Plant cell wall - aluminium interactions: a role in aluminium stress. Soil acidity, resulting in Al toxicity, affects production on circa 50% of Australia's intensively used agricultural land, resulting in 8.5 times more foregone agricultural income than dryland salinity (National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001). Often, remediation with lime is not possible or affordable. By understanding Al reactions with cell wall components, we aim to identify root parameters related to Al resistance by ....Plant cell wall - aluminium interactions: a role in aluminium stress. Soil acidity, resulting in Al toxicity, affects production on circa 50% of Australia's intensively used agricultural land, resulting in 8.5 times more foregone agricultural income than dryland salinity (National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001). Often, remediation with lime is not possible or affordable. By understanding Al reactions with cell wall components, we aim to identify root parameters related to Al resistance by plants. These parameters will be useful as selection markers to identify and breed Al-tolerant crop genotypes. This, in turn, will improve yields and farm profitability, allowing farmers to use lime to prevent further acidification. This increases sustainability of cropping operations on the 50 Mha with acid soils.Read moreRead less
Peptidic spider toxins: a novel paradigm for control of insect pests. Many insects are serious pests of Australian crops, livestock, and pets. Australian farmers spend about $300 million per annum on insecticides and acaricides, while Australian consumers spend more than $100 million annually on insecticides for use around the home and garden, and on pets. Viruses disseminated by insects are also responsible for diseases such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Ross River fever. Unfortunately, ....Peptidic spider toxins: a novel paradigm for control of insect pests. Many insects are serious pests of Australian crops, livestock, and pets. Australian farmers spend about $300 million per annum on insecticides and acaricides, while Australian consumers spend more than $100 million annually on insecticides for use around the home and garden, and on pets. Viruses disseminated by insects are also responsible for diseases such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Ross River fever. Unfortunately, many of these insect pests have developed resistance to chemical insecticides. The aim of this research program is to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly natural products and insect-resistant crops that can be used to control insect pests on farms and around the home and garden.Read moreRead less
Functional and structural characterisation of Defective embryo and meristems (Dem) proteins involved in plant development. The proposed research will lead to advances in understanding the regulation of plant development, a process impacting on agriculture, environmental management and human health, areas designated as national research priorities. This understanding is required for modifying plant growth and architecture to fit particular environments, for example generating plants with more ext ....Functional and structural characterisation of Defective embryo and meristems (Dem) proteins involved in plant development. The proposed research will lead to advances in understanding the regulation of plant development, a process impacting on agriculture, environmental management and human health, areas designated as national research priorities. This understanding is required for modifying plant growth and architecture to fit particular environments, for example generating plants with more extensive and deeper roots to mine the soil moisture and nutrients to enhance crop productivity in Australia, and maintaining the competitive advantage of Australian agriculture in view of the range of environmental conditions encountered in this country. The project will also contribute to the health of the Australian population through consumable plants in the diet.Read moreRead less
Orally active spider toxins: a novel paradigm for control of insect pests. Many insects and other arthropods are serious pests of Australian crops, livestock, and pets. Australian farmers spend about $300 million per annum on insecticides and acaricides, while Australian consumers spend more than $100 million annually on insecticides for use around the home and garden, and on pets. Viruses disseminated by arthropods are also responsible for diseases such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Ros ....Orally active spider toxins: a novel paradigm for control of insect pests. Many insects and other arthropods are serious pests of Australian crops, livestock, and pets. Australian farmers spend about $300 million per annum on insecticides and acaricides, while Australian consumers spend more than $100 million annually on insecticides for use around the home and garden, and on pets. Viruses disseminated by arthropods are also responsible for diseases such as dengue, Japanese encephalitis, and Ross River fever. Unfortunately, many of these arthropod pests have developed resistance to chemical insecticides. This aim of this research program is to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly natural products that can be used to control arthropod pests on pets, farms, and around the home and garden.Read moreRead less
Controlled nutrient release for more efficient agricultural water use and reduced environmental insult. We will create a completely new type of coating for fertilizer granules. Clays that adsorb and slowly release phosphates and/or other nutrients will be exfoliated with cationic organic reagents to produce organoclay nanoparticles of greatly increased surface area. These will be polymerized with current and novel monomers to form nanocomposites, encasing the clay in a water-swellable matrix by ....Controlled nutrient release for more efficient agricultural water use and reduced environmental insult. We will create a completely new type of coating for fertilizer granules. Clays that adsorb and slowly release phosphates and/or other nutrients will be exfoliated with cationic organic reagents to produce organoclay nanoparticles of greatly increased surface area. These will be polymerized with current and novel monomers to form nanocomposites, encasing the clay in a water-swellable matrix by polymerization; this will enable both slow water perfusion and strong binding to the granules. The polymer and nanoclay properties will be tuneable to release targeted nutrients at an optimal rate for uptake by crops, reducing nutrient seepage into the environment.Read moreRead less
Safeguarding Australia against invasive arthropod pests. An increasingly serious public health issue for Australia is the emergence of infectious diseases disseminated by arthropods such as ticks and mosquitoes. Arthropod-borne viruses are already the major human pathogens in Australia, and they disproportionately affect Aboriginal communities. The aim of this research is to develop environmentally-sustainable methods for controlling arthropods that destroy crops or disseminate human and animal ....Safeguarding Australia against invasive arthropod pests. An increasingly serious public health issue for Australia is the emergence of infectious diseases disseminated by arthropods such as ticks and mosquitoes. Arthropod-borne viruses are already the major human pathogens in Australia, and they disproportionately affect Aboriginal communities. The aim of this research is to develop environmentally-sustainable methods for controlling arthropods that destroy crops or disseminate human and animal disease. These insecticides will not only provide benefits within Australian territories, but will be useful to our defence forces when operating in overseas locations where arthropod pests are a problem (e.g., malarial regions of Iraq).Read moreRead less