Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100806
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$419,854.00
Summary
Towards herbicide cocktails with a new mode of action to avert resistance. This project aims to target herbicide resistant weeds which represent one of the largest threats to Australian and global food security. Targeting of unexplored pathways in plants to develop a novel herbicide strategy is expected to be achieved, and will include the structural and functional characterisation of key enzymes in these pathways. This project is expected to provide significant benefits for effective weed manag ....Towards herbicide cocktails with a new mode of action to avert resistance. This project aims to target herbicide resistant weeds which represent one of the largest threats to Australian and global food security. Targeting of unexplored pathways in plants to develop a novel herbicide strategy is expected to be achieved, and will include the structural and functional characterisation of key enzymes in these pathways. This project is expected to provide significant benefits for effective weed management to sustain Australia’s agricultural industry through enhanced food production from increased crop yields, whilst ensuring food security. These outcomes, coupled with decades of over-reliance on current herbicides, means there has never been a greater need for new and effective herbicides.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100908
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$461,815.00
Summary
Maximising the beneficial impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on grain nutrition. This project aims to determine the effects of beneficial soil fungi on wheat and rice grain quality for human nutrition using an innovative combination of physiological, molecular and agronomic techniques. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in sustainable agriculture, to improve grain quality and value. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying improve ....Maximising the beneficial impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on grain nutrition. This project aims to determine the effects of beneficial soil fungi on wheat and rice grain quality for human nutrition using an innovative combination of physiological, molecular and agronomic techniques. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in sustainable agriculture, to improve grain quality and value. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying improved grain quality, and the capacity to use soil fungi to increase grain micronutrient concentrations and bioavailability. This should provide significant environmental and societal benefits, such as promotion of the sustainable use of agricultural soils and more nutritious grain products for human consumption.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
Field and quasi-field phenotyping for the quantitative characterisation of wheat yield under stress. The project aims to develop state-of-the-art monitoring and profiling capabilities for the quantitative assessment of plant growth performance in field and quasi-field environments under the abiotic stress conditions of drought and nutrient deficiency. This project involves the design and use of high resolution but low budget imaging stations to capture the growth of cereal plants in competitive ....Field and quasi-field phenotyping for the quantitative characterisation of wheat yield under stress. The project aims to develop state-of-the-art monitoring and profiling capabilities for the quantitative assessment of plant growth performance in field and quasi-field environments under the abiotic stress conditions of drought and nutrient deficiency. This project involves the design and use of high resolution but low budget imaging stations to capture the growth of cereal plants in competitive environments. Novel computer vision and image processing techniques will be applied to the image data to quantitatively characterise the success of genetic varieties to tolerate abiotic stress environments under actual field conditions.Read moreRead less
Activating the female germline during plant development. This project aims to investigate the mechanistic basis for female germline formation in two plant species including barley, which is of agricultural relevance to Australia. This project’s approach will integrate novel regulatory genes and data from Arabidopsis and barley. This knowledge will provide significant benefits, such as novel reproductive strategies for crop improvement.
