Control of sucrose source/sink status by the plant immune system. This project aims to investigate the roles of plant malectin receptor kinases in pathogen recognition and response. The project will utilise molecular and cell biological tools to detect complex formation and changes in sugar import into cells. Expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding of how pathogens manipulate plant cells to their benefit, and greater knowledge of which host molecules participate in this ....Control of sucrose source/sink status by the plant immune system. This project aims to investigate the roles of plant malectin receptor kinases in pathogen recognition and response. The project will utilise molecular and cell biological tools to detect complex formation and changes in sugar import into cells. Expected outcomes of this project include a better understanding of how pathogens manipulate plant cells to their benefit, and greater knowledge of which host molecules participate in this process. This should provide significant benefits such as a new theoretical basis to engineer crop plants for resistance against devastating diseases.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of a novel disease immunity pathway in plants. This project aims to understand the mechanisms by which the novel signalling molecule, CAPE1, contributes to
plant immunity. Studies to date have confirmed that CAPE1 inhibits plant diseases but it is unknown how. This
project aims to provide a seminal advance to the field by elucidating how the peptide is generated, how it is
perceived by the plant and the processes by which peptide contributes to plant defence. The expected outcom ....Characterisation of a novel disease immunity pathway in plants. This project aims to understand the mechanisms by which the novel signalling molecule, CAPE1, contributes to
plant immunity. Studies to date have confirmed that CAPE1 inhibits plant diseases but it is unknown how. This
project aims to provide a seminal advance to the field by elucidating how the peptide is generated, how it is
perceived by the plant and the processes by which peptide contributes to plant defence. The expected outcomes
of this project will include a detailed characterisation of a novel plant defence pathway as well the education and
training of next generation of plant scientists. Achieving these outcomes would provide the basis for new
innovative disease management strategies through the manipulation of this novel pathway.Read moreRead less
The roles of pathogen effectors in promoting rust diseases of plants. Rust diseases threaten global food security. This cross-institutional project aims to discover how proteins secreted by rust fungi promote disease following their translocation into plant cells. It will use the interaction between flax and the flax rust fungus as a powerful model system to test the hypothesis that manipulation of host RNA metabolism is a fundamental mechanism underpinning rust pathogenesis. This research is in ....The roles of pathogen effectors in promoting rust diseases of plants. Rust diseases threaten global food security. This cross-institutional project aims to discover how proteins secreted by rust fungi promote disease following their translocation into plant cells. It will use the interaction between flax and the flax rust fungus as a powerful model system to test the hypothesis that manipulation of host RNA metabolism is a fundamental mechanism underpinning rust pathogenesis. This research is intended to dramatically improve our understanding of the molecular mechanisms used by rust fungi to establish infection. The knowledge gained is expected to facilitate the development of new strategies for rust disease management in food crops by identifying pathogenic processes that can be targeted for intervention.Read moreRead less
Molecular basis for susceptibility and immunity to Fusarium wilt disease. Fusarium wilt is a devastating disease of many important crop plants, including banana, cotton and tomato. There are significant gaps in our understanding of this disease that need to be addressed to enable better disease management. This project aims to identify and analyse tomato proteins targeted by Fusarium effector proteins (virulence factors), determine how corresponding tomato receptors (resistance proteins) recogni ....Molecular basis for susceptibility and immunity to Fusarium wilt disease. Fusarium wilt is a devastating disease of many important crop plants, including banana, cotton and tomato. There are significant gaps in our understanding of this disease that need to be addressed to enable better disease management. This project aims to identify and analyse tomato proteins targeted by Fusarium effector proteins (virulence factors), determine how corresponding tomato receptors (resistance proteins) recognise these effectors, and identify the signalling pathways and critical defence responses activated by these receptors. The intention is to close the gaps in our understanding and use the knowledge gained to develop new strategies for disease control by interfering with fungal pathogenicity and enhancing plant resistance.Read moreRead less
Understanding disease resistance gene evolution across the Brassicaceae. Pan genomes represent the diversity of a species, including structural and sequence variation, which cannot be provided by a reference genome alone. In this project we will characterise resistance gene diversity across the Brassicaceae pan genomes. Through comparison with resistance gene diversity in cultivated Brassica species we will understand selection underlying resistance gene evolution in wild species and subsequent ....Understanding disease resistance gene evolution across the Brassicaceae. Pan genomes represent the diversity of a species, including structural and sequence variation, which cannot be provided by a reference genome alone. In this project we will characterise resistance gene diversity across the Brassicaceae pan genomes. Through comparison with resistance gene diversity in cultivated Brassica species we will understand selection underlying resistance gene evolution in wild species and subsequent domestication and breeding. Knowledge on how variation affects disease susceptibility, especially to the devastating fungal pathogen blackleg, and contributes to phenotypic variation, will lead to improved plant protection strategies and increased crop resilience.Read moreRead less
