The functional characterisation of a novel immune response in plants. This project aims to identify the role of pathogenicity-related-1 proteins in plants and characterise a new disease resistance pathway. By focusing on the interaction between key plant and pathogen proteins, this proposal seeks to advance the understanding of how the pathogen causes disease. The expected outcomes from these advances include the generation of new tools to manage plant diseases whilst building strong internation ....The functional characterisation of a novel immune response in plants. This project aims to identify the role of pathogenicity-related-1 proteins in plants and characterise a new disease resistance pathway. By focusing on the interaction between key plant and pathogen proteins, this proposal seeks to advance the understanding of how the pathogen causes disease. The expected outcomes from these advances include the generation of new tools to manage plant diseases whilst building strong international collaborations. This project should provide significant benefits for generating new leads for plant disease management leading to enhanced food security.Read moreRead less
Characterisation of a novel disease immunity pathway in plants. This project aims to understand the mechanisms by which the novel signalling molecule, CAPE1, contributes to
plant immunity. Studies to date have confirmed that CAPE1 inhibits plant diseases but it is unknown how. This
project aims to provide a seminal advance to the field by elucidating how the peptide is generated, how it is
perceived by the plant and the processes by which peptide contributes to plant defence. The expected outcom ....Characterisation of a novel disease immunity pathway in plants. This project aims to understand the mechanisms by which the novel signalling molecule, CAPE1, contributes to
plant immunity. Studies to date have confirmed that CAPE1 inhibits plant diseases but it is unknown how. This
project aims to provide a seminal advance to the field by elucidating how the peptide is generated, how it is
perceived by the plant and the processes by which peptide contributes to plant defence. The expected outcomes
of this project will include a detailed characterisation of a novel plant defence pathway as well the education and
training of next generation of plant scientists. Achieving these outcomes would provide the basis for new
innovative disease management strategies through the manipulation of this novel pathway.Read moreRead less
The LINK to Regulating Lysine Levels in Wheat. This project aims to characterise a recently discovered allosteric mechanism called 'Ligand-Induced association by Lysine (K)' (LINK) model. LINK model regulates the function of a key biosynthetic enzyme in bacteria and plants, including agriculturally-important species such as wheat. Also, it represents a highly significant discovery to the field of biochemistry. The expected outcomes of this project include an in-depth understanding of the molecul ....The LINK to Regulating Lysine Levels in Wheat. This project aims to characterise a recently discovered allosteric mechanism called 'Ligand-Induced association by Lysine (K)' (LINK) model. LINK model regulates the function of a key biosynthetic enzyme in bacteria and plants, including agriculturally-important species such as wheat. Also, it represents a highly significant discovery to the field of biochemistry. The expected outcomes of this project include an in-depth understanding of the molecular basis of a new allosteric mechanism for regulating intracellular lysine levels, which in the longer term offers excellent potential to be manipulated for agricultural benefits.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100908
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$461,815.00
Summary
Maximising the beneficial impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on grain nutrition. This project aims to determine the effects of beneficial soil fungi on wheat and rice grain quality for human nutrition using an innovative combination of physiological, molecular and agronomic techniques. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in sustainable agriculture, to improve grain quality and value. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying improve ....Maximising the beneficial impacts of mycorrhizal fungi on grain nutrition. This project aims to determine the effects of beneficial soil fungi on wheat and rice grain quality for human nutrition using an innovative combination of physiological, molecular and agronomic techniques. The project expects to generate fundamental knowledge in sustainable agriculture, to improve grain quality and value. Expected outcomes of this project include enhanced understanding of the mechanisms underlying improved grain quality, and the capacity to use soil fungi to increase grain micronutrient concentrations and bioavailability. This should provide significant environmental and societal benefits, such as promotion of the sustainable use of agricultural soils and more nutritious grain products for human consumption.Read moreRead less
Field and quasi-field phenotyping for the quantitative characterisation of wheat yield under stress. The project aims to develop state-of-the-art monitoring and profiling capabilities for the quantitative assessment of plant growth performance in field and quasi-field environments under the abiotic stress conditions of drought and nutrient deficiency. This project involves the design and use of high resolution but low budget imaging stations to capture the growth of cereal plants in competitive ....Field and quasi-field phenotyping for the quantitative characterisation of wheat yield under stress. The project aims to develop state-of-the-art monitoring and profiling capabilities for the quantitative assessment of plant growth performance in field and quasi-field environments under the abiotic stress conditions of drought and nutrient deficiency. This project involves the design and use of high resolution but low budget imaging stations to capture the growth of cereal plants in competitive environments. Novel computer vision and image processing techniques will be applied to the image data to quantitatively characterise the success of genetic varieties to tolerate abiotic stress environments under actual field conditions.Read moreRead less
