Enhancing Grain Yield Potential and Quality of Lupin. Sustainability of wheat production in Western Australia depends on the continued use of legumes, specifically lupins, in farming systems. The low returns to growers for lupins has jeopardised these sustainable systems. This project aims to gather new information to develop novel genetic strategies to increase yield potential and modify seed composition in lupins, enhancing their commercial worth.
Using cutting edge genomic tools to dissect the molecular control of hybrid vigour in cereals. Hybrid cereals grow in a wide range of environments, require less water and produce more grain from less land. This project will generate an enhanced capacity to rapidly develop new hybrid cereal varieties. The Australian community will benefit by having enhanced food security using less water and less land. The Australian community will also benefit because land and water will be released to the envir ....Using cutting edge genomic tools to dissect the molecular control of hybrid vigour in cereals. Hybrid cereals grow in a wide range of environments, require less water and produce more grain from less land. This project will generate an enhanced capacity to rapidly develop new hybrid cereal varieties. The Australian community will benefit by having enhanced food security using less water and less land. The Australian community will also benefit because land and water will be released to the environment, or to support other industries and their communities, or to grow other crops. The wide environmental adaptation of these hybrid cereals will allow the Australian community to respond flexibly to adverse climatic changes. Read moreRead less
Wood quality improvement for spotted gum. Eucalypts are one of the world's top sources of hardwood saw and pulp logs. This project will provide a model for accelerated tree improvement for wood quality. The aim is to link genes for wood formation with wood quality phenotypes in spotted gum, a priority hardwood eucalypt for Northern Australia. The significance of the approach is time and costs saved in the deployment of plantations of higher wood quality through the circumvention of delays to gen ....Wood quality improvement for spotted gum. Eucalypts are one of the world's top sources of hardwood saw and pulp logs. This project will provide a model for accelerated tree improvement for wood quality. The aim is to link genes for wood formation with wood quality phenotypes in spotted gum, a priority hardwood eucalypt for Northern Australia. The significance of the approach is time and costs saved in the deployment of plantations of higher wood quality through the circumvention of delays to generate populations required for alternative approaches and early selection available with molecular breeding.Read moreRead less
NextGen Sorghum: Genomic approaches to novel renewable bioproducts. Next Gen Sorghums will have enhanced nutritional and processing qualities for humans and animals, and be ideal feedstocks for the bio-economy for the delivery of novel products. Our approaches in reverse genetics to identify gene networks which control sorghum seed development, cell size, cell wall thickness and the way in which starch and protein are packaged within the grain will generate knowledge to underpin the future utili ....NextGen Sorghum: Genomic approaches to novel renewable bioproducts. Next Gen Sorghums will have enhanced nutritional and processing qualities for humans and animals, and be ideal feedstocks for the bio-economy for the delivery of novel products. Our approaches in reverse genetics to identify gene networks which control sorghum seed development, cell size, cell wall thickness and the way in which starch and protein are packaged within the grain will generate knowledge to underpin the future utilisation of this important grain. This will help to drive the future of Australian cereals industries, with health benefits to consumers, the enhanced delivery of specialised feedstocks for novel and renewable bio-products, and financial benefits to farmers.Read moreRead less
A sustainable cellular factory for the production of antibiotics by photosynthetic bacteria. The range and rate of natural product discovery is the limiting factor in developing new pharmaceuticals. Traditional methods for the screening of these compounds or for their chemical synthesis are rapidly becoming inadequate as an increasing number of specific therapies, for cancers and infectious diseases for instance, are required. The research proposed will enable the design and production of "unnat ....A sustainable cellular factory for the production of antibiotics by photosynthetic bacteria. The range and rate of natural product discovery is the limiting factor in developing new pharmaceuticals. Traditional methods for the screening of these compounds or for their chemical synthesis are rapidly becoming inadequate as an increasing number of specific therapies, for cancers and infectious diseases for instance, are required. The research proposed will enable the design and production of "unnatural" products, including novel antibiotics, via combinatorial biosynthesis in photosynthetic microorgansims. The outcomes include graduate student training and Australian innovation in an enormous global market that is awaiting the next generation of medicines and associated pharmaceutical production technologies.Read moreRead less
