Development of eco-friendly alternatives for crop pest management. This project will produce novel insecticides to protect cotton and other crops from a range of economically damaging pests. It will lead to a more sustainable and eco-friendly cotton industry by reducing the dependence on chemical insecticides and genetically modified cotton plants.
A novel reversible male sterility system for hybrid seed production in canola, cotton and oilseed mustard. Demand for grains, fibre and other agricultural products has recently increased significantly. Hence, the security of food production is emerging as a critical global issue. We have identified a central component (AtMYB103) controlling tapetum and thus pollen development and designed a novel reversible male sterility system using AtMYB103. The efficient hybrid seed production systems develo ....A novel reversible male sterility system for hybrid seed production in canola, cotton and oilseed mustard. Demand for grains, fibre and other agricultural products has recently increased significantly. Hence, the security of food production is emerging as a critical global issue. We have identified a central component (AtMYB103) controlling tapetum and thus pollen development and designed a novel reversible male sterility system using AtMYB103. The efficient hybrid seed production systems developed in this project for canola, cotton and mustard will increase the productivity of the Australian oilseed and fibre industries. AtMYB103 gene is conserved among many crop plants. Hence, the new technologies and knowledge gained will be applicable to a wide range of crop plants and have important implications for the agricultural and food industries.Read moreRead less
A soil ecological approach to increasing Australian crop productivity. The objective of this project is to use emerging genomics technologies to identify and characterize soil bacteria that allow the replacement of current agricultural fertilisers, which have significant environmental and economic disadvantages, with sustainable biological fertilisers. Soil bacteria can greatly enhance phosphate solubilization and hence availability for plant growth. Beneficial microbes will be identified from o ....A soil ecological approach to increasing Australian crop productivity. The objective of this project is to use emerging genomics technologies to identify and characterize soil bacteria that allow the replacement of current agricultural fertilisers, which have significant environmental and economic disadvantages, with sustainable biological fertilisers. Soil bacteria can greatly enhance phosphate solubilization and hence availability for plant growth. Beneficial microbes will be identified from our existing soil collection and their performance and persistence optimised. Concurrently, our industry partners will develop suitable microbial formulations for application. The outcomes of the project will be the use of biological fertilisers to enhance crop productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner.Read moreRead less
Sterol interference as a new approach to the control of insect pests of crops. This project aims to develop a new approach to control chewing insect pests of crops. This will be achieved by interfering with insect sterol metabolism so that they fail to grow and reproduce normally.
Enhancement of plant proteinase inhibitors for the protection of crop plants against insect attack. The aim of this project is to characterise the interactions between various known plant proteinase inhibitors and the major digestive enzymes of insects by structural and dynamic studies and to utilise mutational studies to design new inhibitors that more effectively bind to target proteinases. The outcomes will be the knowledge to design specific inhibitors to give optimal inhibition of specific ....Enhancement of plant proteinase inhibitors for the protection of crop plants against insect attack. The aim of this project is to characterise the interactions between various known plant proteinase inhibitors and the major digestive enzymes of insects by structural and dynamic studies and to utilise mutational studies to design new inhibitors that more effectively bind to target proteinases. The outcomes will be the knowledge to design specific inhibitors to give optimal inhibition of specific insect proteinases. This knowledge will lead to novel approaches to protect economically important crops, such as cotton, from insect pests in Australia - potentially saving tens of millions of dollars per annum in chemical pesticide use and enhancing crop production in Australia and internationally.Read moreRead less