Roots Agronomy for Women in Farm Business

Transcription

A review of Research
Projects supported by
the GRDC in 2013-14
Theme 6
Building Skills and Capacity
Table of Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................11
AAA00007: ABCA 2012-13 and 2013-14..............................................................................15
ARL00007: Australian Rural Leadership Foundation Limited ...................................................16
ARL00008: Australian Rural Leadership Program ..................................................................17
DAN00185: Post Doctoral Fellow - Soil nutritional chemistry in southern grains farming systems ..18
DAS00142: Traineeships in Applied Grains Research ............................................................19
DER00018: GRDC Network Survey 2013.............................................................................20
GCS10433: Improved Adaptation to Drought.........................................................................21
GCS10750: Conference Sponsorship - Grass-Roots Agronomy for Women in Farm Business......22
GCS10751: Conference Sponsorship - Extending life cycle assessment (LCA) to include soil ......23
GCS10752: Conference Sponsorship - BCG Grains Research Expo ........................................24
GCS10754: Conference Sponsorship - International Association of Plant Biotechnology 2014......25
GCS10755: Conference Sponsorship - Australasian Plant Breeding Conference 2014 ................26
GCS10757: Conference Sponsorship - Farmsafe - Working for the Future ................................27
GCS10759: Conference Sponsorship - Sydney Royal Easter Show - Grains education displays ...28
GCS10760: Conference Sponsorship - SAGA 2014 Industry Day - Life beyond Glyphosate.........29
GCS10761: Conference Sponsorship - 2014 SANTFA Conference ..........................................30
GCS10762: Conference Sponsorship - SEPWA Harvest Review and Season Preview, 2014 .......31
GCS10764: Conference Sponsorship - Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association 2014 Major
Conference......................................................................................................................32
GCS10765: Conference Sponsorship - 17th Australian Nitrogen Fixation Conference .................34
GCS10766: Conference Sponsorship - 2014 International Plant Cell Wall Meeting .....................35
GCS10767: Conference Sponsorship - 8th Australasian Soilborne Diseases Symposium (8ASDS)
......................................................................................................................................36
6. Building Skills & Capacity
GCS10768: Conference Sponsorship - 11th Australasian Plant Virology Workshop ....................37
2
GCS10769: Conference Sponsorship - Digital Rural Futures Conference..................................38
GCS10771: Conference Sponsorship - Victorian Farmers Federation Annual Grains Conference .39
GCS10774: Conference Sponsorship - AGSA - AGSA2014 ....................................................40
GCS10778: Conference Sponsorship - UNFS - Annual Field Day ............................................41
GCS10789: Conference Sponsorship - NCMC -Boosting Productivity in North-West NSW ...........42
GCS10790: Conference Sponsorship - MSF Research, Development & Extension Tri-State Forum
......................................................................................................................................43
GCS10797: Conference Sponsorship – WA Farmers 2014 Annual Conference - Grains Section...44
GGA00003: Grain Gain--Leadership for Grains Industry Innovation ..........................................45
GRS10004: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Alice Burgess (ANU) Identifying novel
epigenetic components that regulate seed size in a model plant, Arabidopsis.............................46
GRS10026: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Foyjunnessa (UA) Assesing management
options for enhancing soil phosphorus availability using rotations .............................................47
GRS10027: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Heidi Waddell (UWA) Phosphorus-use
efficiency of Austrodanthonia..............................................................................................49
GRS10028: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Hollie Webster (UMU) Genetic factors and
genes underpinning drought response in wheat.....................................................................50
GRS10029: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Karl Andersson (UNE) Manipulation of P
sorption in agricultural soils ................................................................................................52
GRS10031: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Laura Blake (UA) Use of novel wheat (waxy
durum) in baking applications .............................................................................................53
3
GRS10034: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Luke Holtham (UA) Identification of the
Controller of Nitrate Transport in Maize ................................................................................54
GRS10036: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Maree Horne (USQ) Inter-relationships
between Bipolaris sorokiniana isolates involved in spot blotch, common root rot and black point in
winter cereals...................................................................................................................56
GRS10037: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Michael Ashworth (UWA) Evolved Glyphosate
resistance in wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum L) populations with the use of Glyphosate
resistant genetically modified canola....................................................................................57
GRS10038: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Mirja Guldner (US) Enhancing plant nutrition
with rhizosphere microorganisms ........................................................................................59
GRS10039: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Monica Kehoe (UWA) Unraveling the cause of
black pod disease of narrow-leafed lupin and developing a control solution ...............................60
GRS10040: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - My-my Huynh (UF) Examining the role of
sucrose transporter HvSUT1 in increasing yield and iron/zinc content in Rice ............................61
GRS10041: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Peter Gous (UQ) Understanding abiotic stress
impacts on cereal starch structure and value-added quality through genetic and environmental
screening ........................................................................................................................62
GRS10042: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Peter McEntee (CUR) The integration and
validation of precision management tools for mixed farming systems. .......................................63
GRS10044: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Rhiannon Schilling (UA) Evaluating the salt
tolerance of transgenic wheat and barley..............................................................................64
GRS10045: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Ryan Kearns (UQ) Genetic variability and
physiological mechanisms controlling time to flowering in wheat under high temperatures ...........65
GRS10061: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Robert Syme (CUR) Comparative genomics of
necrotrophic fungal pathogens ............................................................................................66
GRS10063: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Oliver Buddrick (RMIT) Bread making
procedure, product digestibility and impact on sensibility to gluten proteins................................67
GRS10248: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Amanda Huen (US) Regulation and longdistance movement of nutrient starvation-responsive plant microRNAs .....................................68
GRS10249: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Andrew Kettle (UQ) Functional pathogen
genomics and characterisation of the infection mechanisms of the wheat and barley crown rot
pathogen, Fusarium pseudograminearum.............................................................................69
GRS10258: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Ella Brear (US) Charcterising potential
symbiosome membrane proteins essential to the legume-rhizobium symbiosis ..........................70
GRS10259: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - George Dimitroff (UA) (1,3;1,4)-?-D-glucan
biosynthesis in the Poaceae: Exploring transcriptional regulation, associated expression and
specific activities of biosynthetic enzymes.............................................................................71
GRS10263: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Jessey George (UA) Effect of small amounts of
ammonium on the total nitrogen nutrition and on overall nutrition of maize .................................72
GRS10268: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Karthika Krishnasamy (UMU) Wheat
potassium nutrition in saline and/or sodic soils and in drought-prone environments .....................73
GRS10275: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Max Bergmann (UWA) The use of potassium
to improve water usage, growth and yield of canola in European high-yielding and Australian lowyielding farming systems....................................................................................................74
GRS10290: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Wenywati Tjong (RMIT) Forms, analysis and
GRS10035: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Madeline Tucker (CUR) Minimising fungicide
resistance........................................................................................................................55
stability of vitamin E and selenium in grains and grain products ...............................................75
GRS10329: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Christina Delay (ANU) Investigating the role of
root architecture regulators as mediators of environmental information in root development .........76
GRS10335: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Courtney Peirce (UA) Foliar Fertilisation Of
Wheat Plants - Phosphorus in Combination with Other Nutrients..............................................77
GRS10336: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Tawanda Kapfuchira (US) Genetics of
Biofortified Wheat .............................................................................................................78
GRS10404: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Dustin Severtson (UWA) Detection and
epidemiology of spring aphids in canola ...............................................................................79
GRS10405: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Guoquan Liu (UQ) Manipulating seed storage
proteins to enhance sorghum digestibility .............................................................................80
GRS10407: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Juanita Lauer-Smith (UA) Characterisation of
novel forms of beta-glucanase in malting barley ....................................................................81
GRS10408: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Julia Andrys (UMU) Spatial and Temporal
Distribution of Severe Weather Events and their Impact on Grain Crops....................................82
GRS10421: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Daniel O'Connor (UQ) Development of
functional molecular markers for key agronomic traits in the culitvated peanut, using nextgeneration sequencing technologies ....................................................................................83
GRS10432: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Thomas Jason Major (ANU) Communicating
controversial science to farmers ..........................................................................................84
GRS10437: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Kasra Sabermenesh (UA) Responses of maize
roots to nitrogen supply .....................................................................................................85
GRS10440: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Kevin Adamson (Sunshine Coast)
Investigation of metabolic regulatory genes and hormones in pest snails. ..................................86
GRS10460: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Julia Man (UWA) Characterisation of
Arabidopsis nitrilases and 14-3-3 interactions in the processes of photosynthetic loss, leaf
senescence and plant stress ..............................................................................................87
GRS10471: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Kylie Foster (USA) Whole-of-plant study of
salinity tolerance: A mathematical modelling approach ...........................................................88
GRS10474: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - John Hayles (UA) Nanotechnology and
chemical-free approach for the protection of stored grain ........................................................89
GRS10477: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Volkan Arici (USQ) On-the-go proximal soil
exchangeable ion sensing for precision management of sodicity ..............................................90
GRS10483: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Aaron Preston (UCS) Determination of genetic
markers for herbicide resistance in annual ryegrass using diversity array technology ..................91
GRS10490: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Jana Phan (UA) Identification of arabionxylan
biosynthetic genes in plants ...............................................................................................92
GRS10501: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Kimberly Alexander (UQ) Identification of
quantitative trait loci associated with heat tolerance in wheat for increased fertility and grain
development/genetic variability in heat responses for grain development...................................93
GRS10505: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Oliver Mead (ANU ) Investigating the role of
gamma-aminobutryic acid in pathogenicity in fungal wheat diseases ........................................94
GRS10507: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Reece Tollenaere (UQ) Identification of
blackleg resistance genes in canola.....................................................................................95
4
GRS10512: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Josh Chopin (USA) Mathematical and
Computational Modelling for the Phenotypic Analysis of Cereal Plants ......................................96
GRS10532: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Jonathan Powell (UQ) Identifying sources of
resistance to necrotrophic plant pathogens using the model grass Brachypodium distachyon .......97
GRS10564: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Alison Renwick (CUR) Effector gene prediction
from fungal pathogen genome assemblies............................................................................98
GRS10566: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Myrtille Lacoste (UWA) Understanding the
strategies of outstanding performers in dryland farming enterprises ..........................................99
GRS10577: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Kirt Hainzer Thesis research into the biological
farming approach............................................................................................................ 100
5
GRS10578: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Paul Kavanagh (US) Genetics of host:
pathogen interactions in the Puccinia hordei: Hordeum vulgare pathosystem ........................... 101
GRS10660: GRS - Eisrat Jahan (US) Genetypic variation in mesophyll conductance of wheat
(Triticum aestivum) and its effect on WUE .......................................................................... 103
GRS10661: GRS - Emma Thompson (UQ) Brewer Nutrient recovery from wastewater using
electrodialysis ................................................................................................................ 104
GRS10664: GRS - Clare Flakelar (UCS) Canola quality - the influence of processing parameters on
valuable minor components. ............................................................................................. 105
GRS10667: GRS - Fabian Inturrisi (UQ) Identification of candidate genes for blackleg resistance in
Brassica Juncea............................................................................................................. 106
GRS10683: GRS - Diep Ganguly (ANU) What are the epigenetic mechanisms involved in regulating
stress response in Arabidopsis thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon................................... 107
GRS10686: GRS - Jessica Mackay (UA) Biological farming systems: is there a role for mycorrhizas
and organic amendments in the grain industry?................................................................... 108
GRS10687: GRS - John Rivers (ANU) RNA secondary structure and the regulation of metabolism
.................................................................................................................................... 109
GRS10690: GRS - Kenton Porker (UA) Manipulating and understanding barley phenology to
maximise yield potential................................................................................................... 110
GRS10691: GRS - Kylie Wenham (UQ) Investigations into the biology and management of
Neocosmospora root rot of peanuts in Australia................................................................... 111
GRS10692: GRS - Nathan Craig (UWA) The influence of cereal monoculture and high crop residue
levels on mineral nitrogen availability under long term no-tillage systems. ............................... 112
GRS10694: GRS - Sandra Kerbler (UWA) Investigating the molecular basis of thermal acclimation
in plant mitochondria ....................................................................................................... 113
GRS10695: GRS - Sarah Lorberg (UQ) Novel sources of disease resistance in Brassica .......... 114
GRS10698: GRS - Thomas Simnadis (UW) Studies in Novel Grains for the Australian Food Supply
.................................................................................................................................... 115
GRS10699: GRS - Vijira Wanniarachchi (UF) Alternative respiratory genes can improve tolerance
to abiotic stresses in cereals      ............................................ 116
GRS10780: GRS - Adam Taranto (ANU) Compontents of Immunity to Stagonospora nodorum in
Wheat ........................................................................................................................... 117
GRS10781: GRS - Jayachandra Rongala (UA) Cereal Transport Proteins Involved In Boron Toxicity
Tolerance: How Natural Variation And Sequence Diversification Relate To Structural And
Functional Properties ...................................................................................................... 118
GRS187: Grains Industry Research Scholarship - Liza Parkinson (UMU) Investigating the method
of action of plant growth promoting Rhizosphere bacteria enhancing nodulation in legumes ....... 119
GTA10022: Travel Award - Mr Pradeep Sornaraj (UF) The XV Congress on Molecular PlantMicrobe Interaction/Presenting data at the Conference ......................................................... 120
GTA10267: Travel Award - Julia Brueggemann (UA) Plant & Animal Genome XX .................... 121
GTA10348: Travel Award - Maarten Kooiker (CSP) International Plant Molecular Biology Congress
.................................................................................................................................... 122
GTA10361: Travel Award – Alexandra Milner-Smyth (SAN) SANTFA Bus Trip to New South Wales
.................................................................................................................................... 123
GRS10658: GRS - Ailisa Blum (UQ) Regulation of the production of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol
by Fusarium graminearum and its according virulence on wheat and barley............................. 102
GTA10368: Travel Award - Matthew Gilliham (UA) Conference Travel to US and visits researchers
to strike up collaboration .................................................................................................. 124
GTA10385: Travel Award – Sarita Bennett (CUR) To present a paper at the 16th Australian
Agronomy Conference..................................................................................................... 125
GTA10419: Travel Award - Bo Xu (UA) International Workshop on Plant Membrane Biology XVI
2013 ............................................................................................................................. 126
GTA10422: Travel Award - Kaitao Lai (UQ) PAG XXI Conference .......................................... 127
GTA10427: Travel Award - Roslyn Jettner (DAW) Understanding the China market and its
requirement for Milling Oats - Industry Champion travel ........................................................ 128
GTA10428: Travel Award - Sandra Schmoeckel (UA) International Workshop on Plant Membrane
Biology XVI 2013 ............................................................................................................ 129
GTA10430: Travel Award - Stephen Carr (Aglime) Gain a more detailed understanding of
techniques used in encouraging farmers to apply adequate lime to remove soil acidity .............. 130
GTA10475: Travel Award - Michael Nash (UM) Attend conference and gain knowledge of current
slug control research....................................................................................................... 132
GTA10498: Travel Award - Iain Searle (ANU) Keystone Conference- RNA Silencing ................ 133
GTA10499: Travel Award - Jiaen Qiu (ACPFG) International Workshop on Plant Membrane Biology
XVI 2013 ....................................................................................................................... 134
GTA10511: Travel Award - Wenmian Huang (ACPFG) International Workshop on Plant Membrane
Biology XVI 2013 ............................................................................................................ 135
GTA10579: Travel Award - Andrew Robson APRES Conference, project development with
University of Florida, USDA and Birdsong Peanut ................................................................ 136
GTA10592: Travel Award - Huajian Liu 2013 Society for Engineering in Agricuture Conference .. 137
GTA10600: Travel Award - Keith Alcock Genetically Modified Crops Coexistence Conference,
GMCC-13...................................................................................................................... 138
GTA10605: Travel Award - Dr Megan McDonald 10th International Congress of Plant Pathology 139
GTA10625: Travel Award – ICC-AGSA 2013 ...................................................................... 140
GTA10638: Travel Award - Scott Boden Attendence of International Wheat Genetics Symposium
.................................................................................................................................... 142
GTA10643: Travel Award - Kim-Yen Phan Thien To participate in the 13th ASEAN Food
Conference 2013 on Meeting Future Food Demands: Security and Sustainability ..................... 143
6
GTA10705: Travel Award - Ehsan Tavakkoli (UA) 20th World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS) 144
GTA10706: Travel Award - Elizabeth Kingston (WNRM) Resilience 2014................................ 145
GTA10707: Travel Award - Glen Fox (UQ) 23rd Institute of Brewing & Distilling Convention Asia Pacific Section (ht .................................................................................................... 146
GTA10709: Travel Award - Jason Terpolilli (UMU) The three objectives of this study tour are:1.