Fungal Ribosomally Synthesised and Post-translationally Modified Peptides. Fungi produce an array of molecules called secondary metabolites (SMs) that impact on everyday life (e.g. penicillin). This project aims to investigate a new class of fungal peptide SMs called RiPPs which are structurally unique from existing molecules and offer the exciting prospect of harbouring new and novel biological activities. This project expects to discover the mechanisms of RiPP synthesis and their biological ro ....Fungal Ribosomally Synthesised and Post-translationally Modified Peptides. Fungi produce an array of molecules called secondary metabolites (SMs) that impact on everyday life (e.g. penicillin). This project aims to investigate a new class of fungal peptide SMs called RiPPs which are structurally unique from existing molecules and offer the exciting prospect of harbouring new and novel biological activities. This project expects to discover the mechanisms of RiPP synthesis and their biological roles in plant pathogenic fungi, and uncover and engineer novel RiPPs with desired bioactivities. The expected outcome from this project will be a seminal advance in fungal SM biology which should provide significant benefits through the generation of exciting new lead molecules for the agricultural and medical industries.Read moreRead less
Genomics to rust proof the humble oat. This project aims to reduce the impact of the damaging and currently intractable fungal pathogen crown rust (OCR) in Australian oat production. The expected project outcomes are: new sources of enduring high value resistance to OCR, tools to accelerate the use of these resistances, and locally adapted OCR resistant oat germplasm for use in developing profitable oat varieties. The project will use new approaches to tap very recently released genomic resource ....Genomics to rust proof the humble oat. This project aims to reduce the impact of the damaging and currently intractable fungal pathogen crown rust (OCR) in Australian oat production. The expected project outcomes are: new sources of enduring high value resistance to OCR, tools to accelerate the use of these resistances, and locally adapted OCR resistant oat germplasm for use in developing profitable oat varieties. The project will use new approaches to tap very recently released genomic resources and unique oat/ OCR resources assembled over many years. It will lead to responsible stewardship of broadly effective OCR resistance in grazing/milling/hay oats, increasing grower profitability, reducing reliance on fungicides, and underpinning planned growth in our export oat market. Read moreRead less
Ion-atom collision data for fusion energy, hadron therapy and astrophysics. This project aims to combine experimental and theoretical efforts to generate accurate data required for the development and maintenance of fusion reactors, treatment planning in hadron therapy of cancerous tumours, and modelling astrophysical phenomena. Hadron therapy has been used successfully worldwide for over a decade with Australia’s first such facility, the Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy, currently under construc ....Ion-atom collision data for fusion energy, hadron therapy and astrophysics. This project aims to combine experimental and theoretical efforts to generate accurate data required for the development and maintenance of fusion reactors, treatment planning in hadron therapy of cancerous tumours, and modelling astrophysical phenomena. Hadron therapy has been used successfully worldwide for over a decade with Australia’s first such facility, the Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy, currently under construction. Fusion reactors are a source of abundant green energy. Immense progress is being made in their construction and underlying technology. Currently, there is an urgent demand for accurate data on ion-beam collisions with atoms and molecules for the aforementioned applications. This project intends to meet this demand.Read moreRead less
Electron-molecule collisions in fusion and astrophysical plasmas. This project will apply innovative methods developed in Australia to accurately model electron collisions with diatomic hydrides. It will generate new knowledge of the dynamics underlying fundamental chemical reactions, and bring international scientists together to study the influence of molecules in plasmas more accurately than ever before. Outcomes will include essential diagnostics for fusion reactors, methods for using the Ja ....Electron-molecule collisions in fusion and astrophysical plasmas. This project will apply innovative methods developed in Australia to accurately model electron collisions with diatomic hydrides. It will generate new knowledge of the dynamics underlying fundamental chemical reactions, and bring international scientists together to study the influence of molecules in plasmas more accurately than ever before. Outcomes will include essential diagnostics for fusion reactors, methods for using the James Webb Space Telescope to study astrophysical clouds, and strengthened ties between Australia and the global plasma physics community. The significant benefits will include accelerating the development of fusion technology as an alternative to fossil fuels, and furthering our understanding of stellar evolution.Read moreRead less
Antihydrogen formation. This project aims to advance fundamental understanding of collisions involving antimatter. The dominance of matter over antimatter in the Universe is one of the most intriguing questions of today’s science. Researchers at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) are addressing this question by creating antihydrogen and studying its properties, including the gravitational behaviour. By trapping and cooling antihydrogen positive ions, ultra-cold antihydrogen at ....Antihydrogen formation. This project aims to advance fundamental understanding of collisions involving antimatter. The dominance of matter over antimatter in the Universe is one of the most intriguing questions of today’s science. Researchers at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) are addressing this question by creating antihydrogen and studying its properties, including the gravitational behaviour. By trapping and cooling antihydrogen positive ions, ultra-cold antihydrogen atoms can be created and used in free fall experiments at CERN. The convergent close-coupling method and threshold theory will be used to provide the necessary theoretical guidance for the experimental antihydrogen positive ion formation via low-energy positronium-antiproton and positronium-antihydrogen collisions.Read moreRead less