Control points in nitrogen uptake: enhancing the response of cereals to nitrogen supply and demand. Vast amounts of nitrogen fertiliser are applied to cereal crops to maintain yields. By uncovering what limits nitrogen uptake in cereals, this project will provide the scientific basis for improving nitrogen use efficiency and decreasing fertiliser use, with significant economic and environmental benefits.
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0775503
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$255,000.00
Summary
Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement p ....Robotics for plant genomics: Increasing throughput in plant genetic analyses. Plant genomics has direct benefit to crop improvement, especially as focussed in the applicants' laboratories. Thus, the Australian agri-food sector will benefit substantially from the acceleration in plant functional genomics that will arise from the installation of the robotics equipment described in the current application, by both underpinning more applied research and also being used directly in crop improvement programs such as are based at the Waite Campus. The outputs will include crops with increased tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses, a reduced dependence on chemical inputs such as fertilisers and improved food quality, with consequent benefits to the environment and human health and nutrition.Read moreRead less
Microgenomics - a tool to dissect effects of salinity on gene expression in specific cell types of Arabidopsis and rice. This project will provide novel, fundamental understanding of the cell type-specific processes involved in salinity tolerance in higher plants. As such, it will impact on our understanding of a range of processes relevant to salinity tolerance, an area of great importance to Australian agriculture and environmental sustainability. The increased understanding arising from this ....Microgenomics - a tool to dissect effects of salinity on gene expression in specific cell types of Arabidopsis and rice. This project will provide novel, fundamental understanding of the cell type-specific processes involved in salinity tolerance in higher plants. As such, it will impact on our understanding of a range of processes relevant to salinity tolerance, an area of great importance to Australian agriculture and environmental sustainability. The increased understanding arising from this project will underpin future work to increase agricultural productivity and the quality of life for all in the Australian and international communities.Read moreRead less
IMPROVING NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN CROP PLANTS: ROLE OF THE AMMONIUM TRANSPORT FAMILY AMT. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants will reduce the use of environmentally damaging nitrogen fertilisers that threaten through leaching the sustainability of Australia's agricultural sector and local water ecosystems. Plants contain genes that encode transport proteins required for the uptake of nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) from the soil. We will identify the in planta activity of the A ....IMPROVING NITROGEN USE EFFICIENCY IN CROP PLANTS: ROLE OF THE AMMONIUM TRANSPORT FAMILY AMT. Improving nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants will reduce the use of environmentally damaging nitrogen fertilisers that threaten through leaching the sustainability of Australia's agricultural sector and local water ecosystems. Plants contain genes that encode transport proteins required for the uptake of nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate) from the soil. We will identify the in planta activity of the AMT family of ammonium transporters and associated signalling pathways which control the uptake and assimilation of ammonium in plants. This project will confirm the mechanisms involved in ammonium uptake from the soil and lead to the development of ammonium-nitrogen efficient crop plants.Read moreRead less
Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment And Facilities - Grant ID: LE0453684
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$301,921.00
Summary
Joint facility for genome analysis. This project will establish a joint facility for genome analysis supported by the Universities of Adelaide and South Australia, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and the Australian Wine Research Institute. The facility will purchase novel equipment for high-throughput gene selection and screening, advanced DNA and protein imaging and a dedicated reconfigurable computing platform for advanced bioinformatic analysis. The equipment has been ta ....Joint facility for genome analysis. This project will establish a joint facility for genome analysis supported by the Universities of Adelaide and South Australia, the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics and the Australian Wine Research Institute. The facility will purchase novel equipment for high-throughput gene selection and screening, advanced DNA and protein imaging and a dedicated reconfigurable computing platform for advanced bioinformatic analysis. The equipment has been targeted to overcome technical barriers that limit the rapid adoption of genome discovery projects in South Australia. This facility will result in new plant gene discovery and improved understanding of fundamental plant processes.Read moreRead less
Exploring genetic diversity to identify new heat tolerance genes in wheat. This project aims to improve the selection and development of heat-tolerant wheat varieties. Heatwaves seriously reduce wheat yields worldwide, and the situation will worsen with climate variation. This project aims to apply a broad genetic scan to identify the main chromosome regions controlling heat tolerance at the sensitive flowering stage in Australian and European wheat varieties. It is expected that this knowledge ....Exploring genetic diversity to identify new heat tolerance genes in wheat. This project aims to improve the selection and development of heat-tolerant wheat varieties. Heatwaves seriously reduce wheat yields worldwide, and the situation will worsen with climate variation. This project aims to apply a broad genetic scan to identify the main chromosome regions controlling heat tolerance at the sensitive flowering stage in Australian and European wheat varieties. It is expected that this knowledge will deliver crucial breeders’ tools to select heat-tolerant varieties. The project also aims to identify genes most likely to control tolerance at these chromosome locations using gene expression profiling data, trait associations and knowledge of heat-tolerance genes from other species. It is expected that these genes will reveal molecular mechanisms of heat tolerance and create new opportunities to engineer superior levels of tolerance in cereals.Read moreRead less
Enhancing stress tolerance in plants by manipulation of properties of stress responsive transcription factors. This project will describe structural and functional properties of cereal transcription factors that are critical to plant development under hostile environmental conditions. The knowledge of the revealed molecular mechanisms of transcription factors will open avenues to developments of improved crop plants.
Reconstructing wheat evolution using ancient DNA. The domestication of wild grasses by farmers was a step change in human history; it led to the emergence of modern cereals and with them, western civilisation. This project will apply modern DNA sequencing methods to 5000-year-old cereal seeds to reconstruct the history of wheat, barley and other crops, and identify lost ancient forms and diversity.
Developing Zn-dense, high-yielding wheat by molecular marker technology. The objective of this project is to identify pathways leading to the accumulation of zinc — an important element for human nutrition — in wheat. The project aims to provide biochemical and molecular markers for breeding programs that will facilitate the selection of superior breeding lines for improved human nutrition and seed health. This project builds on studies using a wheat diversity panel with 90 000 gene-based single ....Developing Zn-dense, high-yielding wheat by molecular marker technology. The objective of this project is to identify pathways leading to the accumulation of zinc — an important element for human nutrition — in wheat. The project aims to provide biochemical and molecular markers for breeding programs that will facilitate the selection of superior breeding lines for improved human nutrition and seed health. This project builds on studies using a wheat diversity panel with 90 000 gene-based single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, where zinc–SNP associations were identified. The project also builds on recent studies that show particular metabolites and macronutrients around anthesis are linked to improved grain zinc concentration at maturity.Read moreRead less
Diversity in large crop genomes via enhanced recombination. The project aims to understand genetic and environmental factors that limit how fast genomic combinations can be generated by modifying the recombination rates between chromosomes. Plant breeding is based around genetic diversity, but modern breeding programs have captured only a small proportion of the variation available in wild relatives and land races. Knowledge of diversity in this wild germplasm pool is increasing and the challeng ....Diversity in large crop genomes via enhanced recombination. The project aims to understand genetic and environmental factors that limit how fast genomic combinations can be generated by modifying the recombination rates between chromosomes. Plant breeding is based around genetic diversity, but modern breeding programs have captured only a small proportion of the variation available in wild relatives and land races. Knowledge of diversity in this wild germplasm pool is increasing and the challenge is to quickly and efficiently introduce this variation into elite lines. This project’s findings are expected to transform wheat and barley breeding methods by unlocking the genetic diversity to produce new varieties. This will enhance and protect a critical and valuable rural industry.Read moreRead less