Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. Th ....Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. This project aims to elucidate the processes governing this response and develop simple models that could allow the conditions required to maximise the productivity benefit from rising carbon dioxide concentration to be calculated.Read moreRead less
Manipulating plant root exudation for soil-borne disease control. This project expects to fundamentally advance analysis and manipulation of root exudation, determine influence of rhizosphere microbiota on exudation, molecular responses to resting spore stimulation and to develop novel disease controls. Expected outcomes of this project include the demonstrated potential of novel disease mitigation and student training in innovative approaches to plant pathology and analytical chemistry. This sh ....Manipulating plant root exudation for soil-borne disease control. This project expects to fundamentally advance analysis and manipulation of root exudation, determine influence of rhizosphere microbiota on exudation, molecular responses to resting spore stimulation and to develop novel disease controls. Expected outcomes of this project include the demonstrated potential of novel disease mitigation and student training in innovative approaches to plant pathology and analytical chemistry. This should provide significant benefits, such as effective disease management tools.Read moreRead less
Membrane transporters in oxidative stress signalling and tolerance in plants. Oxidative stress imposed by salinity and drought severely limits agricultural crop production, resulting in multibillion dollar losses to farmers. Australia is one of the driest continents, with a significant proportion of arable land affected by salinity. Thus, developing salt- and drought tolerant species is critical to minimise the impact of these stresses on crop production. This project will reveal specific ionic ....Membrane transporters in oxidative stress signalling and tolerance in plants. Oxidative stress imposed by salinity and drought severely limits agricultural crop production, resulting in multibillion dollar losses to farmers. Australia is one of the driest continents, with a significant proportion of arable land affected by salinity. Thus, developing salt- and drought tolerant species is critical to minimise the impact of these stresses on crop production. This project will reveal specific ionic mechanisms mediating reactive oxygen species signalling and tolerance in plants. This will help achieve the above goal by providing plant breeders with vital information on key genes controlling oxidative stress tolerance in plants. Read moreRead less
Ion transporters regulating plant adaptive responses to salinity and the modes of their control by compatible solutes in plant cells. Plants respond to saline conditions by a significant elevation in the level of compatible solutes in the cytosol. It appears that these solutes are not directly involved in conventional osmoprotection, but instead have a regulatory role in cell metabolism. This project will apply a range of state-of-the-art biophysical and molecular techniques to investigate the m ....Ion transporters regulating plant adaptive responses to salinity and the modes of their control by compatible solutes in plant cells. Plants respond to saline conditions by a significant elevation in the level of compatible solutes in the cytosol. It appears that these solutes are not directly involved in conventional osmoprotection, but instead have a regulatory role in cell metabolism. This project will apply a range of state-of-the-art biophysical and molecular techniques to investigate the modes of control exercised by compatible solutes over the activity of major plasma membrane transporters involved in plant adaptive responses to salinity. The work will substantially advance our understanding of salt tolerance and will provide a sound basis for genetic engineering of salt tolerant crops.Read moreRead less
Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The pr ....Placental nutrient transport shows how complex traits evolve. This project aims to use amino acid transport in the vertebrate placenta as a model to demonstrate how genes are recruited and modified to produce a major organ. Using an innovative combination of a new technology, selected reaction monitoring, and transcriptomic and molecular approaches, plus carefully selected Australian species pairs, this project will study the evolution of a complex trait (placental amino acid transport). The project will provide fundamental advances in our knowledge of the nutrient transport during pregnancy that is required to produce a healthy baby.Read moreRead less
Unique plant hormone responses: the key to nitrogen-fixing nodules. This project aims to build a model of the signals that regulate root nodule formation, unique root organs formed by some plants that host nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Nitrogen is often limited in the soil and agriculture relies on nitrogen fertiliser. Sustainable sources of plant nutrients are required to ensure food security and minimise the environmental impact of intensive farming. This project will provide fundamental informati ....Unique plant hormone responses: the key to nitrogen-fixing nodules. This project aims to build a model of the signals that regulate root nodule formation, unique root organs formed by some plants that host nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Nitrogen is often limited in the soil and agriculture relies on nitrogen fertiliser. Sustainable sources of plant nutrients are required to ensure food security and minimise the environmental impact of intensive farming. This project will provide fundamental information on why some species can form nitrogen-fixing nodules by examining the role of plant hormones. This will build the knowledge base required to potentially expand this symbiosis into non-legumes, harnessing the huge advantage nodule forming species have in staple crops.Read moreRead less
The role of plant hormones in legume symbioses. Soil microbes can give plants access to previously unavailable but essential nutrients through symbioses. Legumes are unique as they form symbioses with both nitrogen-fixing bacteria and with mycorrhizal fungi that supply nutrients such as phosphate. This proposal will investigate the role of the plant hormones (small, mobile, potent growth regulators) in the formation of these symbiotic relationships across legume genera. An insight into the commo ....The role of plant hormones in legume symbioses. Soil microbes can give plants access to previously unavailable but essential nutrients through symbioses. Legumes are unique as they form symbioses with both nitrogen-fixing bacteria and with mycorrhizal fungi that supply nutrients such as phosphate. This proposal will investigate the role of the plant hormones (small, mobile, potent growth regulators) in the formation of these symbiotic relationships across legume genera. An insight into the common and divergent roles of hormones in these symbioses is essential to provide researchers and breeders with new tools to maximise nutrient acquisition by legumes, important crops contributing an estimated one billion Australian dollars per year to the Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the ....Lags and legacies: antecedent effects on grassland biomass response to carbon dioxide. This project aims to assess how past conditions influence grassland responses to the rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. High CO2 concentrations should stimulate productivity but in grasslands this is rarely realised because other, mostly unknown, factors constrain the response. By synthesising data from past experiments, this project aims to determine exactly why grasslands fail to realise the full productivity benefits of increased CO2 and when this will happen. This should improve predictions of carbon exchange and indicating the best direction for climate change adaptation measures.Read moreRead less
Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and e ....Species redundancy in response to multiple disturbances. This project aims to elucidate how the context within which disturbances occur affects food web linkages and how these map to responses in ecosystem function. There is a critical need to test the common assumption in environmental management that high biodiversity makes ecosystems resilient to disturbances. Studies that merely observe biodiversity change after disturbance cannot identify ecological processes connecting high diversity and ecosystem function, making experiments that manipulate identical disturbances in ecosystems with different biodiversity essential. This project will use field experiments that manipulate disturbances in streams replicated in low and high biodiversity regions and across gradients of chronic background stress to show how biodiversity sustains functional ecosystems, and how much diversity can be lost before ecosystems collapse.Read moreRead less
Effects of invasive macrofauna on marine biodiversity and ecosystem function. The project will identify environmental and biological factors that help prevent invasion of native marine communities by introduced pests, and describe thresholds in marine systems where further loss of macrofaunal species results in declines in ecosystem health.