Development of molecular markers for resistance to blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) in canola. Canola (Brassica napus) is a valuable oil seed crop grown in many parts of the world and contributes annually $A450 million to the Australian economy. The overall aim of this project is to develop molecular markers for blackleg resistance using Australian germplasm along with evaluation in Australian disease nurseries which are regarded worlwide to develop the highest levels of disease pressu ....Development of molecular markers for resistance to blackleg disease (Leptosphaeria maculans) in canola. Canola (Brassica napus) is a valuable oil seed crop grown in many parts of the world and contributes annually $A450 million to the Australian economy. The overall aim of this project is to develop molecular markers for blackleg resistance using Australian germplasm along with evaluation in Australian disease nurseries which are regarded worlwide to develop the highest levels of disease pressure. Once molecular marker systems are developed and evaluated, they will be applied to facilitate the selection of Nugrain's (Industry Partner) canola breeding programs. Any molecular markers and QTL developed for Australian cultivars would find commercial application in breeding programmes.Read moreRead less
Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentia ....Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentially provide new opportunities and platforms for improving the performance, yield and quality of crop plants. The proposed study is therefore consistent with the national research priority goals such as breakthrough science, frontier technologies and promoting an innovation culture.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of Genes involved in Secondary Metabolism in the Blackleg Pathogen of Canola. Blackleg caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans is the major disease of canola. In spite of the economic importance of this fungus, little is known about its metabolic pathways, its genes and how they are organised. We have sequenced a large piece of L. maculans DNA comprising eight genes, including a regulatory gene and one that may be may be involved in producing secondary metabolites such as ....Characterisation of Genes involved in Secondary Metabolism in the Blackleg Pathogen of Canola. Blackleg caused by the fungus Leptosphaeria maculans is the major disease of canola. In spite of the economic importance of this fungus, little is known about its metabolic pathways, its genes and how they are organised. We have sequenced a large piece of L. maculans DNA comprising eight genes, including a regulatory gene and one that may be may be involved in producing secondary metabolites such as phytotoxins. We will determine the role of these genes in metabolism and the disease process, thus providing insights into secondary metabolism and gene regulation in this important plant pathogen.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775503
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$255,000.00
Summary
Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement p ....Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement programs such as are based at the Waite Campus. The outputs will include crops with increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, a reduced dependence on chemical inputs such as fertilisers and improved food quality, with consequent benefits to the environment and human health and nutrition.Read moreRead less
Brassica genome organisation and evolution: unlocking the potential of using genome-specific repetitive elements for crop improvement. Introgression of chromosome segments from related Brassica species provides an opportunity to develop locally adapted varieties with improved agronomic and quality traits. There is a need to understand Brassica genome organisation and how this information can be used for enhancing the efficiency of cultivar development. Dispersed and tandem repetitive DNA sequen ....Brassica genome organisation and evolution: unlocking the potential of using genome-specific repetitive elements for crop improvement. Introgression of chromosome segments from related Brassica species provides an opportunity to develop locally adapted varieties with improved agronomic and quality traits. There is a need to understand Brassica genome organisation and how this information can be used for enhancing the efficiency of cultivar development. Dispersed and tandem repetitive DNA sequences provide valuable information on the organisation and evolution of plant chromosomes. Methods for monitoring chromosome segment transfer across Brassica species will be developed based on detecting and quantifying genome-specific repetitive DNA sequences. Australian Brassica improvement programs could benefit from this research by adopting methods to detect chromosome segment transfer during interspecific hybridisation.Read moreRead less
Endosymbiotic DNA transfer. Interorganellar DNA movement is a major force in evolution. In higher organisms, the prokaryotic ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts donated many genes to the nucleus. Plants have unique potential in studies of the mechanisms that have driven genome evolution. We established experimentally that DNA moves from the chloroplast to the nucleus at high frequency and this provided us with a world lead in this scientifically new area. The relocated genes contribute to ....Endosymbiotic DNA transfer. Interorganellar DNA movement is a major force in evolution. In higher organisms, the prokaryotic ancestors of mitochondria and chloroplasts donated many genes to the nucleus. Plants have unique potential in studies of the mechanisms that have driven genome evolution. We established experimentally that DNA moves from the chloroplast to the nucleus at high frequency and this provided us with a world lead in this scientifically new area. The relocated genes contribute to the number and diversity of genes and gene function. Genetically manipulated (GM) crops use the chloroplast compartment to make high levels of protein, necessitating a full understanding of how transgenes behave within the cellular and the external environment.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668507
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$260,000.00
Summary
Real time PCR and nanoparticle diagnostic facilities for high-throughput quantitative analysis of genomic structure and gene expression. Modern molecular tools have lead to an explosion in genome projects and unification of all areas of biology. The most basic need for such research is access to improving technologies for detecting DNA fingerprints that distinguish genetically-diverse genes, and determining which genes are "switched on" or 'off' in various situations. Real time PCR technology, ....Real time PCR and nanoparticle diagnostic facilities for high-throughput quantitative analysis of genomic structure and gene expression. Modern molecular tools have lead to an explosion in genome projects and unification of all areas of biology. The most basic need for such research is access to improving technologies for detecting DNA fingerprints that distinguish genetically-diverse genes, and determining which genes are "switched on" or 'off' in various situations. Real time PCR technology, pioneered by The University of Queensland (UQ) and Southern Cross University (SCU) using ARC funding in 1996, is now the technology of choice for much of this research. This project will provide high-throughput equipment for real time PCR, and will develop complementary high-throughput "nanoparticle" DNA genotyping technologies, with applications to medicine and agriculture.
