Cell type-specific transgene expression to increase Fe content in cereal grains. The grains industry forms a vital part of the Australian economy and farm sector. Increased iron concentrations of wheat and other cereal grains would greatly increase their nutritional value for people worldwide, thereby increasing their market value and profitability for farmers. High iron wheat would also lower the production costs of many Australian wheat products by reducing or eliminating the need for iron for ....Cell type-specific transgene expression to increase Fe content in cereal grains. The grains industry forms a vital part of the Australian economy and farm sector. Increased iron concentrations of wheat and other cereal grains would greatly increase their nutritional value for people worldwide, thereby increasing their market value and profitability for farmers. High iron wheat would also lower the production costs of many Australian wheat products by reducing or eliminating the need for iron fortification of wheat flour. High iron cereals promote healthy development of young Australians and can improve preventative healthcare by reducing the incidence of iron deficiency anaemia and biochemical deficiency.Read moreRead less
Using cutting edge genomic tools to dissect the molecular control of hybrid vigour in cereals. Hybrid cereals grow in a wide range of environments, require less water and produce more grain from less land. This project will generate an enhanced capacity to rapidly develop new hybrid cereal varieties. The Australian community will benefit by having enhanced food security using less water and less land. The Australian community will also benefit because land and water will be released to the envir ....Using cutting edge genomic tools to dissect the molecular control of hybrid vigour in cereals. Hybrid cereals grow in a wide range of environments, require less water and produce more grain from less land. This project will generate an enhanced capacity to rapidly develop new hybrid cereal varieties. The Australian community will benefit by having enhanced food security using less water and less land. The Australian community will also benefit because land and water will be released to the environment, or to support other industries and their communities, or to grow other crops. The wide environmental adaptation of these hybrid cereals will allow the Australian community to respond flexibly to adverse climatic changes. Read moreRead less
Physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying tolerance of bread wheat to ion toxicities. Ion toxicities associated with acidic or alkaline soils and waterlogging cost about $190 million per year in lost yield in Western Australia alone. Soil ameliorants and agricultural measures to deal with these constraints are non-existent (B toxicity in alkaline sodic subsoils), non-effective (liming of acidic subsoils), expensive (drainage for waterlogged soils) or a combination of the above. This projec ....Physiological and genetic mechanisms underlying tolerance of bread wheat to ion toxicities. Ion toxicities associated with acidic or alkaline soils and waterlogging cost about $190 million per year in lost yield in Western Australia alone. Soil ameliorants and agricultural measures to deal with these constraints are non-existent (B toxicity in alkaline sodic subsoils), non-effective (liming of acidic subsoils), expensive (drainage for waterlogged soils) or a combination of the above. This project will characterise wheat genotypes for tolerance to ion toxicities and will lay the groundwork for deliberate breeding effort toward pyramiding tolerance to ion toxicities in elite germplasm.Read moreRead less
Targeted approaches to improve nitrogen use efficiency in maize. Nitrogen is an essential input required for growing high yielding quality cereal crops such as maize and wheat. Unfortunately, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers can lead to serious environmental costs including nitrogen pollution through leaching and the significant cost in non-renewable fossil fuels used in their production. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crops such as maize will reduce fertilizer use while ensuring lo ....Targeted approaches to improve nitrogen use efficiency in maize. Nitrogen is an essential input required for growing high yielding quality cereal crops such as maize and wheat. Unfortunately, excessive use of nitrogen fertilizers can lead to serious environmental costs including nitrogen pollution through leaching and the significant cost in non-renewable fossil fuels used in their production. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crops such as maize will reduce fertilizer use while ensuring long-term sustainable production and harvestable yields. This collaboration with DuPont-Pioneer will focus on identifying nitrogen-linked traits in Maize that will be incorporated into new lines targeted at reducing grower dependence on nitrogen fertilizers.Read moreRead less
Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value ad ....Expression of value added product in wheat. Wheat is an important food crop due to nutritional value of its seeds. Advances in development of reliable methods for plant genetic transformation now make it possible to apply genetic engineering to the improvement of this important crop. In this linkage application, we aim to introduce a gene for a value added nutraceutical product in elite cultivars of wheat. The successful outcome of the proposed project will lead to the development of value added wheat varieties that cannot be achieved through conventional breeding and will provide Australian industry competitive advantage in rapidly growing world wide market for new health promoting foods.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