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
Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentia ....Long noncoding RNAs and their regulatory roles in epigenetic control of gene expression in plants. Epigenetic control of gene expression plays a critical role in development, environmental adaptation, stress response and disease resistance in plants, but its molecular basis remains largely unknown. The proposed study should contribute to the emerging field of epigenetics by discovering new regulatory noncoding RNAs involved in epigenetic mechanisms in plants. These new discoveries could potentially provide new opportunities and platforms for improving the performance, yield and quality of crop plants. The proposed study is therefore consistent with the national research priority goals such as breakthrough science, frontier technologies and promoting an innovation culture.Read moreRead less
Controlling the rate of transcription and translation of Rubisco transgenes effectively in higher-plant plastids. Genetic transformation of the circular genome of the plastids provides a containable means for modifying plant growth by manipulating photosynthesis. Although the transformation mechanism is precise, predicting the level of foreign gene expression is difficult because the amounts of messenger RNA and protein produced by foreign genes in plastids varies widely, even when the protein a ....Controlling the rate of transcription and translation of Rubisco transgenes effectively in higher-plant plastids. Genetic transformation of the circular genome of the plastids provides a containable means for modifying plant growth by manipulating photosynthesis. Although the transformation mechanism is precise, predicting the level of foreign gene expression is difficult because the amounts of messenger RNA and protein produced by foreign genes in plastids varies widely, even when the protein assembles without difficulty. This project will devise strategies for controlling this variability that will facilitate attempts to exploit plastid transformation for transplanting better versions of the photosynthetic CO2-fixing enzyme, Rubisco, into plants to improve their growth efficiency in terms of water, fertiliser and light use.Read moreRead less
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
Beyond the gene: Linking herbivore behaviour to plant defense gene expression. This collaborative project investigates insect herbivore avoidance of plant defence mechanisms. Our project is novel because it integrates changes in the plant at a number of different levels and links them to insect foraging behaviour. Researchers assume that insects respond to plant defences by changing their foraging behaviour. This has not been tested directly. We use the genetically well characterised plant Arabi ....Beyond the gene: Linking herbivore behaviour to plant defense gene expression. This collaborative project investigates insect herbivore avoidance of plant defence mechanisms. Our project is novel because it integrates changes in the plant at a number of different levels and links them to insect foraging behaviour. Researchers assume that insects respond to plant defences by changing their foraging behaviour. This has not been tested directly. We use the genetically well characterised plant Arabidopsis and the world-wide pest Helicoverpa (heliothis) as a model system. Damage caused to crops by insect herbivores is a direct function of behaviour. Understanding this behaviour will lead to improved pest management and reduced economic losses.Read moreRead less
The co-expression of visual pigments in a single photoreceptor: environmental regulation and spectral tuning. The light sensitive cells (photoreceptors) in the vertebrate retina contain filters (oil droplets) and visual pigments (opsins). These structures tune the incoming light and initiate the visual process, respectively. Exciting new research reveals that some vertebrates express more than one opsin within a single photoreceptor. We plan to examine the regulation of single and two co-express ....The co-expression of visual pigments in a single photoreceptor: environmental regulation and spectral tuning. The light sensitive cells (photoreceptors) in the vertebrate retina contain filters (oil droplets) and visual pigments (opsins). These structures tune the incoming light and initiate the visual process, respectively. Exciting new research reveals that some vertebrates express more than one opsin within a single photoreceptor. We plan to examine the regulation of single and two co-expressed opsin genes by manipulating the light environment. We expect to determine the environmental triggers for visual pigment tuning and the effects of co-expression on colour vision.Read moreRead less
