IMPROVING NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN CROP PLANTS: ROLE OF THE AMMONIUM TRANSPORT FAMILY AMT. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants will reduce the use of environmentally damaging nitrogen fertilisers that threaten through leaching the sustainability of Australia's agricultural sector and local water ecosystems. Plants contain genes that encode transport proteins required for the uptake of nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) from the soil. We will identify the in planta activity of the A ....IMPROVING NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN CROP PLANTS: ROLE OF THE AMMONIUM TRANSPORT FAMILY AMT. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants will reduce the use of environmentally damaging nitrogen fertilisers that threaten through leaching the sustainability of Australia's agricultural sector and local water ecosystems. Plants contain genes that encode transport proteins required for the uptake of nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) from the soil. We will identify the in planta activity of the AMT family of ammonium transporters and associated signalling pathways which control the uptake and assimilation of ammonium in plants. This project will confirm the mechanisms involved in ammonium uptake from the soil and lead to the development of ammonium-nitrogen efficient crop plants.Read moreRead less
Advanced plant breeding and food manufacturing for healthier bread. This project aims to generate bread containing high amounts of biologically available iron through targeted manipulation of plant-derived phytonutrients at several points along the wheat-to-bread supply chain. The project expects to generate new knowledge for developing healthier bread and address consumer demands for value-added food products. Anticipated outcomes are novel plant breeding and food manufacturing techniques that ....Advanced plant breeding and food manufacturing for healthier bread. This project aims to generate bread containing high amounts of biologically available iron through targeted manipulation of plant-derived phytonutrients at several points along the wheat-to-bread supply chain. The project expects to generate new knowledge for developing healthier bread and address consumer demands for value-added food products. Anticipated outcomes are novel plant breeding and food manufacturing techniques that enhance the nutritional composition of wheat grain and bread making products, resulting in higher-value agricultural commodities and breads. The project should benefit bread retailers and crop growers involved in Australia’s $4.7 billion bread market and reduce the environmental impacts of bread production.Read moreRead less
Developing biotechnology solutions for improving phosphate acquisition in plants using functional genomics in rice. Global supplies of the most currently used phosphate fertilisers are predicted to be exhausted in less than a century. These fertilisers are non-renewable resources based on phosphate rock deposits and their use are key drivers of both plant production costs and environmental damage in Australia and internationally. Using the power of genetic and functional genomics analyses in ric ....Developing biotechnology solutions for improving phosphate acquisition in plants using functional genomics in rice. Global supplies of the most currently used phosphate fertilisers are predicted to be exhausted in less than a century. These fertilisers are non-renewable resources based on phosphate rock deposits and their use are key drivers of both plant production costs and environmental damage in Australia and internationally. Using the power of genetic and functional genomics analyses in rice, this project will reveal key controllers of phosphate acquisition in plants. Hence, novel biotechnology based solutions can be implemented in a variety of cereal crops to aid reduced use of phosphate fertiliser in agriculture and unlock the large phosphate pool not used by plants in soil.Read moreRead less