Present my research paper at th ....................................................................................... 147
GTA10712: Travel Award - Julien Bonneau (UM) PAG ......................................................... 148
GTA10715: Travel Award - Manuel Zander (UQ) International Plant & Animal Genome XXII
Conference.................................................................................................................... 149
GTA10717: The current status, potential applications and future directions of bacterial biocontrol
research against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum of canola in Australia.............................................. 150
GTA10718: Travel Award - Muhammad Munir Iqbal (UWA) To present poster in Plant and Animal
Genome (PAG) Conference, 2014 and study vi ................................................................... 151
GTA10721: Travel Award - Enli Wang, Zhongkui Luo, Hongtao Xing (CSO) 20th World Congress of
Soil Science................................................................................................................... 153
GTA10786: Travel Award - Shi Ying Yang (UA) Attend the Plant Genomics Congress:Asia........ 154
ICN00017: Industry Pertnership Initiative ............................................................................ 155
IDA10355: Industry Development Award - Living Farming - Farming systems and the continued
problem of herbicide resistance ........................................................................................ 156
IDA10441: Attendance & dissemination of info from the Global Herbicide Resistance Conference
Feb 2013....................................................................................................................... 157
7
IDA10447: Industry Development Award - AgriKnowHow - Precision Agriculture (PA) and
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) study tour ................................................ 158
IDA10463: Industry Development Award - DAN - Understanding and interpreting grains research
and extension ................................................................................................................ 160
IDA10482: Industry Development Award - Riverine Plains - Resistance Roadtrip...................... 161
IDA10503: Industry Development Award - Morowa Farm Improvement Group - Global Herbicide
Resistance Challenge Conference .................................................................................... 162
IDA10508: Industry Development Award - Holmes Farm Consulting - Pulse market and agronomic
opportunities .................................................................................................................. 163
IDA10513: Industry Development Award - Hooper Consulting - North America farmers study tour
.................................................................................................................................... 164
IDA10587: Industry Development Award - WAGG in China - Continuous improvement and
innovation of grower education and market development within the complex agricultural
relationships between China and Western Australia. ............................................................ 165
IDA10588: Industry Development Award - Mallee Sustainable Farming Karoonda Field Day 2013
.................................................................................................................................... 166
IDA10589: Industry Development Award - South Australian grain production with declining rainfall
tour .............................................................................................................................. 167
IDA10596: Industry Development Award - Learning the best from the West - FarmLink WA Study
Tour ............................................................................................................................. 168
IDA10601: Industry Development Award - The Changing Nature of Agricultural Training ........... 169
IDA10614: Industry Development Award - Farming systems and the move to continuous cropping
.................................................................................................................................... 170
IDA10621: Industry Development Award - Grower attendance - Australian Summer Grains
Conference June 2013 .................................................................................................... 171
IDA10728: RPI New Zealand Study Tour............................................................................ 172
IDA10732: IDA - WANTFA  - Growers South America Study Tour ................................. 173
IDA10734: IDA - RAIN - Perth 2014 Agribusiness Crop Updates ............................................ 174
IDA10736: IDA - MSF - Mallee Sustainable Farming team participating in the GRDC Update for
Advisors - South Australia................................................................................................ 175
IDA10740: IDA - ASS - Study tour of research and farming practices that improve soil management
in the low rainfall Mallee................................................................................................... 176
IDA10741: IDA - Rural Directions - Study Tour to WA Northern Wheatbelt to look at Herbicide
Resistance and Other Issues ............................................................................................ 177
IDA10743: IDA - Ag Excellence Alliance - Annual Grower Group Forum.................................. 178
IDA10772: IDA - UNFS - Eastern Low Rainfall Zone Bus Tour............................................... 179
IDA10784: IDA - BCG - Grower study tour of WA Northern Agricultural Region focused on
management of resistant wild radish.................................................................................. 180
IDA10798: IDA- RAIN - 2014 Innovation Generation Conference - Toowoomba, Queensland..... 181
IDA10799: IDA - Liebe Group - Innovation Generation Young Farmers Tour ............................ 182
LYH00001: Theme 6 Strategy and MERI Plan..................................................................... 183
ORM00011: Farm Business Management Updates in the Southern Region ............................. 184
IDA10452: Industry Development Award - Dodgshun Medlin Agricultural Management - Ten Years
of No-till in the Victorian Mallee "Celebration and Demonstration" .......................................... 159
PIG00007: Building the human capacity of grain growers through Partners in Grain.................. 186
SEP00012: Technology integration workshops in the Western Region.................................... 187
TAY00002: GRDC Network Stakeholder Engagement Strategy ............................................. 188
TEK00001: Western Region Fast Track- Determining economic rates and incorporation for lime in
the Eastern wheatbelt o ................................................................................................... 189
UHS10054: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Julian Greenwood (ANU) Genetic regulation of
cereal spike architecture .................................................................................................. 190
UHS10225: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Bethany Clark (UM) Leptosphaeria effectors:
key determinants of blackleg disease of canola ................................................................... 191
UHS10226: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Cheryl Day (UWA) Economic impact of soil
borne diseases over the entire rotation sequence ................................................................ 192
UHS10228: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Deon Heys (UT) Effect of irrigation and N supply
on water-use efficiency of barley ....................................................................................... 193
UHS10229: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Elisha Thynne (ANU) Analysing the production
risks in the white grain pathogen Botryosphaeria zeae.......................................................... 194
UHS10232: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - James Campbell (UWA) Effect and economic
benefit of rate of soil wetting agent in gravelly loam pasture and cropping systems. .................. 195
UHS10234: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Jasmine Hart (UF) Interactions of actinobacteria
with rhizobia................................................................................................................... 196
UHS10235: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Jeremy Brown (US) In crop assessment of soil
microbial communities following compost application ........................................................... 197
UHS10236: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Joanna Lang (UWA) A financial analysis of onfarm grain storage and handling in Western Australia........................................................... 198
UHS10237: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Karen Shears (UQ) A quantitative approach
relating crown-rot resistance to water-use efficiency and grain yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum)199
UHS10238: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Kimberley Duver (UNE) Application of mixed
waste organic outputs to cropping soils - potentialbenefits and pitfalls: impacts on soil biology and
function" ........................................................................................................................ 200
UHS10241: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Marcela Cespedes (USA) Image fusion for
phenotypic analysis of plant images................................................................................... 201
8
UHS10242: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Melissa Ann Coventry (UA) Can rye genes be
used to ‘supercharge’ aluminium tolerance in wheat and barley? - A transgenic approach to dissect
biochemical and biological properties of organic anion transporters from rye a ......................... 202
UHS10244: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Oliver Mead (ANU) An analysis of gammaaminobutyric acid metabolism in the wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum.......................... 203
UHS10338: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Nadine Nolan (QUT) Immigration levels of
C.ferrugineus ................................................................................................................. 204
UHS10356: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Michelle Low (UCS) PBA Health Benefits of
Australian Pulses............................................................................................................ 205
UHS10360: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Kyle Reynolds (UCS) PBA Health Benefits of
Australian Pulses............................................................................................................ 206
UHS10403: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Brenton Leske (UWA) Reducing the impact of
aluminium toxicity using superposphate as a seeding fertiliser ............................................... 207
UHS10410: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Kimberley Adams (UWA) Improving crop
establishment in non-wetting soils through stubble management............................................ 208
UHS10411: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Liam Ryan (UWA) Monitoring the water status of
wheat using novel magnetic probes ................................................................................... 209
UHS10416: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Wesley Lefroy (UWA) Does knowledge of the
soil map improve the utility of remotely sensed soil information? ............................................ 210
UHS10418: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Benjamin Schreiber (UNE) Signalling and
Nutrient Partitioning during Sorghum Grain-fill Under Stress: Informing Breeding Strategies....... 211
UHS10444: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Adam Norman (UA) A genetic dissection of
physical grain quality in wheat .......................................................................................... 212
9
UHS10446: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - King Yin Lui (CUR) Dissection of genetic factors
affecting Ascochyta lentis pathogenicity and its interaction with lentil (Lens culinaris) ................ 213
UHS10456: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Bradley Harding (Uni Sunshine Coast)
Development of molluscan contraceptives: Investigation into the molecular basis of reproduction in
invasive crop snails and slugs........................................................................................... 215
UHS10457: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Clare Flakelar (CSU) Components in Canola Oil
.................................................................................................................................... 216
UHS10458: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - David Zadow (UWA) Grain Profitability maps for
Western Australia ........................................................................................................... 217
UHS10469: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - James Hughes (UW) Improved methods for the
analysis of disease ratings, with application to the GRDC funded Crown Rot project ................. 218
UHS10479: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Deborah Bud (UW) Improved Canola Variety
Information for Farmers ................................................................................................... 219
UHS10480: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Stefan Schmitt (UA) Genetic Control of Heat
Tolerance in Wheat ......................................................................................................... 220
UHS10485: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Daniel Ahfock (UQ) Quantifying uncertainty in
genetic map construction ................................................................................................. 221
UHS10488: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Huw Ogilvie (ANU) Optimising root architecture
for yield and environmental benefits: identifying genetic and epigenetic targets by manipulating
peptide relayed signals .................................................................................................... 222
UHS10504: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Mark Turner (UQ) RNA signalling and plant
disease resistance.......................................................................................................... 223
UHS10509: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Sandra Whitmarsh (UA) Analysis and
performance of key perennial forage shrub to improve production and sustainability in the mixed
farming systems of the SA and Victorian Mallee .................................................................. 224
UHS10527: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Alexander Pocock (UQ) Discovery of small RNA
in the wheat transcriptome ............................................................................................... 225
UHS10548: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Bonnie Hargreaves (UWA) Heritability of
resistance to black spot disease in a field pea recurrent enrichment and association population
(Pea-REAP)................................................................................................................... 226
UHS10549: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Jai Strempel (UF) Micro RNAs and other phloem
molecules coupled with physiological recordings of differing wheat cultivars under salinity stress.
.................................................................................................................................... 227
UHS10659: UHS - Candy Taylor (UWA) Understanding the role of floral integrator locus FT in
controlling phenology in narrow-leafed lupin for future breeding ............................................. 228
UHS10662: UHS - Eleanor Readford (US) The effect of preceding rotation crop (wheat, mustard
and chickpea) on the incidence of crown rot in wheat ........................................................... 229
UHS10663: UHS - Ashley Jacobs (UWA) Economic Analysis of the Harrington Seed Destructor 230
UHS10665: UHS - David Brunton (UT) Determining the residual effect of Roundup (glyphosate) on
successful crop establishment .......................................................................................... 231
UHS10668: UHS - Belinda Worland (UQ) Gene expression of nitrate transporters in Sorghum
bicolor (BTx623) under variable conditions of nitrate supply .................................................. 232
UHS10669: UHS - Danielle Button (UT) Thresholds of success - the on-farm economics of
expanding irrigated grain production in Tasmania's midlands................................................. 233
UHS10454: Undergraduate Honours Scholarship - Benjamin Romeo (US) The effect of slow
release nitrogen fertilisers on biomass production, crop nitrogen content, grain yield and grain
protein concentration....................................................................................................... 214
UHS10670: UHS - Emily Lamberton (US) Effect of windrow burning on water efficiency during the
fallow ............................................................................................................................ 234
UHS10671: UHS - James Walter (UA) Interactions between phosphorus nutrition and plant
development .................................................................................................................. 235
UHS10672: UHS - Jared Murray (UWA) The biochemical mode of action for members of a new
stream of potential herbicides ........................................................................................... 236
UHS10673: UHS - Kyle Mart (UWA) Screening for drought tolerance in wheat: Examining leaf
osmotic potential as a predictor of turgor loss point .............................................................. 237
UHS10674: UHS - Lachlan Rainer (RMI) Effect of cultivar, growth region and malting conditions on
the limit dextrinase activity and inhibition in Australian malting barley...................................... 238
UHS10675: UHS - Matthew Blanc (UQ) TALENs as a novel Sorghum bicolour transformation
method ......................................................................................................................... 239
UHS10676: To characterise a subset of genes in Stagonospora nodorum and determine their role
in causing disease .......................................................................................................... 240
UHS10677: UHS - Olivia Agar (US) Discovering genetic variation in pollen heat tolerance in wheat
.................................................................................................................................... 241
UHS10678: UHS - Scott Thompson (UWA) Does the reflectance of visible and near infrared light
differentiate between frosted and non-frosted wheat?........................................................... 242
UHS10679: UHS - Shona Wood (UQ) Field assessment of highly digestible sorghum starch
biosynthetic pathway variants ........................................................................................... 243
UHS10681: UHS - William Nak (UQ) Pseudomonas infection response in NSP mutants............ 244
UHS10782: UHS - Bethany Radford (RMI) The effects of pre-processing on starch characteristics in
cereal grain foods ........................................................................................................... 245
US00069: Enhancing human capacity for soil knowledge transfer and decision making for a
sustainable grains industry ............................................................................................... 246
UT00029: Primary Industry Centre for Science Education (PICSE) - Phase 3 Extension............ 248
UWA00114: Capacity building in Production Agronomy and Farming System (teaching, research
and postgraduate training) at UWA in partnership with GRDC ............................................... 249
10
Introduction
Projects not listed in this review include:
•
service-type activities such as
communication, publications, updates
and workshops;
conference sponsorships, training
scholarships and travel and industry
awards.
•
The review expands our existing
communication products where we summarise
the R&D portfolio in publications such as the
Five-year Strategic Research and
Development Plan, the Annual Operating Plan,
the Annual Report and the Growers Report.
GRDC’s project portfolio is dynamic with
projects concluding and new projects
commencing on a regular basis. The
summaries provided in this review are for
research projects active throughout 2013.
The summary is presented under each of the
GRDC’s six R&D investment themes.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Meeting market requirements;
Improving crop yield;
Protecting your crop;
Advancing profitable farming
systems;
Maintaining the resource base,
and
Building skills and capacity.
Presenting it in this way also shows the
progressive reshaping of the research portfolio
to focus on the critical aspects of grain
production in Australia.
This review is a pilot of what is proposed to
become a regular publication, available to
everyone from the GRDC website.
The GRDC values the input and feedback it
receives from its stakeholders and so would
welcome your feedback on any aspect of this
first review. This way we can continue to
improve and extend this summary
To send us your feedback please email us at
feedback@grdc,com,au
Figure 1 provides an overview of the GRDC’s
investment process; the following sections
describe the six key steps in the process.
11
Step 1—Identification of priorities
Throughout the year, the GRDC improves its
understanding of grains industry RD&E
priorities for the year ahead. Potential issues
are identified through:
•
•
•
•
interaction with growers, advisers and
other industry participants, through
Regional Cropping Solutions network
activities such as grower updates,
adviser updates, forums and field days
consultation with the GRDC regional
panels, GPA, researchers, state
farming organisations and the national
and regional agribusiness reference
groups,
evidence from project reviews, project
progress reports and survey results,
and
consideration of the Australian
Government’s National Research
Priorities and Rural R&D Priorities.
All priorities are looked at as potential areas
for investment in future investment cycles.
Initial suggested high-level resource allocation
for the year ahead of the current financial year
is reported to GPA, in the form of a draft
stakeholder report, prior to December. Final
resource allocations at the theme level are
recommended to the GRDC Board in April of
the following calendar year.
Step 2—Investment Planning Week
In July/August, GRDC managers and regional
panel members meet to discuss issues and
investment areas that address gaps in
investment strategies and the priorities
identified through engagement with
stakeholders.
GRDC managers then develop ‘mini
prospectus’ proposals for new RD&E projects
and existing projects that are due to be
reviewed for further investment. The mini
prospectus outlines the project’s aims,
deliverables and approximate budgets. Each
proposal is categorised as a national
investment or a regional investment, and the
appropriate procurement method (open tender,
limited tender, multistage tender or direct
negotiation) is identified.
The proposals are ranked by GRDC
managers, taking into account the relevant
This review of research and development
projects supported by the Grains Research
and Development Corporation during 2013
aims to improve awareness among growers,
advisers and researchers of some of the these
projects. Written in a friendly and industryorientated style by our research partners, the
review is intended to communicate a summary
of current research in a brief but useful way
The GRDC Investment Process
five-year strategic R&D plan. The GRDC’s
National Panel makes recommendations for
resource allocation to frame a high-level
budget. Based on procurement
recommendations made during Investment
Planning Week, the annual external
investment plan (for the next financial year) is
formulated.
Step 3—Call for tenders
The external investment plan is released in
August/September. Investment proposals
identified as suitable for competitive tender are
published in the plan, which is posted on the
GRDC’s website during the period of call for
tenders. Tenders are evaluated against
specific selection criteria to determine the
preferred provider(s).
About half of the total new investments in any
given year go to tender. Other projects are
directly negotiated, particularly where there is
limited expertise in a research area and/or
there is a need for ongoing access to coowned intellectual property.
The GRDC usually invests in partnership with
the organisations that will deliver the RD&E.
This means that most project investment is a
combination of GRDC funding and research
provider investment.
Step 4—Contracting
The contracting of projects for the next
financial year begins after the Board gives
preliminary approval to theme allocations in
August/September.
Step 5—Status, progress and gap review
meeting
In February/March, GRDC managers and
regional panel members meet to review and
formalise the investments for the forthcoming
financial year. During this meeting:
•
•
•
12
•
•
Progress on the status and
development of new investments
agreed to during Investment Planning
Week is reviewed.
The resources being contributed to
each project by the research
partner(s) are assessed.
Progress in the contracting of projects
is reviewed.
Actual investment that will occur in the
next financial year is refined in line
with the high-level budget.
Investments and refinements to
budget are reflected in the drafts of the
annual operational plan and
•
stakeholder report.
Strategic gaps are assessed, along
with priorities for investment identified
through engagement with
stakeholders, to scope potential
investments for later financial years.
After the meeting, the National Panel provides
revised theme allocations to the GRDC Board.
These recommendations form the basis of the
annual operational plan and the finalised
stakeholder report.
The annual operational plan must be
submitted to the Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry by 1 May. Approval
from the Minister is required prior to the
funding of projects.
Step 6—Assessment of reports
In March each year, annual progress reports
on continuing investments are received and
assessed by GRDC managers, in terms of
both the project’s status against contract
milestones and the quality of the report. The
assessment process identifies issues for
GRDC managers to follow up.
Payments are made to research partners for
projects that have good quality progress
reports and are on track to meet milestones
and achieve contract outputs.
Final reports are assessed for quality of
reporting and achievement of contract
milestones and outputs at the end of each
project (this usually occurs in September)
13
Figure 1 Overview of the investment process. (GPA = Grain Producers Australia, RCS = Regional Cropping Solutions)
Theme 6
Building Skills and Capacity
This theme is focused on generating leadership, innovation and education in the grains sector.
Grains industry RD&E leadership and communication
The GRDC invests in a range of activities, including: sponsorship for conferences and similar activities, the Australian
rural leadership Foundation Program, Nuffield Australian Farming Scholarships, the Primary Industry Centre for
Science Education and the National Youth Science Forum.
Capacity building in the extension sector
The GRDC supports opportunities to maintain or build knowledge and skills among extension providers. One
important investment is support for Adviser Updates, which provide targeted information to advisers.
Capacity building in the research and development sector
The GRDC invests to increase the capacity of the R&D sector, including:
•
•
•
Grains Industry Research Scholarships (GRS) - to encourage post graduate training.
Grains Industry Undergraduate Honours Scholarships (UHS) - to encourage training at undergraduate level.
Travel Awards granted to researchers, individuals or groups wishing to attend a conference or undertake travel
that aligns with the GRDC’s objectives and demonstrates direct benefit to the Australian grains industry.
Capacity building for growers
The GRDC supports training opportunities and resources to help growers access additional skills and new knowledge.
•
•
Industry Development Awards (IDA’s) - for Australian growers or groups for study tours, travel or other forms of
training or study activities approved by the GRDC
Grower Updates – seminars that deliver the outcomes of GRDC-supported research, presented across all grain
growing regions, sometimes in conjunction with grower groups.
