Investigating a new paradigm for plant-pathogen interactions; Identification of host-selective toxin proteins in the wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum. Stagonospora nodorum is a fungus that causes leaf and glume blotch disease on wheat. This disease alone causes $55 million dollars in yield losses per annum. Traditional breeding methods have yielded crops that are only mildly resistant leaving control of the disease to be worryingly reliant on fungicides. This project aims to identify and char ....Investigating a new paradigm for plant-pathogen interactions; Identification of host-selective toxin proteins in the wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum. Stagonospora nodorum is a fungus that causes leaf and glume blotch disease on wheat. This disease alone causes $55 million dollars in yield losses per annum. Traditional breeding methods have yielded crops that are only mildly resistant leaving control of the disease to be worryingly reliant on fungicides. This project aims to identify and characterise proteins that the fungus secretes to cause disease on wheat. By identifying these proteins, it is anticipated that strategies, both traditional and modern, could be employed to enable better control of the disease. This in turn would help provide a long term and secure supply of wheat and wheat based products to the community.Read moreRead less
Functional characterisation of the necrotrophic effector proteins Tox1 and Tox3 from the wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum. Fungal pathogens cost the Australian agricultural industry over one billion dollars per year. This project will build upon recent key advances to provide a fundamental basis on how fungal pathogens cause disease. The results from this study will promote future advances in disease management with the aim of securing Australian wheat supplies.
Isolation and functional characterisation of a pathogen meta effector able to inhibit detection of multiple disease effectors by resistant plants. The rust fungi are a major economic threat to crop production in Australia. This project will investigate the molecular mechanism used by a rust fungus to prevent detection of multiple disease-inducing proteins by resistant plants and generate knowledge that will lead to the development of new and more effective disease control strategies.
The identification of Mycosphaerella graminicola effectors that promote pathogenicity on wheat. Fungal diseases are one of the greatest challenges to sustainable wheat production in the 21st century. Septoria tritici blotch is one such disease as it inflicts millions of tonnes in yield losses per annum. This project will identify the molecular basis of Septoria tritici blotch and assess its potential as an Australian biosecurity threat.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE130101292
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Plant immune receptors: what are the first steps that trigger defence signalling? Plant immune receptors that confer resistance to infectious disease will be investigated at a molecular level. The outcomes of this study will influence the development of new strategies to protect Australian crops from destructive disease and reduce the use of pesticides.
Molecular basis of rust infection and host plant resistance. Plant diseases threaten agricultural productivity in Australia, with rust fungi being a major problem for cereal grain production. This project will investigate molecular processes underlying the infection of plants by rust fungi and will provide basic knowledge for development of novel and durable disease resistance strategies.
The functional characterisation of a novel immune response in plants. This project aims to identify the role of pathogenicity-related-1 proteins in plants and characterise a new disease resistance pathway. By focusing on the interaction between key plant and pathogen proteins, this proposal seeks to advance the understanding of how the pathogen causes disease. The expected outcomes from these advances include the generation of new tools to manage plant diseases whilst building strong internation ....The functional characterisation of a novel immune response in plants. This project aims to identify the role of pathogenicity-related-1 proteins in plants and characterise a new disease resistance pathway. By focusing on the interaction between key plant and pathogen proteins, this proposal seeks to advance the understanding of how the pathogen causes disease. The expected outcomes from these advances include the generation of new tools to manage plant diseases whilst building strong international collaborations. This project should provide significant benefits for generating new leads for plant disease management leading to enhanced food security.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100151
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Enhancing resistance to wheat stripe rust disease. This project aims to investigate why wheat succumbs to stripe rust fungus, a grave threat to global wheat production. Wheat is the primary agricultural and revenue crop of Australia, cultivated since early European settlement. Severe disease epidemics arise when the fast evolving rust pathogen breaks down host plant genetic resistance. This project will investigate the molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen recognition and the consequences of pat ....Enhancing resistance to wheat stripe rust disease. This project aims to investigate why wheat succumbs to stripe rust fungus, a grave threat to global wheat production. Wheat is the primary agricultural and revenue crop of Australia, cultivated since early European settlement. Severe disease epidemics arise when the fast evolving rust pathogen breaks down host plant genetic resistance. This project will investigate the molecular mechanisms of host-pathogen recognition and the consequences of pathogen variation to determine the causes of resistance breakdown. The expected outcome is robust rust-resistant wheat cultivars to maintain global food security.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE100100078
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$600,000.00
Summary
Multiphoton confocal microscope. Recent developments in light microscopy have revolutionised modern molecular and cellular biology. Dramatic improvements in microscope hardware and software and in the range of fluorescent markers used to tag selected cellular components now provide new and exciting opportunities to localise and determine the function of ions and molecules not only in preserved samples but also, most excitingly, in living cells. The proposed multiphoton confocal microscope will ....Multiphoton confocal microscope. Recent developments in light microscopy have revolutionised modern molecular and cellular biology. Dramatic improvements in microscope hardware and software and in the range of fluorescent markers used to tag selected cellular components now provide new and exciting opportunities to localise and determine the function of ions and molecules not only in preserved samples but also, most excitingly, in living cells. The proposed multiphoton confocal microscope will allow researchers in Canberra to obtain high quality images of static and moving components in living cells and tissues and will facilitate the discovery of new knowledge that contributes to our understanding and control of development and disease in both plants and animals.Read moreRead less