Molecular and genetic analysis of epigenetic components in a model plant. Australia is a major exporter of agricultural food crops thus producers must maintain their competitive advantage in order to compete on the world stage. Food crops unfortunately have large, complex genomes that are not sequenced and a generation time of months that makes research outcomes slow to achieve. This project proposes to utilise a model plant that has a small completely sequenced genome and a short generation tim ....Molecular and genetic analysis of epigenetic components in a model plant. Australia is a major exporter of agricultural food crops thus producers must maintain their competitive advantage in order to compete on the world stage. Food crops unfortunately have large, complex genomes that are not sequenced and a generation time of months that makes research outcomes slow to achieve. This project proposes to utilise a model plant that has a small completely sequenced genome and a short generation time making it ideal to study the fundamental biological process of RNA silencing. Discoveries and outcomes from this project may have the potential to benefit Australian crops, ecosystems and human health.Read moreRead less
Phytoremediation of arsenic contaminated sites using arsenic hyperaccumulating plants. The legacy of using arsenical compounds in pest control activities has resulted in many contaminated sites. Since the inorganic arsenic is carcinogenic, stringent laws have been enforced to control arsenic (As) in the environment. This project investigates the potential of using the recently discovered (Ma et al, 2001) arsenic hyperaccumulating (22,000 mgAs/kgDW) fern, Pteris vittata, in the removal of arsen ....Phytoremediation of arsenic contaminated sites using arsenic hyperaccumulating plants. The legacy of using arsenical compounds in pest control activities has resulted in many contaminated sites. Since the inorganic arsenic is carcinogenic, stringent laws have been enforced to control arsenic (As) in the environment. This project investigates the potential of using the recently discovered (Ma et al, 2001) arsenic hyperaccumulating (22,000 mgAs/kgDW) fern, Pteris vittata, in the removal of arsenic from dip sites and railway tracks in Qld, and orchards in northern NSW. The impacts of growing hyperaccumulating plants on grazing animals and the environment, and the disposal of arsenic from contaminated plants will also be studied.Read moreRead less