How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Aust ....How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Australian plant agriculture. This project will investigate novel technologies that re-engineer nitrate transport activity. The project will also investigate the biochemical and molecular links between nitrogen uptake on root development required for improved plant growth.Read moreRead less
Harnessing genetic diversity for complex traits. Genetic diversity underpins crop improvement but has become increasingly narrow in our major crops. Strategies exist for mobilising simple traits (e.g. disease resistance) from wild accessions or landraces into cultivars, but there are no effective approaches for introducing complex traits, including stress tolerance or components of yield. Using barley as an important crop and a genetic model, the project aims to address this problem by applying ....Harnessing genetic diversity for complex traits. Genetic diversity underpins crop improvement but has become increasingly narrow in our major crops. Strategies exist for mobilising simple traits (e.g. disease resistance) from wild accessions or landraces into cultivars, but there are no effective approaches for introducing complex traits, including stress tolerance or components of yield. Using barley as an important crop and a genetic model, the project aims to address this problem by applying a novel approach; partial redomestication of wild accessions by introgressing genes required for modern farming, then evaluating the resulting partially adapted germplasm in hybrids with elite cultivars. The project expects to generate new and diverse germplasm pools for breeding.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
Unique parental epitranscriptome states regulate seed development. This project aims to investigate how developing central cell epitranscriptomes are linked to seed growth, how the cell regulates the unique epigenetic states, and the role of the system in driving phenotypic diversity. Maternal and paternal effects determine growth and development of multicellular angiosperm plants. Previous work has discovered unique ribonucleic acid (RNA) epitranscriptome states dependent on the parent-of-origi ....Unique parental epitranscriptome states regulate seed development. This project aims to investigate how developing central cell epitranscriptomes are linked to seed growth, how the cell regulates the unique epigenetic states, and the role of the system in driving phenotypic diversity. Maternal and paternal effects determine growth and development of multicellular angiosperm plants. Previous work has discovered unique ribonucleic acid (RNA) epitranscriptome states dependent on the parent-of-origin in developing central cell that gives rise to the endosperm tissue of the seed that impacts on growth of the seed. This project expects to provide economic benefits by increasing yield of agricultural crops during increasingly challenging conditions.Read moreRead less
Investigating a novel signalling pathway for crop improvement. This project will dissect a newly identified signalling pathway in plants that regulates plant water use and carbon gain. It will deploy multiple techniques, including novel biosensors, to understand the links between the metabolism of plants and their environmental responses. The project will build partnerships with scientists at leading international institutions for enhanced outcomes, including access to specialised equipment and ....Investigating a novel signalling pathway for crop improvement. This project will dissect a newly identified signalling pathway in plants that regulates plant water use and carbon gain. It will deploy multiple techniques, including novel biosensors, to understand the links between the metabolism of plants and their environmental responses. The project will build partnerships with scientists at leading international institutions for enhanced outcomes, including access to specialised equipment and upskilling of our scientists. The generation of barley with the latest gene editing techniques aims to produce a non-GM crop with the potential for enhanced root C sequestration, lower water use and improved yield, three key goals for agricultural sustainability in the face of a drying Australian climate.Read moreRead less
Molecular switches and genetic consequences of grain retention in cereals. Grain retention at maturity was key for crop domestication and laid the basis for farming. Wheat and barley have evolved a novel mechanism for ensuring grain retention and, although the genes are known, the mechanisms for action are not. Grain dispersal in the wild relatives involves highly targeted changes in the walls of a small number of cells. This project will explore how the two identified genes control this proces ....Molecular switches and genetic consequences of grain retention in cereals. Grain retention at maturity was key for crop domestication and laid the basis for farming. Wheat and barley have evolved a novel mechanism for ensuring grain retention and, although the genes are known, the mechanisms for action are not. Grain dispersal in the wild relatives involves highly targeted changes in the walls of a small number of cells. This project will explore how the two identified genes control this process and clarify their mode of action. The genes ensuring grain retention have been so critical for domestication that the region surrounding them has become genetically fixed. The project will assess the implication of fixation on genetic diversity and develop options to bring novel variation into breeding programs.Read moreRead less
Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations t ....Protecting cereal grain development at high temperatures. This project aims to investigate new temperature-responsive factors that regulate cereal grain development to protect grain production under heat stress. The new research will leverage international collaborations with access to cutting-edge genetic and technological resources, and refine novel X-ray imaging techniques in Australia, to observe how temperature affects flower structure and function in barley and rice. Favourable mutations that optimise plant yield and fitness will be defined and explored in other, more complex, cereals such as wheat. Expected outcomes will be fundamental breakthroughs in understanding how plants respond to, and buffer, the effects of heat to lead to translational breeding strategies that bolster grain yield.Read moreRead less
Targeting root architecture to improve plant production in sub-optimal soil. This project aims to identify important missing links in the signalling pathways that connect major plant hormones in their control of root architecture, with a focus on the signalling system that helps plants cope with sub-optimal growing conditions. New discoveries in plant hormones will be applied to crops to provide a deeper understanding of root growth responses under sub-optimal conditions, and to maximise plant e ....Targeting root architecture to improve plant production in sub-optimal soil. This project aims to identify important missing links in the signalling pathways that connect major plant hormones in their control of root architecture, with a focus on the signalling system that helps plants cope with sub-optimal growing conditions. New discoveries in plant hormones will be applied to crops to provide a deeper understanding of root growth responses under sub-optimal conditions, and to maximise plant efficiency. Expected outcomes include a better understanding of signal pathways in roots, improved knowledge about how crops respond to adverse conditions, new knowledge and potential genetic resources for plant industry, and novel ideas about how to improve crop productivity.Read moreRead less
Decoding tissue-specific components of cereal grain development. This project aims to investigate how barley flowers produce cells that deliver nutrients into developing seeds. This project expects to generate new knowledge through international collaboration and technical improvements in cell biology and genetics, overcoming current methodological limitations to precisely influence seed size, shape and quality, which are traits of agricultural relevance to the Australian cereal industry. Expect ....Decoding tissue-specific components of cereal grain development. This project aims to investigate how barley flowers produce cells that deliver nutrients into developing seeds. This project expects to generate new knowledge through international collaboration and technical improvements in cell biology and genetics, overcoming current methodological limitations to precisely influence seed size, shape and quality, which are traits of agricultural relevance to the Australian cereal industry. Expected outcomes include strengthened international partnerships, leveraged funding and increased knowledge of plant reproduction. This should provide significant benefits, including upskilled researchers, improved research capacity and genetic targets to optimise seed production in challenging climatic conditions. Read moreRead less
Control of crop-microbe symbiosis by new plant hormones. This project aims to discover how plants use hormone-like chemicals, called butenolides, to control symbiotic relationships with soil fungi. It will use multidisciplinary and collaborative techniques to establish how butenolide metabolism affects the diversity of fungal colonisation. Expected outcomes of this project include a deeper understanding of how plants regulate the competency of roots to host symbiotic fungi, and how this affects ....Control of crop-microbe symbiosis by new plant hormones. This project aims to discover how plants use hormone-like chemicals, called butenolides, to control symbiotic relationships with soil fungi. It will use multidisciplinary and collaborative techniques to establish how butenolide metabolism affects the diversity of fungal colonisation. Expected outcomes of this project include a deeper understanding of how plants regulate the competency of roots to host symbiotic fungi, and how this affects plant growth. As such, it will generate knowledge of how cereals such as barley could be modified to improve their nutrient use efficiency. Benefits of this project include the potential to reduce fertiliser inputs, thereby improving the competitiveness and environmental impact of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less