AAA00007: ABCA 2012-13 and 2013-14
15
GRDC
Region
Contract
Start 01/07/2012
Contract End
Organisation
Project Code
Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia
Phone
Project Summary
Email
AAA00007
Contact Mr. Claude Gauchat
30/06/2014
ARL00007: Australian Rural Leadership
Foundation Limited
GRDC
Region
Contract
01/07/2009
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Lesley Fitzpatrick
Organisation
Project Summary
16
Project Code
Australian Rural Leadership Program
Phone
31/10/2013
Email
ARL00007
ARL00008: Australian Rural Leadership
Program
17
GRDC
Region
Contract End
Contact Dr. Lesley Fitzpatrick
Organisation
Project Code
Australian Rural Leadership Program
Phone
Project Summary
30/06/2015
Email
ARL00008
Contract
01/07/2012
Start
DAN00185: Post Doctoral Fellow - Soil
nutritional chemistry in southern grains
farming systems
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 07/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Georgina Kelly
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2016
Project Code
DAN00185
Department of Primary Industries, an office of the Department of Trade & Investm
02 8843 1121
Email
georgina.kelly@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Project Summary
Australian grain crops were planted across 24
Mha in 2011. In 2011, Australian agriculture
used a combined 1632 kt of N, P and K to
manage soil nutritional constraints to
production. NSW DPI is a key provider of
research and development capacity and
capability in relation to soil nutritional
chemistry for the Australian grains industry. Dr
Mark Conyers is a Principal Research Scientist
of NSW DPI (Wagga Wagga) and has over 30
years experience in soil nutritional chemistry in
southern grains farming systems.
18
Dr Conyers is nearing retirement and upon
retirement will take a wealth of 'soft' knowledge
with him that will severely reduce the capability
and capacity in the field of soil nutritional
chemistry for the GRDC southern farming
systems region. Dr Conyers is one of several
senior nutritional soil scientists around
Australia in a similar situation, the retirement of
which will substantially reduce the pool of
expertise in this field for the entire Australian
grains industry.
This proposed investment will result in the
appointment of a post-doctoral fellow that is
jointly funded by GRDC and NSW DPI for the
next 3 years (2013-2016) as an understudy to
Dr Conyers and will result in a maintained
capacity in the field of soil chemistry in relation
to crop nutrition.
Following the initial 3 year period of costsharing, NSW DPI will meet the on-going
salary costs of this position.
DAS00142: Traineeships in Applied Grains
Research
19
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Dr. Kathy Ophel-Keller
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2016
Project Code
DAS00142
South Australian Research & Development Institute SARDI
08 8303 9368
Email
kathy.ophelkeller@sa.gov.au
Project Summary
The aim of this project is to encourage
undergraduate agricultural science students
into applied research in the grains industry.
We are offering one year interships focusing
on areas of key need, particularly in crop
protection and agronomy.
The students will have the opportunity to learn
research skills, understand field research,
communication to an industry as well as
scientific audience and gain exposure to a
range of research project areas.
The specific objectives are:-To encourage high
quality agricultural science students to pursue
applied research as a career-To give students
who are interested in applied R & D a broad
overview of the fundamentals of applied R & D
relevant to the grains industry.
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
DER00018: GRDC Network Survey 2013
GRDC
Region
Contract
09/10/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact
Organisation
Project Code
Down to Earth Research
Phone
Project Summary
20
31/01/2014
Email
DER00018
GCS10433: Improved Adaptation to Drought.
21
GRDC
Region
Contract End
Contact Prof. William Erskine
Organisation
Phone
31/08/2013
Project Code
GCS10433
University of Western Australia
08 64881903
Email
william.erskine@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
The theme of the Master Class:
Adaptation to Drought - is highly relevant to
the grains industry in Australia and to that in
developing countries. Master Classes are
primarily aimed at mid-career agricultural
scientists from developing countries, and are
not an entry-level training.
Each Class consists of from 12 - 20
participants. A special point is made of
including a few Australians in Master Classes
wherever possible. A filter to ensure quality of
participants is in place whereby a pre-Master
Class questionnaire is administered to
potential participants to ensure the
appropriateness of each individual’s
experience and work context.
For Australia the Master Class training will be
highly relevant to junior to mid-career plant
breeders and to up-skill experienced research
officers in plant breeding programs. Of
particular value to Australian breeders will be
the knowledge sharing and interaction with
other plant breeders practising in a wider
range of Third-World contexts - this was our
experience in the earlier Master Class on
Collaborative Breeding (UWA00137).
Australian plant breeding programs both public
and private - and hence the Australian grains
industry - will benefit from the training in the
Master Class particularly through improved
drought phenotyping.
Contract
27/08/2013
Start
GCS10750: Conference Sponsorship - GrassRoots Agronomy for Women in Farm Business
GRDC
Region National
Contract
15/04/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Louise Flohr
Organisation
16/04/2014
Project Code
GCS10750
Agrilink Agricultural Consultants Pty Ltd
Phone
Email
flohrlouise@gmail.com
Project Summary
The ultimate goal is to improve the skills,
capacity and knowledge of women in farming
businesses.
Women farming business partners are
represented in low numbers at industy events,
and this workshop will provide women with an
opportunity to build on agronomic skills, that
would otherwise be difficult to obtain. In many
cases that I am aware of, the partner of grain
buisnesses (i.e. wife) have come from an
urban area or non-agricultural background,
and knowledge about the day-to-day
operations on farm is limited. They can also
lack detailed knowledge of why certain
22
operations, such as weed control and disease
management are important.
If we can educate these women and empower
them with the knowledge and skills, it will
ultimately build towards a healthy farm
business thus advancing towards more
profitable farming systems.
Women are traditionally the childcarers, and if
we can get a positive message to them about
their industry, hopefully the message will then
be instilled within their children and encourage
the next generation into the industry.
GCS10751: Conference Sponsorship Extending life cycle assessment (LCA) to
include soil
Contract
Start 04/08/2014
Contract End
Contact . Marguerite Renouf
04/09/2014
Project Code
GCS10751
Organisation
Phone
0478 220551
Email
marguerite@lifecycles.com.au
Project Summary
The indicators commonly used in LCA do not
represent the full scope of environmental
impacts of relevance for agricultural industries.
The recommendations from the recently
completed AusAgLCI project (with investment
from GRDC) identified ‘soil function’ as an
important additional impact category to add to
the national inventory.
This workshop will be an important step
towards adding soil functions and qualities as
indicators represented in agricultural LCA
studies. In doing so, it will arm the grains
industry with a more complete picture of its
environmental impacts and environmental
improvement efforts, and help it fulfil its
environmental stewardship responsibilities.
The workshop will also further strengthen the
constructive relationship between the grains
industry (GRDC) and the LCA research
community, so that developments in LCA,
sustainability indicators and product labelling
can be guided and moderated by industry
insight.
GRDC
National
Region
23
GCS10752: Conference Sponsorship - BCG
Grains Research Expo
GRDC
Region National
Contract
07/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Ciara Cullen
07/03/2014
Project Code
GCS10752
Organisation
Phone
(03) 5492 2787
Email
ciara@bcg.org.au
Project Summary
24
The BCG Grains Research Expo is staged to
give grain growers, researchers, farm
consultants and other agricultural product and
service providers a platform to engage with
and learn from one another. Farmers take
home messages and ideas that can be used to
improve the productivity, profitability and
sustainability of their farm enterprise.
services through exhibition booths. The BCG
Grains Research Expo is an event that is well
regarded for its capacity to encourage farmerto-farmer learning, the dissemination of
agricutlural research findings, a technical hub
showcasing the latests apps and electronic
communications and hands-on
demonstrations.
The event features concurrent presentations
focused on agronomic and farm business
management topics. Almost 100 industry
service providers also attend the event
annually to showcase their latest products and
The Grains Research Expo is renowned for
utilising grain growers time efficiently by
having a plethora of information on hand on
one day, in one place.
GCS10754: Conference Sponsorship International Association of Plant
Biotechnology 2014
25
Contract
Start 08/10/2014
Contract End
Contact . Josie Gruber
08/11/2014
Project Code
GCS10754
Organisation
Phone
(02)91268042
Email
josie@wsm.com.au
Project Summary
The symposium, which convenes every four
years, is the peak meeting of scientists
involved in plant biotechnology. The
opportunity to bring the meeting to Australia is
highly prestigious for the national pre-breeding
and breeding industries.
Significant advances have been made during
the period of the last meeting in a range of
technologies and approaches for crop plant
improvement, within and between a range of
industries.
The conference will provide a key forum for
exchange of information and discussion of
such issues, wth consequent benefit to
breeding programs servicing the Australian
grains industry.
GRDC
National
Region
GCS10755: Conference Sponsorship Australasian Plant Breeding Conference 2014
GRDC
Region National
Contract
19/10/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Esther Price
22/10/2014
Project Code
GCS10755
Organisation
Phone
(08)95259222
Email
Esther@estherprice.com.au
Project Summary
The conference will be the first Australasian
Plant Breeding Conference since 2009.
Significant advances have been made within
this time in a range of technologies and
approaches for crop plant improvement, within
and between a range of industries. The
26
conference will provide a key forum for
exchange of information and discussion of
such issues, with consequent benefits to
breeding programs servicing the Australian
grains industry.
GCS10757: Conference Sponsorship Farmsafe - Working for the Future
27
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Kerri-Lynn Peachey
16/10/2014
Project Code
GCS10757
Organisation
Phone
02 6752 8210
Email
kerrilynn.peachey@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
There will be specific focus on implementing
practical farm safety management. To match
this broad representation of rural industry and
service sectors, the conference will focus on
improvements in safety standards through
commodity-based injury prevention programs.
As one of the major commodity sectors the
grains industry stands to benefit from improved
Work Health & Safety systems and a
better understanding/appplication of these by
producers.
Specific information for growers to improve
knowledge and understanding of various
dangers and hazards (such as fatigue and
effects of aging) to enhance behaviour
changes will be provided.
Contract
15/10/2014
Start
GCS10759: Conference Sponsorship - Sydney
Royal Easter Show - Grains education displays
GRDC
Region National
Contract
04/10/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Jodie Dean
Organisation
Phone
23/04/2014
Project Code
GCS10759
Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society
02 9704 1156
Email
jdean@rasnsw.com.au
Project Summary
Similar to the benefits for GRDC directly, this
proposal offers a unique opportunity for the
Australian Grain industry to delivery consumer
messaging and promotion about the industry
to a vast and diverse audience.
The proposal of having two displays across the
Sydney Royal Easter Show allows the
messages to be tailored to the different
audiences at the Sydney Royal Easter
Show.
28
The Centre of Agricultural Excellence, located
alongside the Woolworths Fresh Food Dome
reaches will be focused on messaging
applicable to the general consumer along with
education messages applicable to high school,
tertiary and vocational education levels. The
RAS operated a comprehensive Schools
Program at the Show attracting 12,000
students in 2013.
Approx 60% were high school students,
predominately studying subjects including
agriculture, food technology and design
technology. The key messages of this Schools
Program are: Innovation and Technology in
Australian Agriculture and Career
opportunities. So as to appropriately reach
this audience, the display and messaging will
be around; innovation and technology,
excellence in Australian agriculture,
understaing of grains and products, the
breadth of the Australian industry and our
place in the global market, nutrition and grain
to end use matching and sustainability. The
Centre for Agricultural Excellence displays the
grains entries to the Sydney Royal
compeitions, as received by the iconoc District
Exhibits so this display would deliver
supplimentry information and education
around this display.
The Food Farm pavilion offers a different but
similarly important opportunity, to connect with
young children about food and agriculture
messaging. The Food Farm, ideally located
along the Animal Walk (a colourful pathway
driving showgoers through the agricultural
precinct) is targetted at pre and primary aged
children.
Families with young children are the largest
deomographic attending the Show each year
and is suplimented by School Groups and
vacation care groups. The Food Farm offers a
hands on, interactive learning for children,
highlighting the 'Paddock to Plate' message
through the pavilion themeing.
All of the interactive activities pose to answer
the question "Where does our food come from"
and highlights the role of Australian farmers in
producing it. There has been an effort to
increase the presence of the grains industry
message in this pavilion over the past two
years and there are now displays where
children are able to mill wheat grain, roll oats
and roll out pastry.
There is also a tractor in the pavilion that
children are able to climb into and examples of
a range of grains. We hope to expand this to
show a greater range of grain products, on
farm storage and a more complete message
of the process from the paddock to the plate.
GCS10760: Conference Sponsorship - SAGA
2014 Industry Day - Life beyond Glyphosate
29
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . David Georg
28/02/2014
Project Code
GCS10760
Organisation
Phone
08 8389 1856
Email
secretary@saga.org.au
Project Summary
Awareness of the current state of increasing
glyphosate resistance. An opportunity to learn
about strategies to prevent/delay the
development of glyphosate resistance in
corridors such as fencelines, roadside, etc
Discussion of strategies to minimise the
transfer of resistant weeds from roadsides to
paddocks where grain crops are grown.
Planning alternative weed management
strategies for the time when glyplosate is no
longer effective.
Contract
27/02/2014
Start
GCS10761: Conference Sponsorship - 2014
SANTFA Conference
GRDC
Region National
Contract
21/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Alexandra Milner-Smyth
22/02/2014
Project Code
GCS10761
Organisation
Phone
08 8842 4278
Email
alex@santfa.com.au
Project Summary
30
The SANTFA conference focuses on
communicating the benefits of conservation
agriculture principles direct to SA cropping
farmers.
aim of encourageing local farmers to adopt
contemporary farming methods and
technologies which seek to increase gross
profit, system resiliance and ecological health.
Expert speakers, including leading farmers,
deliver information on topics such as controlled
traffic, stubble retention, minimum tillage,
cover cropping and seed singulisation with the
The SANTFA conference would not be
possible without the generous and ongoing
support of the GRDC.
GCS10762: Conference Sponsorship - SEPWA
Harvest Review and Season Preview, 2014
31
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Niki Curtis
15/03/2014
Project Code
GCS10762
Organisation
Phone
Email
Project Summary
The grains industry benefit from SEPWA's
annual harvest debrief for the following
reasons: valuable extension opportunity of
new crop varieties and crop management
practices; networking opportunity for everyone
in the industry; a great way to find out first
hand the results of the SEPWA on farm farmer
variety trials; and linkages to growers,
marketers, researchers and international end
users are fostered on the day
Contract
14/03/2014
Start
GCS10764: Conference Sponsorship Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association
2014 Major Conference
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 07/03/2014
Contract End
Contact . Nardia Deverell
07/04/2014
Project Code
GCS10764
Organisation
Phone
(03) 6332 1800
Email
Nardia@tfga.com.au
Project Summary
32
The theme of the 2014 Tasmanian Farmers
and Graziers Association’s biennial conference
is Taking Responsibility: farmers and those in
our agribusinesses taking it upon themselves
to determine their future. The conference will
be held on 3-4 July 2014 at the Country Club
Tasmania, Launceston. The conference
theme derives from the strategy we have set
ourselves as an industry, not just the TFGA, to
optimise our position in the Tasmanian
economy through to the year 2025 and
beyond, but using 2025 as a milestone
date. We have adopted what we call a Team
Agriculture approach (TeamAg). It is
unashamedly ‘all for one and one for all’. By
thinking, planning and working as a team, we
can achieve our potential and our visions.
Farming, like no other enterprise, is a legacy
business. We have to pass on to the
generations that follow us land that they can
continue to use and develop in perpetuity. That
requires sustainable management. We all
adhere to the belief that we have to pass on
our land and enterprise in a better state than
when it came into our hands. That is the end
game of us taking responsibility, acting
responsibly.
In our 2025 strategic plan we have committed
ourselves to six central beliefs:
1. We will be responsible for our
performance and behaviour as an
industry;
2. We will position and drive a positive
image and view of Tasmanian
agriculture;
3. We will attract and develop people
working in agriculture;
4. We will work to improve the operating
environment to conduct the business
of agriculture;
5. We will work to deliver infrastructure
improvements to expand agriculture;
6. We will work to deliver faster industry
improvements from research and
technology and innovation.
What that means:
We are working as a united industry to lift our
game in understanding the size, structure,
segmentation and trends in the industry and
implications of that for the future. We will
present a positive, professional and united
front to government, the media and the
community. We will state our case clearly and
unequivocally to government and those that
influence government policy. That entails us
gathering and maintaining better data and
baseline information and monitoring and
measuring performance against agreed
benchmarks.
Presenting a positive image of Tasmanian
agriculture means we must first understand
both our audience and our selling points.
Through such measures as focus groups, we
can appreciate what the public perception of
agriculture is. We might assume that the
farmer is everybody’s hero, but it ain’t
necessarily so. Without public understanding
of what we do and how we do it, we cannot
expect public support when we need it. We are
taking responsibility for that. Attracting people,
especially young, qualified people, into the
business of agriculture is challenging.
Perhaps there is still a view that it involves
hard, back-breaking work whereas, as we all
know, farming is now highly mechanised,
extensively computerised and as much a white
collar profession as a blue collar trade.
The TeamAg approach of determining the ‘we
will’ priorities is a clear demonstration of those
in this industry taking responsibility for it into
the future. Therefore, the Taking
Responsibility theme for the 2014 conference
is both timely and appropriate.
33
Therefore, the task is to promote a career in
Tasmanian agriculture as a valuable and wise
choice, and an interesting and multi-faceted
career that offers the best of both
worlds. That, in turn, involves us taking
responsibility for the path of agricultural
education. We must engage with education
institutions and educators to influence what
people are taught. Farmers have never been
reluctant advocates for change, but the art of
advocacy itself is changing. Communication is
instant, access to information is immediate.
That places legislators under greater pressure
than ever before. We are not the only ones
banging on their door. One of the implications
of that is the importance of the agricultural
sector speaking to governments with one
voice; it makes life a lot easier all round.
GCS10765: Conference Sponsorship - 17th
Australian Nitrogen Fixation Conference
GRDC
Region National
Contract
28/09/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Matthew Denton
10/02/2014
Project Code
GCS10765
Organisation
Phone
08 8313 1098
Email
matthew.denton@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
Nitrogen fixation contributes 5 million tonnes of
nitrogen to the Australian grains industry per
annum sustaining cereal and oilseed
production and reducing the reliance upon
nitrogenous fertilisers.
This conference aims to increase the
contribution of nitrogen from pulse and pasture
legumes through greater understanding of
inoculation and nitrogen fixation from
legumes. It will also look at a variety of
environmental aspects of nitrogen fixation.