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Trafficking of DNA between chloroplast and nucleus in higher plants. Reliably high levels of diverse proteins can be produced in plant chloroplasts. Environmental risks are considered low for chloroplast genes because they are not transmitted by pollen. However, we recently discovered that DNA escapes from the tobacco chloroplast to the nucleus with unexpectedly high frequency. The associated environmental risks require immediate investigation. This project will determine the fate of chloroplast ....Trafficking of DNA between chloroplast and nucleus in higher plants. Reliably high levels of diverse proteins can be produced in plant chloroplasts. Environmental risks are considered low for chloroplast genes because they are not transmitted by pollen. However, we recently discovered that DNA escapes from the tobacco chloroplast to the nucleus with unexpectedly high frequency. The associated environmental risks require immediate investigation. This project will determine the fate of chloroplast DNA that has moved to the nuclear genome and gain insight into the evolutionary and environmental consequences of chloroplast DNA escape. The ubiquity of DNA escape also will be studied in an edible crop with a small genome, tomato.Read moreRead less
Analysis of interorganellar transposition of DNA. The movement of DNA between organelles is a major driving force in the eukaryotic evolution. In yeast about 75% of all nuclear genes may derive from protomitochondria. Though DNA transfer per se continues in all higher cells, including mammals, in most species the functional transfer of genes has stopped. It continues at a high rate in plants, giving them unique potential in evolutionary studies of the genome. We established experimentally that D ....Analysis of interorganellar transposition of DNA. The movement of DNA between organelles is a major driving force in the eukaryotic evolution. In yeast about 75% of all nuclear genes may derive from protomitochondria. Though DNA transfer per se continues in all higher cells, including mammals, in most species the functional transfer of genes has stopped. It continues at a high rate in plants, giving them unique potential in evolutionary studies of the genome. We established experimentally that DNA moves frequently from the plastid (chloroplast) to the nucleus. We now aim to measure the frequency of DNA transposition from the plastid to the mitochondrion. If transposition is sufficiently frequent, the approach can be used to transformation the mitochondrial genome.Read moreRead less
Integrating a physical and functional genetic map of Prunus dulcis. Genome wide physical mapping is the centrepiece of current genomics research in virtually all plant and animal species. The proposal seeks to champion the development of Prunus dulcis (Rosaceae) as a model perennial species towards parity with other plant model systems for gene discovery and validation. The Rosaceae represents a rich repository of genes of relevance to perenniality, adaptation, sustainable agriculture, health a ....Integrating a physical and functional genetic map of Prunus dulcis. Genome wide physical mapping is the centrepiece of current genomics research in virtually all plant and animal species. The proposal seeks to champion the development of Prunus dulcis (Rosaceae) as a model perennial species towards parity with other plant model systems for gene discovery and validation. The Rosaceae represents a rich repository of genes of relevance to perenniality, adaptation, sustainable agriculture, health and nutrition and the bioindustries. Ultimately, comparative genomics across the family will advance molecular eco-genetics via dissection of traits determining adaptive response. Access to user-friendly molecular markers will also bring greater precision to breeding programmes. Read moreRead less