Breeder-ready genetic tools for sustaining wheat yields under heat stress. Yield losses in wheat due to heat stress are increasing with climate change, driving an urgent need for new heat-tolerant varieties; however, few resources for heat tolerance are available for use in breeding. This research aims to use comprehensive genetic and agronomic approaches to provide breeders with the tools and evidence to select WtmsDW, a newly discovered genetic region that protects pollen fertility and sustain ....Breeder-ready genetic tools for sustaining wheat yields under heat stress. Yield losses in wheat due to heat stress are increasing with climate change, driving an urgent need for new heat-tolerant varieties; however, few resources for heat tolerance are available for use in breeding. This research aims to use comprehensive genetic and agronomic approaches to provide breeders with the tools and evidence to select WtmsDW, a newly discovered genetic region that protects pollen fertility and sustains grain yield under heat stress. These tools are expected to significantly boost productivity for the $9.8B Australian wheat industry, benefitting rural communities and industry partners and supporting food security, both directly and through longer-term extension of novel heat tolerance mechanisms to other crop species.Read moreRead less
Decoding germination defects that threaten global wheat production. Wheat is a major commodity in Australia. Sprouting damage represents a major global threat to wheat production and food security. This project will explore the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and late-maturity amylase (LMA). This project will apply transcriptomics and proteomics to measure the expression of the biomolecules associated with PHS and LMA, generating fundamental knowledge of ....Decoding germination defects that threaten global wheat production. Wheat is a major commodity in Australia. Sprouting damage represents a major global threat to wheat production and food security. This project will explore the genetic and molecular mechanisms underpinning pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) and late-maturity amylase (LMA). This project will apply transcriptomics and proteomics to measure the expression of the biomolecules associated with PHS and LMA, generating fundamental knowledge of grain molecular physiology that addresses a significant knowledge gap. The project will deliver tools capable of differentiating these conditions, thereby minimising economic losses. A better understanding of the genetic basis of PHS and LMA will lay the foundation for advanced breeding aiming to eliminate these. Read moreRead less
Developing strong restorer-of-fertility genes for hybrid wheat breeding. Hybrid wheat varieties yield 10-15% more than conventional lines but a cost-effective system to produce hybrid seeds on a commercial scale is missing. This project aims to deliver such a system for use in hybrid wheat breeding programmes. The outcome will be ultimately higher wheat yield gains in Australia and worldwide. Higher and more stable yields will contribute to higher food security for the growing human population.
Co-variant analysis and statistical modelling for improved crop yield. This project plans to develop mathematical tools that will help to identify cereal plant varieties with the highest yield. This is a critical responsibility of plant breeders and many Australian breeders acquire and store important information related to the issue. However, there are as yet no mathematical tools that are able to co-analyse the heterogeneous and high-dimensional data in order to understand how external and int ....Co-variant analysis and statistical modelling for improved crop yield. This project plans to develop mathematical tools that will help to identify cereal plant varieties with the highest yield. This is a critical responsibility of plant breeders and many Australian breeders acquire and store important information related to the issue. However, there are as yet no mathematical tools that are able to co-analyse the heterogeneous and high-dimensional data in order to understand how external and internal factors correlate with the major growth and development stages at the crop level. This project seeks to develop and implement mathematical and statistical tools to analyse genetic, agronomic and phenomic factors that affect plant performance, to deliver advanced yield prediction.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH130200027
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$4,308,668.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. This Research Hub, in partnership with wheat breeding companies, aims to deliver advanced technologies, germplasm and information to produce new stress tolerant varieties. Genetic diversity and novel traits will be introduced from exotic germplasm and high-throughput field-phenotyping tools will be deve ....ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate. This Research Hub, in partnership with wheat breeding companies, aims to deliver advanced technologies, germplasm and information to produce new stress tolerant varieties. Genetic diversity and novel traits will be introduced from exotic germplasm and high-throughput field-phenotyping tools will be developed to assist in selection of superior lines. Strategic research will be targeted towards the development of wheat with combined heat and drought tolerance and maintenance of high grain protein.Read moreRead less