GRDC sponsorship will enable the Conference
Organizing Committee to invite keynote
34
speakers who will bring the latest scientific
results and research directions as well as
recent agricultural extension developments,
particularly from North America and Europe.
The interactions among Australian nitrgoen
fixation researchers, and, in particular, the
input from specifically selected overseas
expert researchers will challenge Australian
nitrogen fixation research to lead to greater
understanding and contribution of nitrogen
fixation, resulting in greater impacts and
benefits of nitrogen fixed on Australian farms.
GCS10766: Conference Sponsorship - 2014
International Plant Cell Wall Meeting
35
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Rachel Burton
31/07/2014
Project Code
GCS10766
Organisation
Phone
08 83131057
Email
rachel.burton@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
Major new drivers of international research in
plant science include the roles of cell walls as
renewable sources of transport fuels, as
functional foods to improve human health, and
as a source of raw materials for industrial
processes. Production of these new products
and adding value to existing crop residues can
be achieved in farming systems without
impacting on use the of agricultural land for
food production.
The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell
Walls has built an international team with scale
and focus at the scientific, technical and
training levels to generate outcomes that will
significantly enhance biotechnologies that
underpin Australian crop industries valued at
over $8 billion per annum, associated food
industries valued at about $40 billion per
annum, and massive emerging industries
related to renewable transport fuels and
biomaterials. It is expected that many
international delegates will use their
conference travel to Australia to visit University
and Government research institutions in order
to extend collaboration potential around the
country. ARC Centre and other Australian
researcher exposure to the breadth of
expertise invited to and/or attending the
conference will enhance existing strengths in
the field of fundamental cell wall biology to
generate scale and focus at the scientific,
technical and training levels, to significantly
enhance plant biotechnologies that underpin
Australian crop industries, associated food
industries and massive emerging industries
related to the production of renewable
transport fuels
Contract
27/07/2014
Start
Australasian Soilborne Diseases Symposium
(8ASDS)
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 11/10/2014
Contract End
Contact . Robert Tegg
13/11/2014
Project Code
GCS10767
Organisation
Phone
(03) 6233 6830
Email
Robert.Tegg@utas.edu.au
Project Summary
ASDS8 will provide an opportunity to bring a
range of international and national researchers
together who conduct soilborne disease
research for grain crops - bringing benefit to
Australian grain growers. Also, young
scientists (PhD students) attending will gain
exposure to key researchers, both working in
grains or the broader discipline, benefiting and
learning from the interaction involved.
These skills gained can be passed onto the
36
grain industry in the future - providing longterm benefits.
Additionally, this conference will provide a
focus from which to develop collaboration
among Australian scientists and for those
involved in other GRDC projects to meet and
progress existing collaborations and develop
ideas for new, improved projects.
Australasian Plant Virology Workshop
37
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Sally Brown
15/08/2014
Project Code
GCS10768
Organisation
Phone
07 3201 2808
Email
sally.brown@sallybcc.com.au
Project Summary
Plant viruses pose some of the greatest
threats to grain crops in Australia, for example
wheat (Wheat streak mosaic virus and High
Plains virus), maize and sorghum
(Johnsongrass mosaic virus), barley (barley
yellow dwarf virus complex) and pulse
legumes (cucumber mosaic virus, bean yellow
mosaic virus, bean common mosaic virus,
alfalfa mosaic virus, luteoviruses and
geminiviruses).
The Australasian Plant Virology Workshop is
the pre-eminent conference in Australasia for
plant virology and normally attracts
representatives of all of the major research
groups in this region, as well as a selection of
international experts.
As such, the workshop provides an ideal
venue for researchers working on plant viral
diseases of grains crops to exchange ideas,
present the results of their projects, obtain
critical feedback, develop new collaborations,
and gain an appreciation of emerging issues in
grains pathology.
Contract
13/08/2014
Start
GCS10769: Conference Sponsorship - Digital
Rural Futures Conference
GRDC
Region National
Contract
25/06/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Marisa Parker
27/06/2014
Project Code
GCS10769
Organisation
Phone
(07) 46312280
Email
marisa.parker@usq.edu.au
Project Summary
As nominated by GRDC Panels in conjunction
with Grains Council of Australia, 75% of the
sponsorship will fund attendance of up to 4
young agricultural grower innovators, aged
between 20 and 35: 2 x northern panel, 1 x
southern panel, 1 x western panel.
38
The Digital Rural Futures Conference will act
as a catalyst for discussion on some specific
drivers of the grains industry e.g. total factor
productivity (TFP) growth including improved
agronomy through new digital systems and
technologies, more efficient equipment, and
improved business skills and decision-making,
all combined to yield grower innovation. In
recent years, the grain industry’s rate of
growth in TFP - the ratio of the total quantity of
outputs to total inputs has slowed, in part,
reflecting the impact of a prolonged drought.
Regaining the momentum in productivity
growth, especially as a key response to the
continuing decline in grain growers? terms of
trade, is a high priority for the agriculture and
grains industry. Additionally, during the
Conference proceedings, there is the potential
to promote the work of GRDC and its key
research partners. As this conference is an
initiative of the Regional Universities Network
(RUN) partnership http://www.run.edu.au/cb_pages/member_univ
ersities.php. - a diverse number of researchers
from different institutions will be available.
Current agricultural research projects are
being undertaken in USQ?s Centre for
Systems Biology (CSBi) and its National
Centre for Engineering in Agriculture (NCEA),
the Collaborative Research Network projects
(Web based discussion support systems for
Australian farmers and Enhanced practice
through connectivity to digital technologies and
information) as well as the UNE Smart Farms
project . More information on current USQ
research that will have direct impact on
farming and/or the grains industry can be
provided.
GCS10771: Conference Sponsorship Victorian Farmers Federation Annual Grains
Conference
Contract
Start 23/03/2014
Contract End
Contact . Jayne Gleed
25/03/2014
Project Code
GCS10771
Organisation
Phone
03 9207 5538
Email
jgleed@vff.org.au
Project Summary
By sponsoring the VFF Grains Conference
GRDC is promoting a number of benefits to
the Australian Grains industry. The
Conference facilitates education, development,
information exchange, research and extension,
across all elements of the supply chain in the
Grains Industry. For example, from varietal
development, plant breeders, researchers,
growers, input suppliers, financiers, marketers,
extension services & advisors, transporters,
customers, and government
departments/regulators - to name a few.
The requirement for such an event has only
increased as the industry evolves and grain
growers contend to keep pace with an ever
evolving and more complex and sophisticated
environment. Issues abound from production
management (such as varietal selection, plant
health, soil health, chemicals & fertilizer inputs,
cropping practices, etc); finance management;
physical grain management (such as
harvesting, segregation, on-farm storage,
quality & hygiene, grain treatment, transport,
etc); through to marketing & risk
management options (warehousing, cash,
pools, contracts, options, etc).
Thus the benefits of the event itself are derived
by all participants in the industry, but most
significantly to the benefit of the grain
producers. Similarly, the event will assist
GRDC by enabling it to both provide a major
extension event direct to its major
stakeholders (the producers), and will also
enable GRDC to 'close the loop' as far as
stakeholder (producer) feed back to GRDC as
to the effectiveness and furture activities of
GRDC. This can be achieved through both
formal facilitated workshops, as well as
informal participation and discussion between
GRDC staff and regional panel members with
the growers themselves.
The VFF Grains Conference would be the
primary event of its type in Victoria with such
large numbers of grain producers attending
and being focussed primarily on grain
production across all regions.
GRDC
National
Region
39
GCS10774: Conference Sponsorship - AGSA AGSA2014
GRDC
Region National
Contract
25/08/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Mike Gidley
27/08/2014
Project Code
GCS10774
Organisation
Phone
0733652145
Email
m.gidley@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Sponsorship at the platinum level will enable
the organising committee to set the early bird
registration fee at $600, and for students at
$350. This makes the registration fee very
competitive relative to the international
conferences on grain science, and therefore is
expected to encourage a large national
40
attendance of delegates from industry,
academia, producers and students enabling
the industry to maintain long-term
competitiveness through the development and
application of regionally relevant scientific
knowledge.
GCS10778: Conference Sponsorship - UNFS Annual Field Day
41
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Joe Koch
27/09/2014
Project Code
GCS10778
Organisation
Phone
0428672161
Email
unfs@outlook.com
Project Summary
There are very few Grain Grower focussed
Field Day Events held in the Upper North of
South Australia. We would like to see the
capacity and reach of this field day grow, but
can not do that on our current operating
budget for this event. By increasing our
advertising and capacity for attendees the
information and hands-on approach of the
group will be able to reach a broader group of
Grain Growers across the Upper North of
South Australia, exposing them to new
technologies, adapted land management
systems for the difficult conditions faced
across this district and a support network of
adopters and innovators.
Contract
26/09/2014
Start
GCS10789: Conference Sponsorship - NCMC Boosting Productivity in North-West NSW
GRDC
Region National
Contract
21/05/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Jeremy Cape
22/05/2014
Project Code
GCS10789
Organisation
Phone
02 6686 5052
Email
jeremy@capeability.biz
Project Summary
Recent research commissioned by the
Australian Farm Institute indicates that
productivity growth in agriculture, including in
the grains industry, has stalled over the past
ten years, which is in marked contrast to the
previous 50 years. This is of concern as
Australian farmers have relied on productivity
growth to help maintain profitability.
Grain growers will be one of the key groups
targetted by the conference, along with cotton
growers, irrigators and cattle producers. Its
aim will be to identify practical strategies for
improving productivity. Of particular relevance
to grain growers will be sessions on: plant
breeding, nutrition and pest management,
natural resource management, alternative
energy, water and machinery systems and
technologies, and enhanced agricultural labour
42
training, education and skills services and rural
extension activities.
The Namoi Catchment Management Authority
is in transition to become the North West Local
Land Service (NWLLS) which will combine the
NRM responsibilities of the Namoi CMA with
the agricultural extension activities of NSW
DPI.
The new organisation, which begins in January
2014, wishes to involve producers from
different industries in north-west NSW to
provide a unique and valuable opportunity for
producers to learn from what others are doing
and to contribute to identifiying practical
strategies for boosting productivity.
GCS10790: Conference Sponsorship - MSF
Research, Development & Extension Tri-State
Forum
Contract
Start 19/02/2014
Contract End
Contact . Stephanie Haw
20/02/2014
Project Code
GCS10790
Organisation
Phone
03 5021 9100
Email
steph@msfp.org.au
Project Summary
The grains industry will benefit from the annual
MSF Tri-State RD&E Forum for the following
reasons: current and relevant information will
be presented at this event from a Mallee
perspective; men and women will be inspired
and motivated to improve the way in which
they operate within the Mallee to help farmers
increase their skills and knowledge of building
successful farm businesses; a networking
opportunity for everyone who will attend; and
linkages to growers, marketers, researchers
and media will be fostered during the event.
GRDC
National
Region
43
GCS10797: Conference Sponsorship – WA
Farmers 2014 Annual Conference - Grains
Section
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 19/03/2014
Contract End
Contact . Megan Macneill
20/03/2014
Project Code
GCS10797
Organisation
Phone
08 9486 2100
Email
meganmacneill@wafarmers.org.au
Project Summary
The theme of the WAFarmers Annual
Conference for 2013 is; "The Sustainability of
the Industry'. There are continual threats to
our industry and the purpose of WAFarmers
2014 Annual Conference is to give attendees
the tools and information they need for a
successful future. We want to ensure they
maximise opportunities and minimise risk.
44
With this in mind and with the knowledge that
GRDC is responsible for planning, investing
and overseeing research and development,
delivering improvements in production,
sustainability and profitability across the
Australian grains industry, it is only fitting that
we provide our members with the opportunity
to hear more about the future of the industry
from GRDC.
By way of sharing knowledge, innovation and
developing a support network of key industry
bodies who represent the future of the grains
industry, we can provide a positive outlook for
the future of Agriculture.
The WAFarmers Conference is the primary
policy making event for WAFarmers. By
sponsoring the event, GRDC makes it possible
for policy making input from growers across
Western Australia on key grains issues along
with other topics such as climate change,
biosecurity and farm economics. GRDC
represenatives can be part of these
discussions..
WAFarmers is Western Australia's largest and
most influential rural lobby group.
Representing more than 4,000 farmers,
WAFarmers is proud to be a member driven
organisation. We are WA's only member of the
National Farmer's Federation. Member input is
essential to provide WAFarmers staff and
elected members with clear policy direction.
GGA00003: Grain Gain--Leadership for Grains
Industry Innovation
45
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Prof. Gordon MacAulay
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2013
Project Code
GGA00003
Grain Growers Ltd
02 9888 9600
Email
gordon.macaulay@graingrowers.com.au
Project Summary
Grain Gain" consists of three training courses.
These will provide tools to build leadership and
representational skills for innovative grain
producers and grains industry professionals
and encourage the adoption of new
practices. Leadership will be taught in the
context of the grains industry value chain and
the building of stronger farm businesses.
Grain Gain: On Farm will provide high impact
training designed to equip grain producers with
technical knowledge and leadership tools that
lead to more profitable post harvest
management.
Grain Gain: Technology will provide an
understanding of the grains industry value
chain so as to support the management of
wheat quality on farm. Detailed information on
the value chain and the technologies
involved will be given so as to provide the
technical foundation for the development of
industry leaders with strong technical skills.
This will include gaining an understanding of
grain processing and grain products as a part
of a value chain.
Grain Gain: Markets will provide, in the context
of developing leadership skills, a detailed
understanding of the structure of domestic and
international grain markets focussed on
supplying grain into those markets. The
content will include understanding leadership,
domestic and international trade policies,
industry and trade data and its analysis,
product requirements and issues involved in
developing a business around domestic and
international trade.
Contract
01/06/2011
Start
GRS10004: Grains Industry Research
Scholarship - Alice Burgess (ANU) Identifying
novel epigenetic components that regulate
seed size in a model plant, Arabidopsis.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
28/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Ian Searle
Organisation
Phone
03/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10004
Australian National University
02 6125 2322
Email
iain.searle@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
The broad aim of my PhD research is to define
a novel epigenetic mechanism that regulates
seed size in plants.
We understand almost nothing about how
plants regulate seed size, more specifically
endosperm size. One mechanism influencing
endosperm size is genomic imprinting, that is
deferentially gene expression of the maternal
and paternal alleles. Recently 5000 noncoding heterochromatic small interfering RNA
(siRNA) producing loci were discovered to be
46
are paternally imprinted. These 5000 loci
produce about 100,000 small RNAs. This is a
unique and unappreciated level of gene
regulation that acts at the posttranscriptional
and transcriptional level that I aim to
investigate.
I am undertaking this project as seed size is
an important determinate of grain yield, export
revenue for Australia and global food security.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
31/03/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Ann McNeill
Organisation
Phone
30/03/2014
Project Code
GRS10026
University of Adelaide
08 8303 8108
Email
ann.mcneill@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
Quantitative analysis of the contribution of
break crop root residues to P and N cycling
and nutrient benefits to subsequently grown
wheat
Proposed supervisors:
Senior Lecturer Dr. Ann McNeill and Professor
Mike McLaughlin School of Agriculture, Food
& Wine
Background and Rationale for Proposed
Research:
Fertiliser phosphorus is one of the major
nutrients in agriculture systems but is
becoming an extremely limited resource and
expensive (FIFA 2008; Van Raij et al.
2002). Paradoxically in systems where soluble
P is present in excess it can cause serious
environmental implications including pollution
of waterways (Kirkegaard et al. 2008). Clearly
the management of P is the key to sustainable
agriculture systems and needs to be based on
a sound understanding of the plant-soil P
cycle.
It has been reported that fertiliser P supplies
only 20% of crop requirements with the
remainder coming from cycling of organic
inputs including plant residues (shoots and
roots). It is well known that oil seed and grain
legume break crops provide many benefits for
the growth of following cereals including
improved nutrient supply, particularly N (Evans
et al. 2001). However, knowledge of P supply
from residues is far less advanced than for N
where the contribution from residues, both
shoots and roots, has been well quantified
(Evans et al. 2003). Whilst there is information
concerning the effect that decomposition of
immature shoot residue material has on
available P in soil (Iqbal 2009) and uptake by
succeeding plants (Hocking and Randall 2001)
there is almost no data for mature root material
despite the fact that roots may comprise up to
50% of the crop dry matter (ref). Furthermore
the roots of certain break crops have been
shown to mobilise P in soil via exudates
(Nuruzzaman et al. 2005)) yet there is no
understanding of how this might influence P
supply to a following cereal crop.
Using state of the art techniques ( including
32/33P tracers and HPLC analysis of root
exudates) this study will (a) measure the direct
effects of break crop roots on P solubilisation
and whether this affects P nutrition in following
wheat crops and (b) directly trace the release
of P from mature break crop root residues.
This information will allow farmers to assign a
P ‘supply value’ to their break crops and
enable them to make more economically and
environmentally sounds decisions regarding
applications of P fertiliser.
Aim: Overall aim of this proposed research is
to examine how certain break crops improve
the nutrition of following wheat crops.
There are two hypotheses to test of this
research:
1. P mobilization by exudates of the
break crop improves P nutrition of the
succeeding wheat crop
2. Decomposition of break crop root
47
Scholarship - Foyjunnessa (UA) Assesing
management options for enhancing soil
phosphorus availability using rotations
residues affect P nutrition of the
succeeding wheat
Proposed Research Program
+1 year Major review of program
This research will consist of a series of pot and
glasshouse experiments over two years and
field experiments in South Australia in the last
year.
+2 years Annual review of program
Work Plan - milestones of structured program
Preparation of final manuscript and submitted
to the University of Adelaide
February to April 2011 (+ 3 months) Draft of
review, research proposal and initial seminar
February 2011 and will be continued until the
structured research program writing Review of
literature
June 2011 Commencement of the experiments
July 2013 Completion of the experiments
July 2011 - June 2013 Testing innovative
48
techniques, Lab analysis, data analysis and
writing
+ 3 years Annual review (structured program)
October - December 2013
Funding and linkages
This structured research program is related to
GRDC funded (UA 00119), Assessing
management options for enhanced soil
phosphorus availability using rotations
(January 2011 - June 2014) led by Senior
Lecturer Dr. Ann McNeill.