Engineering the plant mitochondrial electron transport chain for tolerance of environmental stress. Plants often face hostile environments that place them under stress. Reactive oxygen molecules produced under these conditions act as signals to activate defense mechanisms, but also cause cell damage. Mitochondria are subcellular compartments involved in energy production and are essential for plant growth and development, but they have also been implicated in the response of plants to environmen ....Engineering the plant mitochondrial electron transport chain for tolerance of environmental stress. Plants often face hostile environments that place them under stress. Reactive oxygen molecules produced under these conditions act as signals to activate defense mechanisms, but also cause cell damage. Mitochondria are subcellular compartments involved in energy production and are essential for plant growth and development, but they have also been implicated in the response of plants to environmental stress, and in production of reactive oxygen molecules. This project will investigate special features of plant mitochondria that ameliorate oxidative stress. Potential outcomes include crops better able to cope with environmental stress.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100346
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$372,000.00
Summary
Improving salt tolerance by optimising ion transport in chloroplasts. This project aims to discover the ion transport mechanisms and their molecular origins in chloroplasts that differentiate halophytes from glycophytes, allowing halophytes to optimise photosynthesis during salt stress. Yield losses in crop plants are linked to the effects of salt stress on their chloroplasts, but some plants maintain growth and yield irrespective of high soil salinity. This project will use biophysics to charac ....Improving salt tolerance by optimising ion transport in chloroplasts. This project aims to discover the ion transport mechanisms and their molecular origins in chloroplasts that differentiate halophytes from glycophytes, allowing halophytes to optimise photosynthesis during salt stress. Yield losses in crop plants are linked to the effects of salt stress on their chloroplasts, but some plants maintain growth and yield irrespective of high soil salinity. This project will use biophysics to characterise mutants deficient in targeted chloroplast transporters, comparing a model glycophyte and closely related halophyte. The expected outcome of these fundamental molecular is salt-tolerant crop plants.Read moreRead less
Targeting chloroplasts to enhance crop salt tolerance. Yield losses in crop plants due to increasingly saline soils are linked to the effects of salt on chloroplasts. By comparing chloroplast water- and salt-transport mechanisms of closely related salt-loving and salt-sensitive plants, this Fellowships aims to discover how chloroplasts maintain function in saline conditions. Novel biophysics and molecular techniques will be used to characterise transporters in model plants, and proof-of-concept ....Targeting chloroplasts to enhance crop salt tolerance. Yield losses in crop plants due to increasingly saline soils are linked to the effects of salt on chloroplasts. By comparing chloroplast water- and salt-transport mechanisms of closely related salt-loving and salt-sensitive plants, this Fellowships aims to discover how chloroplasts maintain function in saline conditions. Novel biophysics and molecular techniques will be used to characterise transporters in model plants, and proof-of-concept complementation experiments aim to confer salt tolerance on sensitive plants. These fundamental insights are likely to lead to rapid, step-change improvements in salt tolerance, especially in agriculturally relevant crops, to benefit Australia’s agri-industry and ensure food security in the future.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE140100575
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$394,575.00
Summary
Getting to the root of salt-tolerance in the model cereal crop, barley. The root system is the first part of the plant to sense high concentrations of sodium and chloride ions in saline soils. The ability of roots to maintain growth in response to salinity is an important adaptation, increasing root soil exploration for nutrient and water uptake. The aim of this project is to identify the molecular mechanisms that control and regulate root growth in response to salinity using barley as a cereal ....Getting to the root of salt-tolerance in the model cereal crop, barley. The root system is the first part of the plant to sense high concentrations of sodium and chloride ions in saline soils. The ability of roots to maintain growth in response to salinity is an important adaptation, increasing root soil exploration for nutrient and water uptake. The aim of this project is to identify the molecular mechanisms that control and regulate root growth in response to salinity using barley as a cereal model. The knowledge gained in barley will provide important information for increasing salinity tolerance in other Australian cereal crops, most notably wheat.Read moreRead less
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. We propose a novel approach to improve sustainable yield by optimising the overall efficiency of energy capture, conversion and use by plants. Efficiency gains in metabolism, transport, and development will be more effective than optimising single nutrient inputs or product outputs. Improving multiple parameters simultaneously is a necessary solution to the increasing demand for more crop yield from finite land, water, and nutrient resources. Unp ....ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. We propose a novel approach to improve sustainable yield by optimising the overall efficiency of energy capture, conversion and use by plants. Efficiency gains in metabolism, transport, and development will be more effective than optimising single nutrient inputs or product outputs. Improving multiple parameters simultaneously is a necessary solution to the increasing demand for more crop yield from finite land, water, and nutrient resources. Unpredictable environmental challenges adversely affect plant growth and further perturb plant energy balance, limiting yield. The epigenetic controls, gene variants and signals discovered will provide a new basis for sustainable productivity of crops and will future-proof plants in changing climates.Read moreRead less