Indian Sandalwood: genetic and oil diversity, and oil biochemistry of the Australian germplasm collection. The main aim is to improve the commerciality of the sandalwood industry in tropical Australia through smarter tree selection and breeding by development of knowledge of oil quality and quantity, oil biochemistry and DNA marker-assisted selection of the germplasm collection available in Australia.
Mitigation of Impacts on Groundwater Dependent Vegetation Through Adaptive Abstraction Regimes. Apart from loss of habitat, biodiversity, ecological function and aesthetics, tree decline and death is a financial burden to land managers. Lost groundwater production from existing borefield infrastructure due to environmental risk also represents a significant economic loss to industry. By adapting borefield operation strategies to be more sympathetic to environmental demands for groundwater, susta ....Mitigation of Impacts on Groundwater Dependent Vegetation Through Adaptive Abstraction Regimes. Apart from loss of habitat, biodiversity, ecological function and aesthetics, tree decline and death is a financial burden to land managers. Lost groundwater production from existing borefield infrastructure due to environmental risk also represents a significant economic loss to industry. By adapting borefield operation strategies to be more sympathetic to environmental demands for groundwater, sustainable use of the resource can be maximized under otherwise 'high-risk' scenarios. This project will result in environmental benefits such as reduced impacts of borefields and economic benefits such as recovery of lost production from 'high-risk' borefields, increased viability of planned schemes and reduced customer cost of water services.Read moreRead less
Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in ....Seagrass tolerance of oil spills - scaling of pollution impacts. Seagrasses provide vital ecosystem services (such as sediment stabilisation and habitat provision) in Australian coastal waters. The contribution of pollutants to current seagrass decline is poorly understood. The Australian shipping industry is the 5th largest in the world but there is very little data on the impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons on intertidal seagrasses and hence no information for coastal resource managers to use in decision-making in the event of an oil spill. This project will assess the relative toxicities of a number of petroleum hydrocarbons on Australian seagrass species to provide necessary data for the development of effective management practice.Read moreRead less
Mechanistic characterisation of genotype x environment interactions in sorghum and arabidopsis. Sorghum is an economically important cereal crop for Australia. In Australia, sorghum is used as a staple animal feed and it is very important for the live stock industry. With the predicted changes of temperature and rainfall patterns due to climate change, negative effects on sorghum yield are expected, which can have adverse effects on Australian economy. Our studies will identify and mark genes th ....Mechanistic characterisation of genotype x environment interactions in sorghum and arabidopsis. Sorghum is an economically important cereal crop for Australia. In Australia, sorghum is used as a staple animal feed and it is very important for the live stock industry. With the predicted changes of temperature and rainfall patterns due to climate change, negative effects on sorghum yield are expected, which can have adverse effects on Australian economy. Our studies will identify and mark genes that regulate flowering and seed production in sorghum in response to changes in temperature and light interactions. These studies will help to develop novel sorghum varieties with desirable characters through plant-breeding programmes.Read moreRead less
Development of cryopreservation for high value provenance collections of recalcitrant plant species used in post-mining restoration. This project will develop new and innovative ways to store highly valued native plant germplasm at ultra cold temperatures (-196 °C, in liquid nitrogen) as a means to ensure that elite genotypes used in minesite restoration and critically endangered species are not lost forever to extinction. This project will be the first of its type in Australia utilising a multi ....Development of cryopreservation for high value provenance collections of recalcitrant plant species used in post-mining restoration. This project will develop new and innovative ways to store highly valued native plant germplasm at ultra cold temperatures (-196 °C, in liquid nitrogen) as a means to ensure that elite genotypes used in minesite restoration and critically endangered species are not lost forever to extinction. This project will be the first of its type in Australia utilising a multidisciplinary approach to answer key storage questions and will provide significant national benefits to conservation programs and landcare groups, providing these with additional resources to ensure the long-term survival of native plant germplasm collections. Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE160100804
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$370,000.00
Summary
Controlling chloride in plants. This project aims to discover novel components that control how plants acquire and manage chloride. Chloride is one of the two ions that commonly cause salt stress, which is a major threat to Australia’s agriculture. Regions affected by salinity are increasing worldwide due to changing weather patterns and poor land management. Knowledge of plant chloride management is underdeveloped, despite the reduction in crop yield caused by high chloride accumulation. The an ....Controlling chloride in plants. This project aims to discover novel components that control how plants acquire and manage chloride. Chloride is one of the two ions that commonly cause salt stress, which is a major threat to Australia’s agriculture. Regions affected by salinity are increasing worldwide due to changing weather patterns and poor land management. Knowledge of plant chloride management is underdeveloped, despite the reduction in crop yield caused by high chloride accumulation. The anticipated outcome of this project will inform strategies aimed at selecting for optimised chloride management traits to generate crops with improved yield.Read moreRead less