Scholarship - Heidi Waddell (UWA)
Phosphorus-use efficiency of Austrodanthonia
Contract
Start 31/01/2011
Contract End
Contact Dr. Alan Richardson
Organisation
Phone
30/01/2014
Project Code
GRS10027
0262465189
Email
alan.richardson@csiro.au
Project Summary
Phosphorus is essential for plant growth. Many
Australian soils have a low plant-available P
content and agriculture relies on P-fertilisers
for high productivity. However, P is a nonrenewable resource and global reserves are
being depleted. Because low-P soils often
have high P-sorption capacity, the P-balance
efficiency of agriculture is low. On average 4
units of P are needed to produce only one unit
of P in products. Hence, there is a need to
improve the efficiency of P-use in agriculture.
Species of the native perennial grass genus:
Austrodanthonia (wallaby grass), are Pefficient. They have low external P
requirements for growth and low critical
internal P concentrations and yield well under
low P stress. This suggests that
Austrodanthonia species possess
morphological and/or physiological adaptations
that may help improve the P-use efficiency of
agricultural systems. Further studies are
required to determine the adaptations of this
genus to low-P stress.
I will examine
1. internal and external P-use efficiency
of several Austrodanthonia species,
2. physiological and morphological
mechanisms which confer P-use
efficiency, and
3. implications of low-P conditions on the
competitive ability of Austrodanthonia.
The research will assist the use of
Austrodanthonia in agriculture to improve the
efficiency with which P-fertiliser is used.
GRDC
National
Region
49
Scholarship - Hollie Webster (UMU) Genetic
factors and genes underpinning drought
response in wheat
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
14/12/2010
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Rudi Appels
Organisation
Phone
13/12/2013
Project Code
GRS10028
Murdoch University
08 9360 6229
Email
rappels@ccg.murdoch.edu.au
Project Summary
Project Aim
50
The objective of this project is to demonstrate
the capacity of the sugar transporter gene
IVR1 to confer drought resistance in wheat
cultivars. Hence, the aim of this study is to
further investigate how the expression of the
sugar transporter gene IVR1 in wheat is
affected in both water deficit and non-limited
water environments. The experimental
hypothesis is that the expression of the IVR1
gene is critical to sugar metabolism at
heading, where it drives carbohydrate
mobilization variation that provides the energy
substrate (fructan) to developing pollen at
meiosis.
Project Overview
This PhD project was formulated with the view
to further investigating findings from recent
studies carried out by Dr Jingjuan Zhang at
Murdoch University and Dr Rudy Dolferus at
CSIRO (Canberra). These studies identified
key genes in wheat that are involved in plant
sugar metabolism at heading (Ji et al 2009,
Oliver et al 2007). In semi dwarf spring wheat
‘heading’ has been identified as the second
most drought and frost stress sensitive growth
phase (second only to seed germination), the
effect of which manifests as sterile pollen
development (Koonjul et al. 2005). Sterile
pollen development, attributed to the down
regulation of the sugar transporter gene IVR1,
is directly correlated to yield loss by way of
reduction in both grain number and grain size
(Ji et al. 2005). Given that drought and frost
stress at head development in wheat is a
significant yield constraint throughout most
Australian cropping regions it is expected that
the project will deliver important research
outcomes for the benefit of a wide range of
grains industry stakeholders.
At both molecular and phenotype
characterization levels this PhD project is
focusing on a unique set of 230 doubled
haploid (DH) lines from a cross between the
wheat varieties Westonia and Kauz (made
available to the research project by
Intergrain). Both Westonia and Kauz are
considered to be drought tolerant but it is clear
from the studies by Zhang (2008; PhD thesis
Murdoch University) that they achieve this in
different ways. It is expected that the analysis
of a range of variables (discussed below) in
the genetically structured population of 230 DH
lines will provide new insights into genetic
factors (and hence genes) determining drought
tolerance.
Key research areas will include:





locating genomic DNA segments
containing IVR1 on chromosome 3B
using the WxK genetic map
characterising the IVR1 gene family
using BAC clones from Chinese
Springs wheat
gene expression studies of IVR1
under normal and water deficit
conditions
examining carbohydrate profile
changes and fructan accumulation in
reproductive tissue under water stress
whole plant phenotype
characterization of WxK for
quantitative trait loci analysis
See Appendix 2 for References
51
Scholarship - Karl Andersson (UNE)
Manipulation of P sorption in agricultural soils
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 30/06/2011
Contract End
Contact Dr. Christopher Guppy
Organisation
Phone
08/10/2014
Project Code
GRS10029
University Of New England
02 6773 3567
Email
cguppy@une.edu.au
Project Summary
This study will investigate the factors that
influence phosphorus (P) sorption in selected
soils in southern NSW; potential methods of P
sorption management; and the physical,
chemical and biological interactions affecting
recycling of sorbed P.
P sorption in soils is a major limitation on the
availability of the nutrient to plants. The P
sorption curve of a soil describes the
concentration of P in solution for a given
concentration of total P. High sorption lowers
the amount of available P for a given total P.
52
High P Sorption decreases the efficiency of
fertilisers and recycling of organic and
inorganic P. The mechanisms of sorption are
influenced by: the amount of cations in solution
(influenced by ECEC, texture and clay
mineralogy); organic carbon and its fractions;
pH and its effect on the levels of aluminium,
iron and manganese in solution; liming history
and the amount of calciim and the flocculation
of aluminium hydroxides; and the
concentration of aluminium and iron
hydroxides.
The phosphorus buffering index (PBI) provides
a single point index on the degree of sorption
and is routinely included in soil tests. Analysis
of a database of over 8000 soil tests
throughout southern NSW suggests that
different soil properties may be dominant
determinants of PBI under different
management practices, soil types and
locations.
This study will test the hypotheses that:
1. PBI is driven by different soil factors
under certain land use and/or
geographic location;
2. PBI can be favourably manipulated by
altering soil properties with
amendments and/or farming practices.
3. P availability can be favourably
managed by promoting P solubilising
soil organisms.
Scholarship - Laura Blake (UA) Use of novel
wheat (waxy durum) in baking applications
Contract
Start 01/03/2011
Contract End
Contact Dr. Andrew Barber
Organisation
Phone
01/12/2013
Project Code
GRS10031
83482488
Email
andrew.barber@sa.gov.au
Project Summary
Use of novel wheat (waxy durum) in baking
applications. Potential for reducing amount of
vegetable shortening/butter required for baking
through the use of this new wheat variety.
Research into quality of food product, residual
levels of oligosaccharides during production
and health impacts and impact of different pretreatments.
GRDC
National
Region
53
Scholarship - Luke Holtham (UA) Identification
of the Controller of Nitrate Transport in Maize
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 28/02/2011
Contract End
Contact Dr. Trevor Garnett
Organisation
Phone
27/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10034
08 8303 0179
Email
trevor.garnett@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
Cereal crops take up only approximately 40%
of the applied nitrogen fertiliser. Much of the
other 60% leads to considerable
environmental pollution.
Since fertiliser is one of the largest expenses
to producers, an improvement of nitrogen use
efficiency in cereal crops is an important goal
for lowering costs for farmers and reducing
impact on the environment. Nitrate is the
primary form of nitrogen taken up by cereal
crops. The majority of nitrate is taken up by
plants via NRT transporters.
Previous work in the NUE lab at the ACPFG
has shown that the amount of nitrate taken up
by maize varies greatly across the
54
lifecycle. This implies there is a control
mechanism responsible for this variation in
uptake.
This project will identify the controller through
transcript analysis of maize across the
lifecycle. Candidate genes will be compared
with candidate genes from a screen of
Arabidopsis N transport mutants which will
identify important genes for control of NRT
transporters. The expression level of these
putative controller genes will be altered in
Arabidopsis and maize to examine the
changes in nitrate uptake.
Scholarship - Madeline Tucker (CUR)
Minimising fungicide resistance
55
Contract
Start 01/02/2011
Contract End
Contact Prof. Richard Oliver
Organisation
Phone
31/01/2014
Project Code
GRS10035
Curtin University of Technology
08 9266 4416
Email
richard.oliver@curtin.edu.au
Project Summary
The project can be divided into two streams
both concerning fungicide application in WA.
The first element of my research will examine
whether the risk of fungicide resistance
increases or decreases with dose. Presently
there are substantial gaps in knowledge about
the effects of dose on the development of
fungicide resistance. I will undertake research
modelling the optimal dose and frequency of
application to provide control of the pathogen
whilst minimising the selection for resistant
powdery mildew and tan spot (yellow spot)
isolates.
The second element of my research will
examine known mutations conferring triazole
fungicide resistance. Triazole fungicides have
a single biochemical target, the sterol 14?demethylase protein (Cyp51), an essential
enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway of
ergosterol. The site specific mode of action
and intensive use of these fungicides has led
to the development of resistance in many
organisms of agricultural importance.
Recently, several mutational base changes in
Cyp51 have been confirmed in triazole
insensitive fungal pathogens of crops.
Resistance to particular triazole fungicides has
been shown to be associated with particular
mutations although the causal relationships
have not yet been established. The goal of this
research is to create a series of isogenic
isolates of Stagonospora Nodorum differing
only in the sequence of Cyp51. The resistance
spectrum of the isolates in response to
different triazole fungicides will then be
determined.
GRDC
National
Region
Scholarship - Maree Horne (USQ) Interrelationships between Bipolaris sorokiniana
isolates involved in spot blotch, common root
rot and black point in winter cereals
GRDC
Region National
Contract
28/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Mark Sutherland
Organisation
Phone
27/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10036
University of Southern Queensland
07 4631 2360
Email
mark.sutherland@usq.edu.au
Project Summary
56
The fungal pathogen Bipolaris sorokiniana is a
global pathogen of cereal crops which causes
foliar spot blotch in wheat and barley and
common root rot in various cereals. Spot
blotch of barley and common root rot of wheat
and barley are significant cereal pathogens in
Australia. In addition some recent DEEDI data
suggest that B. sorokiniana infections may
lead to black point symptoms on barley grain.
isolates from one type of diseased tissue (e.g.
roots) to cause symptoms on other tissues
(e.g. leaves & grain) will be examined
across a standard set of wheat and barley
lines, as will the potential of isolates from one
host to cause disease on the other.
Preliminary studies have suggested both host
and tissue specificity exist among B.
sorokiniana isolates (Knight et al. APP 2010).
This project will investigate the genetic
relatedness of B. sorokiniana isolates from
grain, leaves and roots of wheat and barley.
Initial studies will employ AFLP markers, while
subsequent work will draw on information
emerging from a USA-based project currently
sequencing this pathogen. The ability of
I will also conduct quantitative PCR studies on
the extent of B.sorokiniana infection in barley
grain to examine the relationship between
fungal infection and blackpoint symptoms on
mature grain.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
14/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Stephen Powles
Organisation
Phone
13/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10037
08 6488 7833
Email
stephen.powles@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Supervisors: Dr Michael Walsh (UWA, AHRI),
Dr Ken Flower (UWA, WANTFA), Prof
Stephen Powles (co-ordinating supervisor)
(UWA, AHRI).
The introduction of glyphosate tolerant canola
into Australian agriculture offers superior weed
control with the benefits of maintenance of notillage cropping systems. Glyphosate tolerant
canola enables the use of glyphosate for broad
spectrum weed control in the rotation (Walsh
et al 2006) while enabling very early seeding
and maintenance of no-tillage. These are all
advantages in comparison with triazine
tolerant canola. The glyphosate herbicide has
low environmental risk and provides options
for early seeding so as to maximize the length
of the growing season.
The weed wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum
L) is an economically damaging weed of global
cropping. Wild radish adversely impacts large
areas of Western Australian cropping and is a
significant crop weed nationally. Herbicides
are the major tool for wild radish
control. However, in Western Australia this
genetically variable weed species has shown
the ability to evolve resistance to herbicides
used for its control (Walsh et al 2001, 2007).
Wild radish exhibits multiple herbicide
resistance to group B (ALS inhibitors), C (PS2
inhibitors), F (PDS inhibitors)and I (Disruptors
of plant cell growth) (Blackshaw 2001,
Hashem etal 2006). Wild radish is a major cost
to Australian cropping (estimated as $210
million in 2002, Madafiglio, 2002) . Wild radish
is the number one dicot weed of WA cropping
and ranked the third most difficult to control
weed in Australia (Madafiglio, 2002).
With the commercialization of glyphosate
tolerant canola in Australian agriculture the
herbicide glyphosate will be used to control
wild radish within canola crops. Glyphosate
when used at the label rate will control wild
radish. Given there has been much past
usage of glyphosate for wild radish control and
the added selection pressure that can occur
with glyphosate tolerant canola there is the risk
of glyphosate resistance evolution in wild
radish. Additionally, as both wild radish and
canola are Brassica species there is the
remote possibility that there could be
hybridization between these species, enabling
transfer of glyphosate resistance from canola
to wild radish. This PhD aims to examine this
potential risk for the evolution of glyphosate
resistance in wild radish and mitigation
strategies that can be employed to minimize
the possibility of glyphosate resistance
evolution in this species. The research will
include widespread surveying of wild radish in
glyphosate tolerant canola and agronomic
strategies (crop competition, rotation, harvest
weed seed management etc) which can help
to minimize evolution risks. The research will
57
Scholarship - Michael Ashworth (UWA) Evolved
Glyphosate resistance in wild radish
(Raphanus raphanistrum L) populations with
the use of Glyphosate resistant genetically
modified canola
build upon the body of knowledge within AHRI,
DAFWA and elsewhere on wild radish biology
and its management. The AHRI wild radish
RIM model will be upgraded and used to
simulate the efficacy of various management
techniques and there will be glasshouse and
agronomic field experiments to test
management practices. The overall objective
is research outcomes which help to preserve
the sustainability of glyphosate tolerant canola
and glyphosate in Australian cropping
systems.
Blackshaw, R.E (2001), Influence of Wild
Radish on yield and Quality of Canola, Weed
Science, vol 50, No 3, pp 344-349
Hashem, A, Pathan, S and French, B (2006),
Wild Radish-Lupin competition: difference in
competitive ability of lupin cultivars,
Proceedings of fifteenth Australian Weeds
conference, Weed Management society of
South Australia, pp 391-394
58
Madafiglio, GP 2002, Population management
of Raphanus raphanistrum L. (Wild Radish) by
regulating seed production, PhD thesis,
University of Western Sydney
Powles, S, Preston, C (2006) Evolved
Glyphosate resistance in Plants: Biochemical
and genetic basis of resistance, Weed
Technology, Vol 20, pp 282-289
Walsh, M.J., Owen, M.J., Powles, S.B. (2007)
Frequency and distribution of herbicide
resistance in Raphanus raphanistrum
populations randomly collected across the
Western Australian wheatbelt. Weed
Research, 47, 542-550.
Walsh, M.J., Duane, R.D. and Powles, S.B.
(2001) High frequency of chlorsulfuron
resistant wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum
L.) populations across the Western Australian
wheatbelt. Weed Technology. 15, 199-203..
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
31/03/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Michael Kertesz
Organisation
Phone
30/03/2014
Project Code
GRS10038
University of Sydney
02 8627 1022
Email
michael.kertesz@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
The project will investigate interactions
between selected high yielding, genetically
diverse wheat genotypes and N-fixing
associative plant-growth promoting bacteria in
the rhizosphere (Azospirillum brasiliense and
Herbaspirillum sp.). Inoculation with those
bacteria is promising, thus previous studies
have shown that N2-fixation can be obtained
without or in addition to mineral fertilization.
The effects of rhizosphere colonisation by
these bacteria on root morphology and
physiology and consequently on plant growth
and grain quality will be monitored.
The influence of crop cultivar and inoculant
regime on the activity and identity of the
natural soil microorganisms that catalyse N, P
and S cycling in agricultural soils will be
investigated using cutting edge molecular
tools. Microbial community analysis will be
used to study the dynamics of the overall
rhizosphere community, in order to identify
dominant organisms with impacts on plantgrowth promotion and disease suppression.
In order to test effects of additional mineral
nitrogen fertilization, varying levels of urea-N
will be tested for their effects on N2 fixation,
grain yield and quality, and rhizobacterial
diversity. Results obtained in greenhouse
experiments with three different soil types will
be extended to short-term and long-term field
trials near Narrabri, examining wheat growth
both in monoculture and in rotation with
legumes (chickpea and field pea).
59
Scholarship - Mirja Guldner (US) Enhancing
plant nutrition with rhizosphere
microorganisms
Scholarship - Monica Kehoe (UWA) Unraveling
the cause of black pod disease of narrowleafed lupin and developing a control solution
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
28/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Roger Jones
Organisation
Phone
27/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10039
08 9368 3269
Email
roger.jones@agric.wa.gov.au
Project Summary
Black pod disease of narrow-leafed lupin is
causing devastating losses in lupin crops in
south-west Australia. Possible causes include
competition between pods on the main stem,
nutrient deficiencies and infection by Bean
yellow mosaic virus (BYMV) necrotic strain.
The impacts of environmental factors and
cultivar on expression of the disease further
complicate the issue. This research will be
designed to establish whether BYMV alone is
causing black pod disease, but only under
certain climatic scenarios, or whether it has
multiple causes. Achieving an effective control
of the problem depends on understanding how
60
it is caused.
A combination of field and glasshouse
experiments combined with the use of
immunological and molecular techniques will
be used to answer these questions. It will
benefit both WA and Australia as a whole, and
regional and rural communities by establishing
whether factors other than spread of BYMV by
aphids play a significant role in causing black
pod disease of narrow-leafed lupin, identifying
the biological and climatic factors responsible
for development of the disease and providing
recommendations for control.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
07/03/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Peter Anderson
Organisation
Phone
06/03/2014
Project Code
GRS10040
Flinders University
08 8201 5269
Email
peter.anderson@flinders.edu.au
Project Summary
The aim of this research project is to
investigate the role of sucrose transporters in
increasing Barley yield and iron/zinc content of
Barley grains. Recent research on wheat has
found that increasing sucrose uptake in the
grain stimulates a range of other effects, most
notably an increase in grain protein content
and an increase in yield (Weichert et al.,
2009). When samples of these wheat grains
were obtained and analysed, they also showed
high levels of iron and zinc, up to a one third
increase compared to the usual iron/zinc
content of wheat (J. Stangoulis, pers.
comm.). In addition to yield increase and
biofortification of grain, such nutrient rich
seeds could have the added advantages of
higher vigour and viability particularly in
micronutrient deficient soils (Welch and
Graham, 2004).
