enhancers, antimicrobials and nutraceuticals from olive mill effluent. The project aims to recover valuable materials from olive mill waste. Natural flavours will be recovered from the wastewater and from the dry pomice after oil extraction. The research and development will see these flavour compounds added back to olive oil to enhance the flavours of bland oils and to increase the shelf life of olive oil. The same compounds also have uses as enhancing the flavours of food ....Extraction of flavour enhancers, antimicrobials and nutraceuticals from olive mill effluent. The project aims to recover valuable materials from olive mill waste. Natural flavours will be recovered from the wastewater and from the dry pomice after oil extraction. The research and development will see these flavour compounds added back to olive oil to enhance the flavours of bland oils and to increase the shelf life of olive oil. The same compounds also have uses as enhancing the flavours of foods in general and provide a source of naturally occurring antioxidants. The compounds will be tested as natural antibiotics as a means of controlling fungal infections in vineyards and in vegetable production. Read moreRead less
Psyllids as biosecurity threats to plantation and native eucalypts in Australia and internationally. Psyllids are tiny cicada-like insects that are economic pests of forestry and horticulture because the saliva injected when feeding causes leaf death and some vector plant diseases. Advanced technologies and procedures will be used to determine what makes plants susceptible to psyllids and to improve Australian preparedness ahead of an incursion.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE230100377
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$423,659.00
Summary
Facilitating control of Queensland fruit fly and other insect pests. This project aims to address the need for a Queensland fruit fly male-only sterile release strain for the national Sterile Insect Technique program to control this devastating Australian horticulture pest. By combining two molecular technologies in a new strain that responds to temperature cues to trigger development of only male flies, this project expects to produce twice as many sterile males for release to mate with wild fe ....Facilitating control of Queensland fruit fly and other insect pests. This project aims to address the need for a Queensland fruit fly male-only sterile release strain for the national Sterile Insect Technique program to control this devastating Australian horticulture pest. By combining two molecular technologies in a new strain that responds to temperature cues to trigger development of only male flies, this project expects to produce twice as many sterile males for release to mate with wild females in fruit fly outbreak areas, preventing production of the next generation. Expected outcomes include significant reduction in production costs and increased efficiency of the national sterile release program, facilitating control of this damaging pest to protect Australia's billion dollar horticultural industry.Read moreRead less