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
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0668294
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$110,000.00
Summary
Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Facility for Nitrogen and Water Analysis in Plants. Continual improvement to agricultural plant production is key to maintaining future sustainable growth in Australian agriculture. Our respective research teams are focussed on improving how plants utilise both nitrogen and water. Many questions remain with respect to where, how and when plants use and or access these important nutrients. The proposed facility will enable plant scientists to begin in-depth anal ....Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Facility for Nitrogen and Water Analysis in Plants. Continual improvement to agricultural plant production is key to maintaining future sustainable growth in Australian agriculture. Our respective research teams are focussed on improving how plants utilise both nitrogen and water. Many questions remain with respect to where, how and when plants use and or access these important nutrients. The proposed facility will enable plant scientists to begin in-depth analysis of both nitrogen transport mechanisms and the ability to model root development and water allocation in crop species. This research will ultimately lead to improved knowledge on how plants respond to their environment and where modifications can be made to generate sustainable crops suited to Australian agriculture.Read moreRead less
Root-to-shoot: modeling the salt stress response of a plant vascular system. Salt and drought are the two major abiotic stresses affecting crop plant health, growth and development. We aim to understand salt and water transport in plants and the physiological effects of soil salinity. Using biophysical models, we will quantify the movement of salt through plant organs, tissues and cells, from root to leaf. We aim to answer the question of how salt moves across the different tissues and major org ....Root-to-shoot: modeling the salt stress response of a plant vascular system. Salt and drought are the two major abiotic stresses affecting crop plant health, growth and development. We aim to understand salt and water transport in plants and the physiological effects of soil salinity. Using biophysical models, we will quantify the movement of salt through plant organs, tissues and cells, from root to leaf. We aim to answer the question of how salt moves across the different tissues and major organs, how salt accumulates in root, leaf and shoot cells, and how movement and accumulation is controlled by the diversity of transport mechanisms operating in plants. We aim to quantify tissue tolerance, osmotic tolerance and ionic tolerance and discover new mechanisms by which plants can stave off the effect of salt stress.Read moreRead less
Dissecting chloride transport in plants to secure an untapped source for improving plant productivity. Chloride and nitrate are central to physiological processes that determine crop yield and food production, but their uptake and transport within the plant body are antagonistic. This project will gain a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms underlying this antagonism. This will provide new tools for improving salinity tolerance and the efficiency of fertiliser use, which can be used for t ....Dissecting chloride transport in plants to secure an untapped source for improving plant productivity. Chloride and nitrate are central to physiological processes that determine crop yield and food production, but their uptake and transport within the plant body are antagonistic. This project will gain a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms underlying this antagonism. This will provide new tools for improving salinity tolerance and the efficiency of fertiliser use, which can be used for the development of new crop varieties. Improving these traits will be essential if we are to successfully address the threats to Australian and global food security posed by salinity, and the rising economic and environmental costs of inefficient fertiliser use.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC170100008
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,459,672.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production. The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production aims to tackle challenges to wine production through innovative, multi-disciplinary research. Australia’s grape and wine industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, yet in some areas profitability is low. Reasons include extreme weather events, soil salinity and diseases, inefficient practices, a low level of technological innovation and high input costs. New technologies and process effic ....ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production. The ARC Training Centre for Innovative Wine Production aims to tackle challenges to wine production through innovative, multi-disciplinary research. Australia’s grape and wine industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, yet in some areas profitability is low. Reasons include extreme weather events, soil salinity and diseases, inefficient practices, a low level of technological innovation and high input costs. New technologies and process efficiencies developed as part of this project will reduce environmental impact, drive production costs down and profits and employment up. The project will mount a suite of industry-led projects to deliver outcomes to boost Australia’s competitiveness as a supplier of sustainably-produced premium branded wine to the world.Read moreRead less