Identification of genes controlling wood fibre properties in Eucalyptus nitens. Australian forestry is shifting to high intensity eucalypt plantations and increasingly focussing on development of breeds and clones with superior wood and pulp traits. Many of these traits are under moderate to strong genetic control and DNA markers have helped identify regions on eucalypt chromosomes that influence these traits. This project aims to identify the genes at these chromosomal locations that influence ....Identification of genes controlling wood fibre properties in Eucalyptus nitens. Australian forestry is shifting to high intensity eucalypt plantations and increasingly focussing on development of breeds and clones with superior wood and pulp traits. Many of these traits are under moderate to strong genetic control and DNA markers have helped identify regions on eucalypt chromosomes that influence these traits. This project aims to identify the genes at these chromosomal locations that influence wood fibre development and which have a strong influence on major commercial traits. The project will increase our understanding of wood and fibre development in eucalypts, and facilitate development of genetic markers to track superior genes during breeding.Read moreRead less
Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Cala ....Australian native plant species as models for understanding the regulation and roles of betalain pigment synthesis. This project will have triple bottom line benefits. Economic: new cultivars developed from understanding betalains will sell worldwide, generating returns, incomes and employment in urban, peri-urban and rural Australia. Social: Novel Ptilotus and Calandrinia cultivars will adorn parks and gardens around Australia, thereby enhancing quality of life. Environmental: Ptilotus and Calandrinia are inherently drought resistant. Novel ornamental cultivars will have high water use efficiency and contribute to water conservation in urban Australia in the face of drought and global warming. Moreover, understanding their synthesis and roles could yield new strategies for enhancing stress tolerance in other species, including crop plants.Read moreRead less
Pre-clinical evaluation of snake venom proteins with therapeutic potential. Australia harbors some of the most toxic snakes in the world. Their venoms contain a range of substances that are designed to rapidly immobilize and kill their prey. These include agents that lead to enhanced blood clotting; excess bleeding. We have isolated and characterized a large number of the components involved over the last several years. The aim here is to carry out pre-clinical trials in animal models to test th ....Pre-clinical evaluation of snake venom proteins with therapeutic potential. Australia harbors some of the most toxic snakes in the world. Their venoms contain a range of substances that are designed to rapidly immobilize and kill their prey. These include agents that lead to enhanced blood clotting; excess bleeding. We have isolated and characterized a large number of the components involved over the last several years. The aim here is to carry out pre-clinical trials in animal models to test the efficacy of three proteins as anti-bleeding agents and investigate several other novel components. The ultimate outcome will be the development of novel drugs that will have application in the treatment of human disorders. Read moreRead less
Clean fuels for the future: Scale up and optimisation of microalgal oil production and biodiesel synthesis. The development of renewable carbon-neutral fuels is an urgent challenge facing our society. This project aims to develop an innovative system for biodiesel production from local Australian algae species. If cultivated under the right conditions, microalgae are very efficient near-continuous producers of biodiesel and are likely the only renewable source of fuel that could match our curren ....Clean fuels for the future: Scale up and optimisation of microalgal oil production and biodiesel synthesis. The development of renewable carbon-neutral fuels is an urgent challenge facing our society. This project aims to develop an innovative system for biodiesel production from local Australian algae species. If cultivated under the right conditions, microalgae are very efficient near-continuous producers of biodiesel and are likely the only renewable source of fuel that could match our current and future demand without competing for arable land and food production. Such systems couple the national/community benefits of energy generation, carbon-capture, biodiesel production and the clean-up of wastewater. Successful outcomes from this project will bring this innovative technology closer to commercial reality. Read moreRead less
Second generation biofuels: developing environmentally friendly high-efficiency microalgae for biofuel production. The development of CO2-neutral (biodiesel) and CO2-free (hydrogen) fuels is an urgent challenge facing our society to combat climate change and protect against oil price shocks. Successful outcomes from this project will bring this innovative technology closer to commercial reality. The solar-powered microalgal systems being developed, offer a number of national/community benefits ....Second generation biofuels: developing environmentally friendly high-efficiency microalgae for biofuel production. The development of CO2-neutral (biodiesel) and CO2-free (hydrogen) fuels is an urgent challenge facing our society to combat climate change and protect against oil price shocks. Successful outcomes from this project will bring this innovative technology closer to commercial reality. The solar-powered microalgal systems being developed, offer a number of national/community benefits including
1. A high-efficiency frontier-technology for clean fuel production for the Australian and international market
2. A new process to desalinate water
3. Frontier technology to sequester atmospheric CO2
4. Frontier technologies for wealth generation in drought- or salinity-affected and naturally arid regionsRead moreRead less