This project proposes to replicate these results
in Barley grains, by constructing a transgene
that will overexpress the Hordeum vulgare
sucrose transporter under the control of an
endosperm specific promoter. Sucrose
dependent uploading of iron/zinc and the effect
of increased sucrose uptake on yield and the
amino acid profile of Barley grains will be
examined to understand the complex
mechanisms behind the metabolic regulation
of these processes. Understanding of these
fundamental processes in Barley will
contribute more tools to use in breeding for
grain crops with higher yield and nutrition
content.
61
Scholarship - My-my Huynh (UF) Examining the
role of sucrose transporter HvSUT1 in
increasing yield and iron/zinc content in Rice
Scholarship - Peter Gous (UQ) Understanding
abiotic stress impacts on cereal starch
structure and value-added quality through
genetic and environmental screening
GRDC
Region National
Contract
04/01/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Robert Gilbert
Organisation
Phone
03/01/2014
Project Code
GRS10041
University Of Queensland
07 3365 4809
Email
d.gilbert@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
62
My research proposal draws on a range of
disciplines. The study aims to determine the
effect abiotic tolerance genes have on
commercially important traits such as starch
properties and structural characteristics. Does
the tolerance gene cause structural
conformations and changes within these
molecules (especially starch), such as are the
molecular weight, branching structure and
molecular size altered? Additionally how do
these changes (if any) affect the cereal quality,
as required by the value-adding sectors? Is it
possible to sequence the genes that may
cause these changes and are there gene
interactions to those that incur tolerance? A
key to this are new experimental and
simulation tools developed at the University of
Queensland enabling starch structure to be
related to the underlying genetics and to grain
properties.
The research would ensure that abiotictolerant cereal?s grain properties remain
desirable for industry and the grain remains at
the required level of quality for the processing
industries. This would give industry
assurances of the grain quality from grain
sourced from stressed environments, while
grain growers would also be ensured a yield
during variable climatic conditions.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/03/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Roger Mandel
Organisation
Phone
28/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10042
08 9690 1526
Email
r.mandel@curtin.edu.au
Project Summary
Data aquisition for precision agriculture (PA)
uses a range of information-rich
methodologies and technologies to enable
managers to better match agronomy and land
use to spatial variability. However, a recent
survey of WA farmers indicated data analysis
and complexity was one of the greatest
impediments to the adoption of PA (Mandel et
al, 2010). Collecting the raw data is a
comparatively simple task - selecting the
correct tools and methods for data analysis is
a challenge, particularly when applied to mixed
farming systems.
This project will apply precision agriculture
tools across mixed farming systems, enabling
the industry to achieve a higher return from the
application of existing techniques and
methodologies and improve business
sustainability through precise and timely
management decisions.
The project will look at the following issues
within the context of mixed farming
enterprises:

Which data layers are important in

enabling farmers to delineate and
effectively manage their cropping
programmes and improve the
production efficiency of their pasture
based enterprises?
The best approaches for using PA
technologies to optimise landscape
management from a whole-farm
perspective, integrating information
about crops, pastures, grazing
systems and livestock productivity,
especially in areas of low potential and
in marginal country.
Economic analysis will be undertaken to
differentiate the potential impacts of PA data
layers on farm economics, using models
developed by UNSW and CSIRO for use in
precision management. Theoretical outcomes
will be compared with case studies on mixed
farming businesses across Australia to refine
these decision support models, to enable
producers to better choose appropriate data
layers for their particular situation.
63
Scholarship - Peter McEntee (CUR) The
integration and validation of precision
management tools for mixed farming systems.
Scholarship - Rhiannon Schilling (UA)
Evaluating the salt tolerance of transgenic
wheat and barley
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
21/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Mark Tester
Organisation
Phone
17/03/2014
Project Code
GRS10044
06 8303 7159
Email
mark.tester@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
Salinity is major soil constraint influencing
cereal crop production in Australia. By 2050, it
is expected that 14 million hectares of
agricultural land in Australia will be affected by
dryland salinity alone. It is imperative that we
develop high-yielding salt tolerant crops to
enable profitable grain production in saline
soils. A number of candidate genes which
improve the salinity tolerance of plant species
have been identified and now need to be
transfered into commerically relevant wheat
and barley varieties.
64
The aim of this project will be to test and
evaluate the salt tolerance of transgenic wheat
and barley lines expressing salinity tolerance
genes, in both glasshouse and field conditions.
This will involve the phenotypic and genotypic
characterisation of each line in control and salt
treatments. A high throughput imaging system,
which allows non-destructive measurements of
plant growth, will be used to assess relevant
plant traits, such as shoot biomass, leaf health
and plant water use. Particular emphasis will
be placed on the ability of these transgenic
lines to produce grain yield under saline
conditions.
Ultimately, this project offers the opportunity to
identify transgenic wheat and barley lines with
improved salt tolerance for future delivery to
Australian grain producers.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/11/2010
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Scott Chapman
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2013
Project Code
GRS10045
CSIRO Plant Industry
07 3214 2254
Email
scott.chapman@csiro.au
Project Summary
Selecting for variation in flowering time in
wheat has traditionally focused on variation in
photoperiod and vernalisation responses.
Higher temperatures under global warming
have the potential to reduce the effectiveness
of vernalisation as a means to control time to
flowering. Planting dates may also need to
change substantially such that photoperiod
response may also become less desirable as a
means to alter time to flowering. Alternative
physiological mechanisms controlling time to
flowering in wheat under high temperatures
will be explored along with an assessment of
variability in these traits in order to select for
variation in time to flowering under high
temperatures. These mechanisms have been
termed 'earliness per se' but the underlying
processes and genetic variability are yet to be
determined.
Wheat models that predict flowering time
currently have very poor accuracy under high
temperature conditions. The temperature
responsiveness of different physiological
processes that control time to flowering under
high temperatures are poorly understood. This
project will study high temperature responses
of different processes that control time to
flowering in order to improve the prediction
accuracy of time to flowering in wheat under
high temperatures. Genetic variability of
temperature responsiveness will also be
assessed in order improve prediction accuracy
for a broad range of varieties.
65
Scholarship - Ryan Kearns (UQ) Genetic
variability and physiological mechanisms
controlling time to flowering in wheat under
high temperatures
Scholarship - Robert Syme (CUR) Comparative
genomics of necrotrophic fungal pathogens
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2011
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2013
Project Code
GRS10061
08 9266 4416
Email
Project Summary
The project can be divided into two
overlapping steams, a vertical project of
Stagonospora nodorum and a horizontal
project to optimise genomics strategies to help
guide fungal genomics investigations. The first
objective is the creation, curation and
investigation of a Stagonospora nodorum
database. The database will bring together
diverse datasets including phenotypic,
metabolomic, proteomic and genomic results
from the ACNFP and collaborators. A
centralised repository will serve as a deep,
canonical reference for all the science related
to S. nodorum, and also as a tool to facilitate
bioinformatic queries and analysis.
The PhD project will also include investigation
66
of optimal sequencing strategies and
bioinformatic protocols for small eukaryotic
genomes (<;100MB), with particular regard to
the Pleosporales. Reductions in the cost of
short-read sequencing have enabled many
small groups to fund small, isolated genome
projects. It is unclear at the moment what
combination of sequencing chemistries,
assembly strategies and data curation
protocols enable maximal scientific output.
The knowledge and experience gained over
the course of my project will be made available
to GRDC partners and collaborators to help
guide future genomic investigations of the
Pleosporales.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
28/02/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Darryl Small
Organisation
Phone
27/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10063
Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
02 9925 2124
Email
darryl.small@rmit.edu.au
Project Summary
Bread is a major global stable although there
are many variations in formulation, processing
and styles of products. The high levels of
starch found in most flours contribute to the
quality of bake product (Sanz-Penella,
Wronkowska, Soral-Smietana, Collar, & Haros,
2010) by a number of mechanisms, particular
during fermentation as well as baking. These
are increasing concerns (Fardet, Leenhardt,
Lioger, Scalbert, & Remesy, 2006; Germaine
et al., 2008; McKevith, 2004; Ring, Kramer,
Schafer, & Behrendt, 2001; van Bakel et al,.
2009) regarding
1. Allergies and sensitivities of
individuals to component in baked
foods
2. The high digestibility of the products
expressed in terms of glycaemic index
(GI)
The aims of this project are to revaluate these
issues by focussing upon the components
available for use in baking and to assess the
significance of molecular interactions during
bread making (Abdel-Aal & Rabalski, 2008;
Grasten et al., 2007; Heinio, 2003; Leinonen,
Liukkonen, Poutanen, Uusitupa, & Mykkanen,
1999; Pizzuti et al., 2006; Zaharieva, Ayana,
Hakimi, Misra, & Monneveux, 2010). This will
involve a series of phases emphasizing
1. A comparative study of flours from
different cereal grain sources including
various wheats and rye. This will build
upon the limited evidence of
differences between these in terms of
digestibility and caused agents for
sensitivities.
2. An evaluation of strategies which will
minimise the breakdown of starches
during digestion. Various hydrocolloid
components will be utilised in these
trials for their effectiveness delaying
the release of simple sugars to the
bloodstream.
3. A further plan will investigate the
potential for reduce effects of baked
products on sensitive consumers. This
will be assess through the analysis of
level of key protein compounds along
with the impact of specific enzymes
that might break these down during
the bread making process
The aims of this project are to revaluate these
issues by focussing upon the components
available for use in baking and to assess the
significance of molecular interactions during
bread making. This will involve a series of
phases emphasizing
A comparative study of flours from different
cereal grain sources including various wheats
and rye. This will build upon the limited
67
Scholarship - Oliver Buddrick (RMIT) Bread
making procedure, product digestibility and
impact on sensibility to gluten proteins
Scholarship - Amanda Huen (US) Regulation
and long-distance movement of nutrient
starvation-responsive plant microRNAs
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
28/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Peter Waterhouse
Organisation
Phone
27/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10248
02 9114 1322
Email
peter.waterhouse@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
68
Plants genetically coordinate their responses
to biotic and abiotic stresses such as drought,
pathogens and nutrient starvation. MicroRNAs
are small gene-silencing RNAs which play an
important role in the genetic regulation of plant
development and stress responses. Certain
microRNAs may act as long-distance signals
for early communication of nutrient starvation
between plant organs. However, the
mechanisms governing these processes are
currently unknown. I aim to characterise
microRNA expression, mobility and function,
with a focus on nutrient starvation-responsive
microRNAs in the model plants Arabidopsis
and Nicotiana benthamiana.
I will be using techniques such as molecular
cloning, mutation analysis and gene
expression studies to determine factors which
control mobile microRNAs at different stages
of their biosynthesis and function. I will use a
recently-developed reporter system for in-vivo
tracking of microRNAs, their precursors, and
target genes to observe the spatial and
temporal patterns of microRNA biosynthesis,
movement and gene silencing.
This will give insight into the selective
mechanisms of microRNA movement, and the
biological relevance of microRNAs for nutrient
responses at different stages of plant
development. Greater understanding of
microRNA-mediated regulation of nutrient
homeostasis can be applied to plant breeding
and modification programs to improve plant
uptake and management of limited nutrient
resources.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
15/04/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Donald Gardiner
Organisation
Phone
14/04/2015
Project Code
GRS10249
07 3214 2370
Email
donald.gardiner@csiro.au
Project Summary
Crown rot disease of wheat and barley is a
chronic problem in the Australian industry
(~AU$100 Million/year) and there are currently
no known immune cultivars of either crop. In
the absence of resistance in the host a better
understanding of the pathogen (F.
pseudograminearum) is required to enable
improved crop protection strategies, in the
medium term. Plant pathogen interactions are
a complex interplay between a battery of host
defence responses and mechanisms
employed by the fungal pathogen to overcome
these plant defences.
In plant-pathogen interactions the pathogens
employ a variety of mechanisms such as toxin
production, enzymes to degrade plant defence
compounds, production of effectors to perturb
host signalling and enzyme to gain access to
host nutrients. However, the specific
mechanisms employed by F.
pseudograminearum are largely unknown.
The proposed co-host research group, CSIRO
Plant Industry, has recently sequenced the
genome of the responsible pathogen, F.
pseudograminearum and uncovered
unexpected large scale differences to the
globally important wheat and barley Fusarium
Head Blight pathogen, F. graminearum.
This project will leverage this resource to
identify and functionally dissect the molecular
infection mechanisms that the fungal
pathogen, F. pseudograminearum, employs to
cause crown rot disease.
69
Scholarship - Andrew Kettle (UQ) Functional
pathogen genomics and characterisation of the
infection mechanisms of the wheat and barley
crown rot pathogen, Fusarium
pseudograminearum.
Scholarship - Ella Brear (US) Charcterising
potential symbiosome membrane proteins
essential to the legume-rhizobium symbiosis
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
20/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Penelope Smith
Organisation
Phone
19/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10258
6129067169
Email
penny.smith@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
Legumes are globally important as a high
protein food source and for their capacity to
enhance soil nitrogen. A contributing factor to
their importance is their ability to develop
symbiotic relationships with nitrogen fixing
bacteria called rhizobia. Rhizobia provide the
legume with fixed nitrogen in return for energy
and nutrients required for bacterial
metabolism.
70
Legumes house their symbiotic bacteria in
nodules, where they are surrounded by a plant
derived membrane called the symbiosome
membrane. This membrane and the protein
transporters embedded in it form an interface
that regulates nutrient exchange. The initial
stages of symbiosis development are well
understood. However little is known about how
the symbiosome membrane is formed and
maintained throughout the symbiosis. Thus the
aim of my project is to characterise proteins
potentially involved in the development and
maintenance of the symbiosome membrane in
soybean (Glycine max).
To do this I will measure expression of
candidates throughout nodule development to
determine when they are involved, I will
attempt to localise the protein within the
nodule by fluorescent protein tagging and
immunolocalisation. The importance of the
candidate to the symbiosis will be determined
by silencing gene expression using artificial
microRNA technology.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
03/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Rachel Burton
Organisation
Phone
02/01/2015
Project Code
GRS10259
08 8303 1057
Email
Project Summary
The proposed project will compose of three
separate components:
1. Define the role of CslF6 antisense
transcript in regulation of rice grain
(1,3;1,4)-?-D-glucan production: Work
during this project will continue from
my honours results.
2. Identify key catalytic residues of
CSLF6 by domain swapping and sitedirected mutagenesis: By
interchanging small regions between
enzymes that generate different
(1,3;1,4)-?-D-glucan levels and
structures, defined areas related to
specific functions can be determined
and potentially enhance or refine
specific activities for commercial
applications.
3. Identify potential regulatory factors of
CSLF6 expression in cereal grain:
How expression of the genes
responsible for any aspect of (1,3;1,4)?-D-glucan biosynthesis is controlled
remains unexplored. Isolating and
characterising even one transcription
factor has potential to help unravel
many of the mysteries currently
surrounding (1,3;1,4)-?-D-glucan
biosynthesis and signalling in
response to growth conditions,
stresses and pathogen attack for
instance.
71
Scholarship - George Dimitroff (UA) (1,3;1,4)-?D-glucan biosynthesis in the Poaceae:
Exploring transcriptional regulation,
associated expression and specific activities of
biosynthetic enzymes.
Scholarship - Jessey George (UA) Effect of
small amounts of ammonium on the total
nitrogen nutrition and on overall nutrition of
maize
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Mark Tester
Organisation
Phone
18/10/2013
Project Code
GRS10263
06 8303 7159
Email
mark.tester@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
72
Nitrate (NO3-) and ammonium (NH4+) are the
predominant forms of nitrogen available to
plants in agricultural soils. NO3-concentrations
are generally 10 times that of NH4+ and this
ratio is consistent in the pool of N available to
crop plants. With soil solution concentrations
of NH4+ being so much lower than NO3-, the
contribution of NH4+ to the overall N budget of
crop plants is often overlooked. Moreover,
every year farmers apply huge amounts of
nitrogenous fertlizer to improve the grain yield.
Increasing the nitrogen use efficeincy of the
help the farmers to reduce the cost cultivation
for N fertilizers.
This research will focus on the contribution of
NH4+ in the nitrogen uptake of corn plants.
The study will also investigate whether NH4+
has any effect on uptake and utilization of
other nutrients and the apparent inhibition of
NO3- uptake by NH4+. The gene expressions
of various transporters that are involved in the
N uptake will be measured to see the effect of
NH4+ on N uptake and the activies of various
enzymes that are involved in N assimilation
will also be measured.
Altering the expression levels of the genes that
involved in increasing the NUE of maize will be
used to develop cultivars which give high grain
yield with less N.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Richard Bell
Organisation
Phone
20/03/2014
Project Code
GRS10268
Murdoch University
08 93602370
Email
r.bell@murdoch.edu.au
Project Summary
Potassium (K) is required in high
concentrations for plant growth and
development, whereas, sodium (Na) is
beneficial only at low concentrations, and
becomes toxic at high concentrations. In saline
and sodic soils, Na interferes with the transport
and cytosolic functions of K and affects plant
growth and development due to depression of
K uptake by competing Na ions and high
Na+/K+ ratio.However, as K and Na ions are
similar in ionic radius and hydration energies,
the function of K can be partially replaced by
Na under K deficiency. The extent of
substitution varies between plant species and
even between cultivars of the same species.
Potassium is a crucial element for crop
production in saline and sodic soils and hence
it is important to understand its interaction with
Na especially on duplex soils and in droughtprone growing conditions.
The main aims of the research are: to study
the role of Na in K nutrition of wheat in
saline/sodic soils and in drought-prone
environments; to understand the potential
replacement of K by Na in wheat genotypes
differing in K use efficiency and salt tolerance;
to evaluate the relationship between K
responses and levels of sub-soil cations
(especially Na) in duplex soils; to understand
the molecular genetics underlying the Na
replacement of K in wheat genotypes.
73
Scholarship - Karthika Krishnasamy (UMU)
Wheat potassium nutrition in saline and/or
sodic soils and in drought-prone environments
Scholarship - Max Bergmann (UWA) The use of
potassium to improve water usage, growth and
yield of canola in European high-yielding and
Australian low-yielding farming systems
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Ken Flower
Organisation
Phone
29/09/2014
Project Code
GRS10275
08 6488 4576
Email
ken.flower@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
74
This study will determine if canola water use
efficiency and drought tolerance can be
improved through K nutrition. It will be linked to
an existing GRDC funded project with the
Department of Agriculture and Food in
Western Australia (DAFWA) studying the
impact of plant k status on water use
efficiency, as part of the GRDC project
'Improving profit from fertiliser through
knowledge-based tools that account
for temporal and spatial soil nutrient supply'.