Environmental regulation of opsin expression and spectral tuning in the vertebrate retina. Exciting new evidence shows that the vertebrate visual system is extraordinarily plastic and that the colour and brightness of the ambient light regulates both the spatial and temporal expression of visual pigments (opsin) genes and the degree of spectral filtering in the retina. Based on findings that more than one visual pigment can be co-expressed in a single photoreceptor type, we plan to manipulate th ....Environmental regulation of opsin expression and spectral tuning in the vertebrate retina. Exciting new evidence shows that the vertebrate visual system is extraordinarily plastic and that the colour and brightness of the ambient light regulates both the spatial and temporal expression of visual pigments (opsin) genes and the degree of spectral filtering in the retina. Based on findings that more than one visual pigment can be co-expressed in a single photoreceptor type, we plan to manipulate the light environment in order to identify and quantify the effect of different lighting regimes by morphological, spectral and molecular techniques in a concerted effort to understand the regulation of opsin expression.Read moreRead less
Systemic control of nodule proliferation. We aim to clone and characterize the functions of the supernodulation (NTS-1) locus of soybean using positional cloning and functional genomics approaches. Supernodulation fascinatingly results from a mutant Nts-1 gene functioning in the shoot, although the phenotype is expressed as excessive nodule proliferation in the root. The cloned gene will be used to monitor expression changes after inoculation with Bradyrhizobium, treatment with nitrate, nod-fac ....Systemic control of nodule proliferation. We aim to clone and characterize the functions of the supernodulation (NTS-1) locus of soybean using positional cloning and functional genomics approaches. Supernodulation fascinatingly results from a mutant Nts-1 gene functioning in the shoot, although the phenotype is expressed as excessive nodule proliferation in the root. The cloned gene will be used to monitor expression changes after inoculation with Bradyrhizobium, treatment with nitrate, nod-factor, xylem exudates and phytohormones. We will use RT-PCR, in situ hybridisation and reporter gene expression in transgenic plants. Microarray analysis of soybean ESTs (4200 arrayed) will analyse concurrent gene expression changes in both root and shoot.Read moreRead less
Genetic and molecular analysis of long-distance gene silencing in Arabidopsis. Gene silencing is a surveillance mechanism in plants and animals to ensure that all genes are switched on or off at the right time. It is also a defence mechanism against viruses. Perturbation of gene silencing can be a cause of genetic diseases, and conversely, gene silencing has immense potential as a therapeutic tool for correcting genetic diseases and curing viral diseases. When silencing is triggered against a ge ....Genetic and molecular analysis of long-distance gene silencing in Arabidopsis. Gene silencing is a surveillance mechanism in plants and animals to ensure that all genes are switched on or off at the right time. It is also a defence mechanism against viruses. Perturbation of gene silencing can be a cause of genetic diseases, and conversely, gene silencing has immense potential as a therapeutic tool for correcting genetic diseases and curing viral diseases. When silencing is triggered against a gene or virus in plants, genetic signals are transmitted throughout the organism to systemically switch off the specific gene or virus. Expected long-term national/community benefits from understanding gene silencing are wide-ranging, from improved crops through to drugs and gene therapy.Read moreRead less
CENTRE for INTEGRATIVE LEGUME RESEARCH. Legumes are essential for environmental sustainability and are important for maintaining human health. The Centre combines innovative genomic approaches to investigate the causal phenotypic links required for regulation of legume growth. The unique coexistence of multiple pluripotent meristems in shoots, roots, flowers and nodules permits the discovery of new paradigms governing legume architecture, reproductive differentiation and root-nodule developmen ....CENTRE for INTEGRATIVE LEGUME RESEARCH. Legumes are essential for environmental sustainability and are important for maintaining human health. The Centre combines innovative genomic approaches to investigate the causal phenotypic links required for regulation of legume growth. The unique coexistence of multiple pluripotent meristems in shoots, roots, flowers and nodules permits the discovery of new paradigms governing legume architecture, reproductive differentiation and root-nodule development. New knowledge of the plant growth processes through mechanistic analysis of organ induction provides the tools to optimise the legume's productivity, quality, and environment adaptation.Read moreRead less