Enabling Molecular Plant Breeding for Drought Adaptation Using Genome-to-Phenome Modelling Technologies. Effective molecular plant breeding for improved water productivity of sorghum would generate significant economic and social benefits for rural communities in NE Australia. There is a significant opportunity to expand the sorghum industry in the region. Despite the global financial crisis, global demand for meat continues to increase, generating strong demand from intensive livestock industri ....Enabling Molecular Plant Breeding for Drought Adaptation Using Genome-to-Phenome Modelling Technologies. Effective molecular plant breeding for improved water productivity of sorghum would generate significant economic and social benefits for rural communities in NE Australia. There is a significant opportunity to expand the sorghum industry in the region. Despite the global financial crisis, global demand for meat continues to increase, generating strong demand from intensive livestock industries for feed grain. Price is projected to return to high levels given continuing use of major feed grains for biofuel. A 10% increase in sorghum production would add net value of $48M annually, much via employment. The scientific content of this project positions Australia at the leading edge globally in this emerging research field. Read moreRead less
Dissecting the Indigo Pathway in Natural Indigo Producing Plants: Intricate Pathway Engineering for the Generation of Blue-Fibre Cotton. Australian cotton growers must maintain a sustained competitive advantage in the future to compete within the global cotton market by commanding higher margins for specialty cotton lint over and above current revenues. Development, via biotechnology, of naturally-colored, 'blue' lint cottons is the technical goal, where novel environmentally-benign textile prod ....Dissecting the Indigo Pathway in Natural Indigo Producing Plants: Intricate Pathway Engineering for the Generation of Blue-Fibre Cotton. Australian cotton growers must maintain a sustained competitive advantage in the future to compete within the global cotton market by commanding higher margins for specialty cotton lint over and above current revenues. Development, via biotechnology, of naturally-colored, 'blue' lint cottons is the technical goal, where novel environmentally-benign textile products could be produced without the use of toxic synthetic dyes or caustic dyeing processes. Success will provide a unique opportunity to re-establish an Australian cotton/textile industry by allowing direct participation in the development, branding and marketing of novel Australian textile products, generating potential revenue upwards of $10B/year. Read moreRead less
Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) effects on vegetation: repairing the disconnect between experiments and models. Ecosystem models are important tools used in a variety of applications, including predicting how vegetation uptake of carbon affects global climate, estimating carbon sequestration by natural and planted forests and determining water yield of catchments. Although there has been a massive investment in experiments to determine plant response to elevated carbon dioxide [CO2], ecosystem mod ....Elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) effects on vegetation: repairing the disconnect between experiments and models. Ecosystem models are important tools used in a variety of applications, including predicting how vegetation uptake of carbon affects global climate, estimating carbon sequestration by natural and planted forests and determining water yield of catchments. Although there has been a massive investment in experiments to determine plant response to elevated carbon dioxide [CO2], ecosystem models do not incorporate this body of data as well as they could. This project will use innovative methods to bridge the gap between experimental data and ecosystem models, resulting in significantly improved information for managers of Australia's natural resources into the future.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0211014
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$337,000.00
Summary
Electron Microscope/X-Ray Unit Equipment Upgrade.
The aim of this proposal is to obtain funding to upgrade major equipment items in the centralised Electron Microscope / X-Ray Unit to replace obsolete instruments, some of which are twenty two years old. The proposed equipment will support highly productive research groups and individuals from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geography, Geology, Mechanical Engineering and Medical Sciences.
It w ....Electron Microscope/X-Ray Unit Equipment Upgrade.
The aim of this proposal is to obtain funding to upgrade major equipment items in the centralised Electron Microscope / X-Ray Unit to replace obsolete instruments, some of which are twenty two years old. The proposed equipment will support highly productive research groups and individuals from the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geography, Geology, Mechanical Engineering and Medical Sciences.
It will be of great assistance in projects as diverse as the development of new ceramic materials, waste water precipitation chemistry, ore deposit geology, increasing agricultural productivity and the ultrastructure of organs responsible for the sense of balance.
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