This link is through Dr Craig Scanlan at
DAFWA who will also be one of my PhD
supervisors.
The intended project will include detailed
greenhouse and field studies to clarify the
physiological response of canola to increased
K levels and drought. These experiments will
be complemented with detailed studies of rootsoil interaction intending to assess the
relations between K levels of soils on root
water uptake.
The experiments will consist of combining
measurements of root conductivity (Steudle et
al. 1987) with imaging techniques as neutron
radiography to observe roots and water
distributions in soils (Carminati et al. 2010). In
detail some of the experiments will be carried
out in the very near zone of the rhizosphere
and the soil to study the varying water flux due
to the K level in the soil (Carmenati et al.
2007).
In addition, larger-scale field studies in
Western Australia and Germany will be done
to evaluate the impact of K nutrition in different
environments. The field trials will provide more
relevant information for farmers on expected
yield improvements and crop water use
efficiency from additional K fertilisation.
Moreover, the number of environments and
climatic conditions evaluated will be expanded
by using the APSIM (Agricultural Production
Systems Simulator) biophysical model. It is
intended that he information from this research
will also be used to update the canola module
of APSIM.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
27/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Darryl Small
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10290
02 9925 2124
Email
darryl.small@rmit.edu.au
Project Summary
In the context of global pressure upon
environmental determinants of grain quality,
recent research has explored the potential of
lower protein wheats for production of instant
Asian noodles. With rapid increases in
demand for these products there is now a
need to better understand the potential
contribution of these to health and wellbeing.
The purpose of this project is to investigate the
forms, stability and availability of two
significant components that are important to
health and wellbeing. Dietary vitamin E and
selenium are potentially contributors to
antioxidant properties and these will be studied
in grains, flours and related food products. The
challenges of this research include the
development of more sensitive analysis
procedures so that even low levels of the
components can be measured reliably. A
further emphasis will be on techniques which
allow reliable quantitation of the various
individual forms of each of the two
components so that the influence of
environment, processing and storage can be
evaluated.
The likely outcomes are an understanding of
factors influencing product quality while
enhancing the storage stability, value, appeal
and marketability of grains and their products.
75
Scholarship - Wenywati Tjong (RMIT) Forms,
analysis and stability of vitamin E and
selenium in grains and grain products
Scholarship - Christina Delay (ANU)
Investigating the role of root architecture
regulators as mediators of environmental
information in root development
GRDC
Region National
Contract
13/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Michael Djordjevic
Organisation
Phone
12/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10329
02 6125 3088
Email
michael.djordjevic@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Root architecture and nutrient uptake strongly
influence crop fitness and productivity. A major
nutritional factor modulating root development
and overall yield is nitrogen (N). Current crops
are not optimized for efficient N-fertilizer use;
commonly 50% of applied N is lost. Little is
known about how N and other environmental
parameters interact with innate root
development pathways to optimise crop
performance.
76
Our group recently discovered a novel family
of peptide regulators called RARs (Root
Architecture Regulators), which are unique to
higher plants and root knot nematodes
(RKNs). Our world-leading studies show that
plant RARs respond to N and CO2, dictate
how plants regulate their N-uptake machinery
and control root architecture. RKN RARs are
integral to nematode parasitism.
The proposed project will elucidate: (i) the
function of individual RARs in
orchestrating root architecture and N use
efficiency; (ii) how RARs are regulated by
environmental cues (nitrogen, carbon,
nutrients and water); and (iii) how they are
implicated in RKN infection. The initial studies
will use Arabidopsis. Our findings will be
applied to crops such as wheat and canola (a
close relative of Arabidopsis) and will
contribute to more environmentally sustainable
and efficient agricultural practices.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
13/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Mike McLaughlin
Organisation
Phone
12/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10335
08 8303 8433
Email
mike.mclaughlin@csiro.au
Project Summary
Foliar fertilisation is a common in-crop
technique used to apply micronutrients (e.g.
zinc, copper and manganese) and in some
cases nitrogen. This practice is less common
for phosphorus (P) but the ability to use P
tactically is attractive due to the small
proportion of soil P present in a bioavailable
form and the strong affinity for added P to be
fixed in soils. This results in a large inital P
application rate to soils to enable sufficient P
throughout the growing season. Despite this
initial application of P, crops may lack the
nutrients required later in the growing season
to maximise their yields. The application of
foliar nutrients to slightly deficient crops may
help to give them the boost they need.
This project will identify the key factors
controlling wheat leaf uptake of nutrients,
particularly phosphorus in combination with
micronutrients. The knowledge of these
properties will result in testing of formulations
with higher penetration ability (for example
adjuvants or solution pH suited to wheat
leaves) and comparison with existing
formulations. The formulations will be tested
for their efficacy of plant uptake using isotopic
tehcniques. The formulations will be tested at
a range of wheat growth stages to identify the
optimal timing.
77
Scholarship - Courtney Peirce (UA) Foliar
Fertilisation Of Wheat Plants - Phosphorus in
Combination with Other Nutrients
Scholarship - Tawanda Kapfuchira (US)
Genetics of Biofortified Wheat
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2012
Contract End
Contact Prof. Richard Trethowan
Organisation
Phone
24/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10336
02 9351 8800
Email
richard.trethowan@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
78
The concentration and bioavailability of
essential elements such as iron and zinc is
very low in modern wheat cultivars. Over two
billion people in the world suffer from iron and
zinc deficiency, including in the developed
world, breeding programs aimed at improving
the nutritional quality of wheat are necessary.
A population of wheat lines is available to
study the genetics of biofortified wheat using
molecular markers. The population was
developed from a cross between parents
contrasting for iron and zinc concentration,
inulin (a bioavailability enhancer) and phytate
(a bioavailability inhibitor). One parent is an
Iranian landrace and the other is a mutant line
of a US cultivar. The expression of the traits
will be determined in contrasting environments
over three years.
Once materials with both optimal and suboptimal combinations of micronutrient
bioavailabilities are identified, their impact on
nutrition will be confirmed in animal feeding
tests, using broiler chickens. The stability of
the biofortification in wheat lines across
environments and years will be determined.
The relationship between yield, protein and
mineral concentration and bioavailability will
also be investigated. Field trials will be
conducted at the Plant Breeding Institute in
Cobbitty and the IA Watson Grains Research
Centre in Narrabri.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Christian Nansen
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2015
Project Code
GRS10404
08 6488 8672
Email
christian.nansen@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
This PhD project will provide new insight into
aphid infestation distribution patterns in
commercial canola, and will characterize the
spread (epidemiology) of aphid infestations.
This information will be used to develop
feasible and reliable monitoring/detection tools
and will provide farmers and consultants with
better knowledge about when and where to
look for emerging aphid infestations. That is,
further insight will be provided into how fast
aphid infestations spread, and how far apart
and how many plants should be inspected in
order to accurately estimate aphid densities in
a given sampling space.
Action thresholds will be developed for aphids
in canola in which we consider direct effects of
feeding to growing crops in Spring.
With better and more reliable
monitoring/detection tools and action
thresholds for aphid infestations, we predict
that it will be possible to reduce pesticide
applications targeted at aphids by applying
them more effectively (higher spray volume
and droplet size) on a ‘when and where
needed basis’. This project will also include
reflectance-based detection of aphid
infestations as part of a long-term research
effort into development of automated
monitoring/detection based on rover based
technology and hyperspectral imaging.
79
Scholarship - Dustin Severtson (UWA)
Detection and epidemiology of spring aphids in
canola
Scholarship - Guoquan Liu (UQ) Manipulating
seed storage proteins to enhance sorghum
digestibility
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/04/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Ian Godwin
Organisation
Phone
01/04/2016
Project Code
GRS10405
07 3346 9966
Email
i.goodwin@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Low digestibility of sorghum grain is a major
limitation to sorghum productivity and
profitability. Sorghum grain is usually
discounted as feed grain when compared to
wheat and barley, predominantly because of
its lower digestibility and energy conversion.
Sorghum endosperm has a particular
structure: starch and protein matrix, whereby
starch is often bound by the major storage
proteins, the kafirins including alfa-, beta-,
gamma- and delta- kafirin. However, beta-,
gamma-kafirin and their disulphate bond have
been reported to be related to sorghum low
digestibility.
80
The Godwin lab has cloned and characterised
genes of major sorghum seed storage proteins
including beta-, gamma-kafirin and endosperm
protein disulphate isomerise (PDI)
gene. Recently, in this lab, sorghum
transformation efficiency has been improved
from 1% to 20.7%. As a result, the research
has been published on the journal of Plant Cell
Reports in 2012.
The project now aims to manipulate sorghum
starch and protein matrix at molecular level to
improve grain digestibility for various end-uses
(feed, food, and bio-materials).
The major aims of this project are:



To improve sorghum transformation
efficiency;
To manipulate beta-, gamma-kafirin
genes involved in sorghum
digestibility;
To manipulate sorghum endosperm
PDI gene involved in digestibility.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
29/03/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Suong Cu
Organisation
Phone
28/03/2016
Project Code
GRS10407
08 8313 6738
Email
suong.cu@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
A critical requirement during malting and the
initial stages of brewing is hydrolysis of plant
cell walls. Failure to acheive this results in a
highly viscous solution that causes filtration
and other processing problems during
brewing. This quality defect was the reason
the barley variety Hindmarsh failed malting
accreditation and breweries are begining to
adopt new filtration technologies that will
increase process sensitivity to undegraded cell
wall components so this issue is of increasing
importance to breeders and the malting and
brewing industry.
The long chain polysaccharide beta-glucan is
the major component of barley cell walls.
Previous research by the University of
Adelaide has identified a novel form of the
enzyme beta-glucanase in wild barley which
exhibits higher thermostability and activity
levels than is seen in cultivated varieties. The
project will identify the DNA and protein
sequence changes responsible for these
differences allowing development of diagnostic
molecular markers and structure/function
analysis based on the crystal structure of
barley beta-glucanase. The wild barley derived
form of the enzyme has been crossed into elite
barley and its impact on malting and brewing
quality will be evaluated to quantify potential
industry benefit.
81
Scholarship - Juanita Lauer-Smith (UA)
Characterisation of novel forms of betaglucanase in malting barley
Scholarship - Julia Andrys (UMU) Spatial and
Temporal Distribution of Severe Weather
Events and their Impact on Grain Crops
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Tom Lyons
Organisation
Phone
30/08/2015
Project Code
GRS10408
Murdoch University
08 93602413
Email
t.lyons@murdoch.edu.au
Project Summary
Severe weather episodes such as frost,
drought, high temperatures and high intensity
rainfall can be devastating to crop yields.
While the frequency of frost may decline in
response to climate change, it is expected that
the occurrence of extreme weather events will
increase overall in the SWWA in the future. To
develop the best risk management strategies
for climate change, it is important therefore to
understand not only when these events are
likely to occur but how they will be distributed
throughout the region.
82
Using the state of the art regional climate
model WRF, and iVEC advanced computing
resources, this project will examine 30 years of
high resolution data of the region?s historical
climate and a further 30 years under projected
climate change to compare the current
distriubution of extreme weather with the
expected future distribution of severe events in
the SWWA. The 10km scale of the model data
output will allow this research to consider the
highly localised weather patterns that are
beyond the scope of lower resolution climate
data. With an emphasis on farm management,
this project will focus on the May-October
growing season, in particular the spring
months which are critical in the cropping
calendar.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Rao (RCN) Rachaputi
Organisation
Phone
01/07/2015
Project Code
GRS10421
07 41600737
Email
rao.rachaputi@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
The objective of this project will be to develop
accurate molecular markers for the
identification and selection of key agronomic
and quality/marketing traits in peanut
genotypes. Initial research of the relevant
literature reveals that traditional Sanger DNA
sequencing technologies, which are expensive
and time consuming, have discovered
relatively few functional molecular markers in
cultivated peanuts.
This project will employ next-generation
sequencing technologies to discover new
molecular markers, single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs) and diversity arrays
(DArT), which will be validated using
phenotypic analysis of selected populations,
including a unique recombinant inbred line
(RIL) population developed as part my
honours project (which was funded under a
GRDC Honours Scholarship). The key traits
that will be considered for marker-assisted
selection (MAS) include foliar disease
resistance, crop maturity, pod constriction,
kernel size/shape, shelling percent, kernel
blanchability, kernel moisture dry down, oil
content and fatty acid composition.
The validated markers will ultimately be
utilised in a MAS breeding program that will
complement traditional breeding methods used
in the PCA-GRDC-DAFFQ funded Australian
Peanut Genetic Improvement Program
(APGIP). MAS offers plant breeders the
opportunity to achieve early generation
selection of key traits in the breeding program,
enabling a larger number of smaller yet
desirable populations to be progressed in the
breeding process.
The early generation selection of key traits can
save precious time and resources in large
scale breeding programs, especially for traits
under complex genetic control or when
phenotypic traits are difficult and/or expensive
to measure (Pl. Biotech. J, vol 8, p. 2).
83
Scholarship - Daniel O'Connor (UQ)
Development of functional molecular markers
for key agronomic traits in the culitvated
peanut, using next-generation sequencing
technologies
Scholarship - Thomas Jason Major (ANU)
Communicating controversial science to
farmers
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Rod Lambers
Organisation
Phone
01/07/2016
Project Code
GRS10432
02 6125 0498
Email
rod.lambers@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Precise question will be refined during the
early stages of PhD. Broad concept is below
Communicating controversial science to
farmers
How do a farmer’s values influence their
perception/interpretation of controversial
science such as climate change?
Do these values differ for different
science/technologies such as GM crops and
how does this influence the acceptance or
otherwise of the science and how it might
transfer to changes in farm management?
84
Where are farmers getting their scientific
information relevant to their agronomic
practice? Who are the influencers ? who do
they trust as information sources and why?
What are the factors driving this trust/distrust?
How are their values/biases influencing their
interpretation from these sources and how
they implement or make use of the information
to manage their farm?
How are we framing relevant aspects of
climate science (or other technologies) for
various farmers? Have we framed it in a way
that aligns with their values? Does this even
matter? How are they interpreting this
information and what are they doing with
it? What, if any, are the barriers to the access,
interpretation, of this science and its proposed
implementation on the farm?
Scholarship - Kasra Sabermenesh (UA)
Responses of maize roots to nitrogen supply
Contract
Start 01/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Trevor Garnett
Organisation
Phone
21/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10437
Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics
08 8303 0179
Email
trevor.garnett@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
Nitrogen fertiliser is one of the largest input
costs for Australian cereal growers.
Unfortunately, cereal crops take up only 40%
of the nitrogen fertiliser applied, leading to
economic losses and considerable
environmental pollution. This low uptake
efficiency is a major issue but it also provides
a substantial opportunity as there is plenty of
scope for improvement.
The root system plays a fundamental role in
nutrient uptake from the soil, but the
responses of roots to changes in nitrogen
supply are still relatively poorly understood,
chiefly because roots are generally in soil and
difficult to study. Previous work at the ACPFG
has shown that maize lines that can grow well
with low nitrogen have better root nitrogen
uptake characteristics. I have identified when
in the lifecycle maize lines are responding to
reduced nitrogen supply and I am now
characterising the processes underlying this
important plant response.
I will use a combination of classical plant
physiology together with state of the art
transcriptomics and metabolomics to carry out
this investigation. Understanding how this
response differs between lines with contrasting
responses to low nitrogen will allow us to
identity root traits important to improving NUE.
GRDC
National
Region
85
Scholarship - Kevin Adamson (Sunshine
Coast) Investigation of metabolic regulatory
genes and hormones in pest snails.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Scott Cummins
Organisation
Phone
06/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10440
University of Sunshine Coast
07 5456 5501
Email
scummins@usc.edu.au
Project Summary
86
Several species of snails have become major
pests in agricultural regions of Australia,
feeding on crops, clogging harvesting
machinery and threatening exports by
contaminating grain. For example, pest snails
are costing grain growers on the Yorke
Peninsular almost $60,000 per farm. These
snails survive the hot Australian summers by
entering a state of suspended animation
known as aestivation. In aestivation, snails
cease movement to conserve energy and seal
themselves against water loss and reduce
heart rate, breathing and metabolism up to
90%. Remarkably, snails can survive for
months (even in temperatures exceeding
50?C!) until conditions improve, at which time
they become reanimated within 5 minutes.
These snails provide an excellent model to
identify the basic principles of metabolic
depression. Currently we have little
understanding of the genes and hormones that
control this in any animal.
A comprehensive molecular study of the
genetic control of metabolism, comparing
active and aestivating snails, will clarify which
genes and hormones trigger and regulate this
inactive state. This knowledge will provide the
genetic tools for a novel biological control
strategy to be developed that would aim to
prevent snails from entering aestivation,
leading to high snail mortality.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Thomas Martin
Organisation
Phone
11/03/2015
Project Code
GRS10460
08 6488 3331
Email
thomas.martin@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Plant nitrilases are involved in auxin and
ethylene biosynthesis. These major plant
hormones regulate aspects of plant
development such as leaf senescence. The
involvement of nitrilases in leaf senescence,
especially in the role of chlorophyll retention,
has been recently identified using stay green
mutants which maintain green-ness whilst
progressing into senescence. Stay green
mutants have been found in both maize and
rice.
The interaction between nitrilases and 14-3-3
proteins that I identified is a novel discovery
and has not been thoroughly explored. As 143-3 proteins are major regulatory proteins in
plant development, growth and metabolism,
this interaction may be fundamental to the role
of nitrilases and thus will provide new insight
into the role and control of nitrilases in plants
undergoing senescence.
My PhD project is an expansion of this work to
fully explore the mechanism and impact of
nitrilase and 14-3-3 interactions using the
model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. This
research will provide the groundwork to
understand how plant nitrilases are regulated
and how they are involved in stay green
mutants.
Outcomes will be transferred to control
nitrilases activity in cereal and oilseed crops to
control their timing of senescence and alter
their responses to biotic stresses such as
pathogens.
87
Scholarship - Julia Man (UWA)
Characterisation of Arabidopsis nitrilases and
14-3-3 interactions in the processes of
photosynthetic loss, leaf senescence and plant
stress
Scholarship - Kylie Foster (USA) Whole-ofplant study of salinity tolerance: A
mathematical modelling approach
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Stan Miklavcic
Organisation
Phone
29/07/2015
Project Code
GRS10471
University of South Australia
08 8302 3788
Email
stan.miklavcic@unisa.edu.au
Project Summary
88
Abiotic stresses such as high salt levels in
soils can severely reduce cereal crop plant
productivity. Currently, high salinity affects
two-thirds of Australian cereal crops.
compartmentalization of ions in the shoot?
