Finding the missing links in salt and water transport in plants. Grain crops and horticultural plants use proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes, but a group of these proteins can also transport some important nutrient ions as well as toxic sodium ions. This project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and ion transport via aquaporins using advanced techniques in biophysics and molecular biology. These results will provide novel insights into how plan ....Finding the missing links in salt and water transport in plants. Grain crops and horticultural plants use proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes, but a group of these proteins can also transport some important nutrient ions as well as toxic sodium ions. This project aims to reveal the molecular pathways that regulate water and ion transport via aquaporins using advanced techniques in biophysics and molecular biology. These results will provide novel insights into how plants coordinate and adapt to changing water and salt conditions, addressing a missing link in how ions and water move in and out of plant vacuoles. Benefits include an expanded, innovative range of targets for plant breeding programs to improve plant productivity in our changing climate.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL190100056
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,795,000.00
Summary
Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order ....Smart Plants and Solutions for Enhancing Crop Resilience and Yield. The Fellowship aims to produce transformative solutions targeting crop resilience and food security. The chloroplast, the site of photosynthesis, regulates a suite of cellular processes that control photosynthesis, growth and drought resilience. It is expected that a first ever blueprint of the suite of communication networks used by the chloroplast will be discovered. I will use synthetic biology to rewire the network in order to generate 'smart plants' that are higher-yielding and more resilient in both good and bad seasons by precisely switching on and off resilience. Such re-imaginings of crop systems, inclusive of societal implications, will help chart the future of Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Australian Laureate Fellowships - Grant ID: FL200100057
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,311,491.00
Summary
Dynamic Proteins for Nutritious Future Crops. This project aims to understand the processes and genes that regulate synthesis and degradation of proteins in wheat and barley plants. This project will develop methodologies and a new field of research for optimising protein stability in crops. Its significance lies in defining new ways to control protein abundance to increase crop performance and quality and increase the value of recombinant proteins for biotech industries. Expected outcomes will ....Dynamic Proteins for Nutritious Future Crops. This project aims to understand the processes and genes that regulate synthesis and degradation of proteins in wheat and barley plants. This project will develop methodologies and a new field of research for optimising protein stability in crops. Its significance lies in defining new ways to control protein abundance to increase crop performance and quality and increase the value of recombinant proteins for biotech industries. Expected outcomes will enable the protein abundance in plant cells to be designed and control selective protein degradation in plants for the first time. Benefits will include building biotechnology capacity in WA, brokering new collaborations and providing an ideal training environment for students and postdocs.Read moreRead less
Unlocking secrets of fertility restoration for hybrid breeding in crops. Hybrid varieties give higher and more stable yields than conventional lines, but a cost-effective system to make hybrid seed on a commercial scale is still missing for economically important crops like wheat or barley. By elucidating the mode of action of a new type of restorer gene plus exploiting ancient or exotic wheat and barley collections this project will reveal aspects of largely understudied mechanisms underlying f ....Unlocking secrets of fertility restoration for hybrid breeding in crops. Hybrid varieties give higher and more stable yields than conventional lines, but a cost-effective system to make hybrid seed on a commercial scale is still missing for economically important crops like wheat or barley. By elucidating the mode of action of a new type of restorer gene plus exploiting ancient or exotic wheat and barley collections this project will reveal aspects of largely understudied mechanisms underlying fertility restoration in wheat and barley. The expected outcomes of the proposed research have the potential to deliver new tools for hybrid seed production programs in wheat and barley. Higher and more stable yields from hybrids will ensure food security in the face of an uncertain climate and growing human population.Read moreRead less
Mid-Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IM230100042
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$980,358.00
Summary
Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcr ....Unlocking the full reproductive potential for hybrid wheat breeding. Globally, wheat is cultivated as an inbred self-fertile crop with yield gains stagnating over the last decades. This contrasts with unabated yield gains and yield stability achieved for rice and corn through hybrid breeding and cross-pollination. Wheat hybrids hold potential for a 10-22% yield boost, but commercial deployment is restricted due to high seed production costs, a result of wheat’s floral architecture and poor outcrossing characteristics. This project aims to reduce costs by improving wheat’s female receptivity to airborne pollen, a major bottleneck to commercial realization of hybrids globally. Higher and more stable yields from wheat hybrids will ensure food security in the face of climate uncertainty and growing population.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
Deciphering the genetic regulation of inflorescence development in wheat. The project aims to identify genes and molecular processes that regulate inflorescence architecture in wheat, using state-of-the-art genetic resources to identify novel biological mechanisms that regulate the development of spikelets – reproductive branches that contain grain-producing florets. The research is highly significant as little is known about how spikelet and floret numbers are determined genetically in wheat, a ....Deciphering the genetic regulation of inflorescence development in wheat. The project aims to identify genes and molecular processes that regulate inflorescence architecture in wheat, using state-of-the-art genetic resources to identify novel biological mechanisms that regulate the development of spikelets – reproductive branches that contain grain-producing florets. The research is highly significant as little is known about how spikelet and floret numbers are determined genetically in wheat, and new traits need to be identified to increase yields for the world’s growing population. Project outcomes will include new insights into the biology that underpins grain production of wheat, with expected benefits enabling sustainable increases of yields by breeders and growers to help bolster global food security.Read moreRead less
Leaves in 3D: photosynthesis and water-use efficiency. This project aims to develop leaf anatomical ideotypes with improved photosynthesis and water-use efficiency for wheat, rice, chickpea and cotton using novel three dimensional imaging and modelling techniques. This project expects to generate new understanding of the role of leaf anatomy on leaf function. Expected outcomes of this project include the world's first 3D spatially-explicit, anatomically accurate model of leaves of crop plants to ....Leaves in 3D: photosynthesis and water-use efficiency. This project aims to develop leaf anatomical ideotypes with improved photosynthesis and water-use efficiency for wheat, rice, chickpea and cotton using novel three dimensional imaging and modelling techniques. This project expects to generate new understanding of the role of leaf anatomy on leaf function. Expected outcomes of this project include the world's first 3D spatially-explicit, anatomically accurate model of leaves of crop plants to allow virtual experiments identifying optimized anatomy for improved photosynthetic performance. Benefits to the agricultural industry include increased crop productivity and water-use efficiency to meet future global food demand and to make the most of Australia's limited water resourcesRead 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
Linking Stress Tolerance to Molecular Evolution of Grass Stomata. Salinity and drought are two detrimental environmental stresses, affecting agricultural productivity and ecosystem health in Australia and around the world. This project will focus on the evolutionary, physiological and molecular aspects of stomatal regulation between wheat, barley and their wild relatives for salinity and drought tolerance. This project will advance the scientific knowledge in the evolution of stomatal regulation ....Linking Stress Tolerance to Molecular Evolution of Grass Stomata. Salinity and drought are two detrimental environmental stresses, affecting agricultural productivity and ecosystem health in Australia and around the world. This project will focus on the evolutionary, physiological and molecular aspects of stomatal regulation between wheat, barley and their wild relatives for salinity and drought tolerance. This project will advance the scientific knowledge in the evolution of stomatal regulation in two staple crops wheat and barley. The project will also assist plant breeders with increasing crop salinity and drought tolerance for global food security.Read moreRead less