None of the existing models of water transport
in plants are currently suitable for analysing
the transport of ions.
To increase plant salinity tolerance it is
necessary to manipulate the transport of ions
(e.g., sodium and chloride) through a plant.
However, this requires knowledge about how
ion transport through a plant occurs. In
particular, it is necessary to identify the key
points in this transport pathway to target in
order to generate a salt-tolerant cereal variety.
For example, is targeting the initial influx of
ions from the soil the best method for
increasing plant salinity tolerance, or should
more effort be directed towards increasing the
The overall aim of this research project is to
develop a time-dependent, whole-of-plant
quantitative model of water, ion and other
solute transport that would aid understanding
of the biophysical mechanisms and processes
responsible for increasing plant salinity
tolerance. It is envisioned that the results will
help guide plant geneticists in their search for
specific genetic traits that enhance a plant's
ability to tolerate salinity.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Dusan Losic
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2014
Project Code
GRS10474
08 8313 5446
Email
dusan.losic@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
The Australian grains industry represents
~24% of the country’s total agricultural export,
and is also essential in sustaining domestic
human and animal food requirements. The
industry is able to compete with international
markets through its strict quality control
protocols, which will not tolerate live insects in
harvested grain.
The use of traditional insecticides such as
phosphine is becoming inadequate, due to
pest insects developing resistance to current
products used. Additionally, there is negative
public perception surrounding the use of toxic
chemicals and pesticides for pest
management on stored grains. Both are critical
issues which threaten to jeopardise the
industry’s delivery of high quality products to
target markets.
In order to address these two obstacles,
current research has been focussed on the
use of chemical and resistance free
diatomaceous earth (DE) as an alternative
insecticide for stored grain. The specific aims
of this project are to investigate the
fundamental biological aspects of common
grain pests, and the mechanisms which
contribute to the successful use of DE to
eradicate them. In particular, laboratory trials
will be undertaken to assess the critical
parameters required to increase the
effectiveness of DE micro-particles which will
enable the design of optimum DE formulations
for grain storage.
89
Scholarship - John Hayles (UA)
Nanotechnology and chemical-free approach
for the protection of stored grain
Scholarship - Volkan Arici (USQ) On-the-go
proximal soil exchangeable ion sensing for
precision management of sodicity
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
04/03/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. John Bennett
Organisation
Phone
03/03/2016
Project Code
GRS10477
University of Southern Queensland
746311890
Email
john.bennett@usq.edu.au
Project Summary
Soil sodicity continues to limit crop yield
potential, with 2005 estimates for lost
economic potential at AUS$1035 million.
However, while the potential to increase
captial gain is real, the manner by which to
identify sodic problem areas and apply
amednments presents an economic risk that
often offsets the attraction of the potential
gains. Furthermore, methods to treat sodicity
are usually applied in a paddock scale blanketrate approach, as precision agriculture (PA)
tools do not exists for the determination of
exchangeable cations, specifically sodium
(Na).
90
With recent advances in proximal soil nutrient
sensing using electrochemical sensors, soil ion
kinetics have been used to provide rapid
determination of total ion concentrations.
There exists the potential to further analyse
soil ion kinetic functions, based on sensor lagrate and short-term ionic spike, to seperate
soluble and exchangeable ion signatures.
Additionally, through the use of NIR and MIR
spectroscopy soil moisture and cation
exchange capacity can be proximally
measured, respectively.
Through combination, further development and
refinement of these three proximal methods it
is proposed that a proximal contour map for
exchangeable sodium percentage (key sodicity
indicator) can be produced. In doing so, it
would be possible to identify and prioritise
sodic portions of paddocks and apply
amendments with precision. Thus, lost
economic potential could be realised and risks
offset.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Jim Prately
Organisation
Phone
12/08/2015
Project Code
GRS10483
Charles Sturt University
02 69332862
Email
jpratley@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
Herbicide resistance is an ever increasing
problem in cropping systems. Annual ryegrass
is Australia’s most damaging cropping weed,
and has developed resistance to multiple
herbicides throughout Australia. A factor in
effectively treating resistance is the accurate
identification of resistant weeds. Currently,
identification of the resistant status can take
from 4 to 10 months. This waiting time could
be dramatically reduced to as little as 3 weeks
with the utilisation of Diversity Array
Technologies (DArT). DArT allows the analysis
of young plants, meaning that resistance could
be determined within a growing season,
allowing more effective resistance
management techniques to be employed. To
use DArT, two milestones must be met: the
creation of a library of the plants DNA; and the
identification of desired markers. Having
already developed a library for annual
ryegrass, this project aims to identify the
markers responsible for herbicide resistance in
group B and M herbicides.
To achieve this, DNA will be extracted from
known resistant annual ryegrass varieties and
carefully bred progeny. This DNA will then be
analysed and genetic markers responsible for
resistance determined.
91
Scholarship - Aaron Preston (UCS)
Determination of genetic markers for herbicide
resistance in annual ryegrass using diversity
array technology
Scholarship - Jana Phan (UA) Identification of
arabionxylan biosynthetic genes in plants
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 19/08/2013
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Rachel Burton
Organisation
Phone
18/08/2016
Project Code
GRS10490
08 8303 1057
Email
Project Summary
92
Wheat is Australia’s main cereal crop and is of
great economic importance. It is also the
predominant cereal consumed in most
developed countries. The major dietary fibre
from the grain cell walls is a polysaccharide
called arabinoxylan. Consumption of soluble
dietary fibres, such as arabinoxylan, is a key
measure in preventing serious human
diseases such as type 2 diabetes,
cardiovascular disease and colon cancer.
These polysaccharides also influence
industrial uses of wheat such as baking, pasta
and noodle manufacture. We currently
understand little of how arabinoxylan is made
by the plant, including the identity of the main
biosynthetic genes. This information would be
transformational, allowing the development of
molecular markers for breeders to select for
the most beneficial type of arabinoxylan and
providing tools for biotechnological
approaches to influence the amount and
structure of grain fibre. Wheat grain contains a
complex array of tissues and a large hexaploid
genome, making gene discovery very
complicated.
To overcome this, we aim to use Plantago as a
model system. Plantago seeds make a coating
of mucilage very rich in arabinoxylan. This
enriched system can be used to identify genes
controlling arabinoxylan biosynthesis enabling
the equivalent genes to be studied in wheat
and other cereals.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Scott Chapman
Organisation
Phone
16/03/2015
Project Code
GRS10501
07 3214 2254
Email
scott.chapman@csiro.au
Project Summary
As arable farmland is limited in Australia, grain
production must be increased through
development of wheat cultivars with higher
yields. Abiotic stresses such as high
temperature exposure can reduce grain yield
significantly, yet this is currently an underresearched area and very important within the
Australian grain industry, which is sensitive to
reduction of yield during heat events and in
response to changing climates. It is important
to identify critical physiological traits
associated with high yield and yield stability
under heat stress and to understand the
molecular and genomic factors involved, to
identify cultivars with high yielding,
temperature tolerant phenotypes.
By identifying these critical traits to increase
grain production under adverse environmental
conditions, this research will contribute to
future production security in the grains industry
during heat events.
Using field and climate controlled trials,
combined with QTL analysis, the objectives of
this project are;
1. Evaluate and phenotype existing
genetic diversity for traits associated
with heat tolerance using field and
controlled environments
2. Utilize and develop novel physiological
traits and tools to identify heat tolerant
parental germplasm for use in
breeding programs for higher grain
production/yield stability.
3. Identify useful genetic information to
enable more efficient selection for
traits associated with high yield under
heat stress for breeding applications.
93
Scholarship - Kimberly Alexander (UQ)
Identification of quantitative trait loci
associated with heat tolerance in wheat for
increased fertility and grain
development/genetic variability in heat
responses for grain development
Scholarship - Oliver Mead (ANU ) Investigating
the role of gamma-aminobutryic acid in
pathogenicity in fungal wheat diseases
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/08/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Peter Solomon
Organisation
Phone
31/07/2016
Project Code
GRS10505
02 6125 3952
Email
peter.solomon@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Septoria nodorum blotch disease is the third
most economically significant disease to the
wheat industry in Australia, causing an
average loss of over $100 million dollars each
year.
In my honours project, previously invested in
by the GRDC, this disease was used to
determine the role of a metabolic pathway,
previously unexamined in fungi. This pathway,
called the ?-aminobutyric acid (GABA) shunt
was found to be crucial to septoria nodorum
blotch disease development. In the proposed
project, I intend to determine the cause of this
94
requirement for pathogenicity, as well as
determine whether this requirement is seen in
other diseases significantly affecting the wheat
industry.
To do this, I shall investigate the role of this
pathway in septoria nodorum blotch, tan spot
and septoria tritici blotch diseases. This will
involve use of a variety of genetic and
chemical analysis techniques, firmly
established in the Solomon lab, to further our
understanding of this pathway during fungal
infection of the wheat plant.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Jacqueline Batley
Organisation
Phone
01/04/2015
Project Code
GRS10507
07 3346 9534
Email
j.batley@research.uq.edu.au
Project Summary
A thorough understanding of the relationships
between plants and pathogens is essential if
we are to continue to meet the agricultural
needs of the world’s growing population.
The aim of this project will be to add to the
growing genomic knowledge of Brassicas,
through the identification of candidate
resistance genes in Brassica napus (canola)
for its most devastating fungal pathogen,
Leptosphaeria maculans (blackleg fungus).
These two species are locked in an
evolutionary arms-race whereby a gene for
gene interaction confers either resistance or
susceptibility in the plant depending on the
genotype of the plant and pathogen. Two
genomic regions on chromosomes A7 and A10
in B. napus are known to contain specific L.
maculans-resistance genes.
By characterising these genes in canola and
assessing the diversity and allelic variation, we
can identify sources of resistance genes for
use in canola breeding. However, to date, no
resistance genes have been sequenced. The
newly available Brassica genome sequence
and the recent availability of next generation
sequencing methods enable the de novo
sequencing of Brassica genomes for gene
discovery.
The aim of the project will be to identify
resistance genes within Brassica species and
apply this knowledge in the breeding of
disease resistant cultivars.
95
Scholarship - Reece Tollenaere (UQ)
Identification of blackleg resistance genes in
canola
Scholarship - Josh Chopin (USA) Mathematical
and Computational Modelling for the
Phenotypic Analysis of Cereal Plants
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Stan Miklavcic
Organisation
Phone
19/02/2015
Project Code
GRS10512
08 8302 3788
Email
stan.miklavcic@unisa.edu.au
Project Summary
Methods for manual phenotypic analysis can
be time consuming, labour intensive and often
destructive. As such, in large scale genomics
experiments they are impractical. This issue
has been the catalyst for a worldwide boom in
automated phenomics facilities in recent years.
However, accurately detecting, segmenting
and representing cereal plants in images is a
challenging task due to their complicated
structure. The narrow, spindly leaves of cereal
plants can be self-occluding and twisted,
making parts of the leaf as small as one pixel
wide in the image.
96
We use two popular image segmentation
techniques in order to gain an accurate digital
representation of cereal plants. Once an
accurate representation is gained we classify
the different regions of the plant, such as
leaves and stem. Finally, from either the 2D
images, or a 3D reconstruction of the plant, we
can extract morphological features such as
stem height, leaf surface area, biomass etc.
While these methods are powerful they are still
lacking in a number of areas that require more
research to be conducted. Namely, the
techniques fail to accurately capture sharp
corners in images (leaf tips and axils) and
require a number of parameters to be 'handpicked' in order for optimal performance.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Professor. Robert Henry
Organisation
Phone
16/01/2015
Project Code
GRS10532
07 3346 0552
Email
robert.henry@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Necrotrophic fungal pathogens cause diseases
of major economic significance to grain crop
production in Australia and abroad. Under the
GRDC Strategic Research and Development
Plan 2012-17, developing effective
management strategies for cereal fungal
pathogens is a current priority for the
Australian grains industry. The development of
resistant crop varieties through classical or
molecular breeding appears to be the only
realistic long-term solution for managing
necrotrophic fungal diseases.
Brachypodium distachyon is becoming
recognized as a highly effective genetic model
for grain crops which makes it highly useful as
a tool to facilitate understanding of disease
interactions between wheat and pathogenic
fungi. This project aims to develop a better
understanding of the molecular mechanisms of
host resistance by utilizing Brachypodium as a
model to understand crown rot (CR) in wheat
and identify novel disease resistance genes
which could have a critical impact on designing
effective disease control strategies against
necrotrophic pathogens.
1. Initially, available mutant lines (T-DNA
insertion and EMS mutagenized) will
be screened for resistance to CR.
2. Quantitative RT-PCR and highthroughput RNA-seq will be used to
understand gene expression in both
plant and fungi during infection and to
identify additional candidate genes.
3. The regulation of defence responses
by plant hormones jasmonate (JA) and
salicylic acid (SA) will be assessed
using mutants with impaired JA/SA
biosynthesis and reception.
4. Candidate resistance genes will be
identified in wheat based on sequence
homology to genes identified in
Brachypodium.
97
Scholarship - Jonathan Powell (UQ) Identifying
sources of resistance to necrotrophic plant
pathogens using the model grass
Brachypodium distachyon
Scholarship - Alison Renwick (CUR) Effector
gene prediction from fungal pathogen genome
assemblies
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
31/07/2015
Project Code
GRS10564
08 9266 4416
Email
Project Summary
98
Fungal pathogens interact with their plant
hosts largely via the secretion of effectors. The
Australian Centre for Necrotrophic Fungal
Pathogens (ACNFP) group has shown that
these are key determinants of pathogenicity in
the Stagonospora nodorum and Pyrenophora
Tritici-repentis wheat interactions. It is
suspected that effector genes are of
importance to the functioning of many of the
fungal pathogens that cause crop losses. This
has encouraged the ACNFP to sequence other
fungal genomes (Pyrenophora Teres,
Stagonospora avenae, Ascochyta ssp.) to help
to discover effector genes directly from the
genomes of these species.
Having obtained the genome sequences the
next step is to annotate the genes.
Unfortunately, the study of effector genes is
hindered by the poor success rate of gene
finding programs at annotating effector genes.
The goal of this project is to understand and if
possible improve the process whereby DNA
sequences are searched for protein-coding
regions, with a particular focus on effector
genes. Gene models will be compared to
those predicted by experimental data from
RNA sequencing and proteogenomics.
Discrepancies between the gene models and
experimental data will be recorded, and the
gene models refined.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
05/06/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Stephen Powles
Organisation
Phone
04/07/2016
Project Code
GRS10566
08 6488 7833
Email
stephen.powles@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Some farmers consistently cope better with the
variability that characterises the cropping
conditions of the Western Australian grainbelt.
an investment strategy for the studied regions
will be developed, focusing on the identified
drivers of profitability.
A consensual idea, shared in the industry by a
number of researchers, consultants and
growers, is that resilient and profitable farmers
employ superior farm management strategies.
These strategies are the sum of a unique
combination of characteristics including natural
resource availability, agronomic practices,
technology, skills, flexible and timely
management, business and social attitudes. In
order to bridge the gap between top
performers and the industry average,
commonalities within these groups need to be
identified. It is too simplistic to assume that
structural indicators such as farm size or
average rainfall can sufficiently explain
consistently higher financial returns among top
performers.
The diagnostic will evaluate agronomic,
economic and other multi-disciplinary
indicators, insofar as these contribute to an
improved understanding of the decisionmaking process of participating farmers. A
systematic method drawing on statistical and
non-statistical approaches, surveys of farmers
and existing databases will be used to identify
key drivers of profitability, prioritise
impediments, and compare structural and
managerial differences. Emphasis will be
placed on gaining first-hand information
directly from farmers themselves. The diversity
of farm enterprises in the agricultural
catchment will be modelled to help determine
which issues outstanding performers target
(e.g. weed management) and whether trends
exist.
Consequently, this research will conduct a
diagnostic of outstanding performers as well
as those at the district average. Subsequently,
99
Scholarship - Myrtille Lacoste (UWA)
Understanding the strategies of outstanding
performers in dryland farming enterprises
Scholarship - Kirt Hainzer Thesis research into
the biological farming approach
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Kirt Hainzer
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2013
Project Code
GRS10577
Wageningen University
02 4982 1066
Email
kirt.hainzer@wur.nl
Project Summary
My thesis research will scientifically analyse
the biological farming approach, a farming
method which has been successful for a
number of wheat farmers in Australia.
However, as yet there has not been a scientific
study explaining why their practices have been
100
successful. My research will aim to
scientifically analyse this promising method,
document its key practices and possibly initiate
a larger adoption among Australian grain
farmers.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Kate Rudd
Organisation
Phone
31/08/2016
Project Code
GRS10578
93518801
Email
kate.rudd@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
Rust diseases have caused significant losses
in Australian cereal crops, and whilst
resistance breeding has reduced the
frequency of rust epidemics, losses are still
experienced in some regions. In Australia,
cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) is affected
by three rusts: leaf rust caused by Puccinia
hordei, stem rust caused by P. graminis, and
stripe rust caused by a new form of P.
striiformis. Leaf rust and stem rust in particular
continue to evolve to overcome host
resistance genes, and at present, virulence
exists for most resistance genes derived from
cultivated barley.
Following our discovery and characterisation
of the first adult plant resistance (APR) gene
conferring protection against P. hordei
(Rph20), this project will undertake detailed
characterisation of several new sources of
APR we have identified, including gene
interaction, mapping and fine mapping to
develop markers to assist in the introgression
of the genes into local germplasm. The project
forms part of a broader objective of the
ACRCP, in providing barley cultivars with
durable resistance to leaf rust.
101
Scholarship - Paul Kavanagh (US) Genetics of
host: pathogen interactions in the Puccinia
hordei: Hordeum vulgare pathosystem
GRS10658: GRS - Ailisa Blum (UQ) Regulation
of the production of the mycotoxin
deoxynivalenol by Fusarium graminearum and
its according virulence on wheat and barley
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Kaye Hunt
Organisation
Phone
30/09/2016
Project Code
GRS10658
(07) 3365 3458
Email
k.hunt@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
102
Fusarium crown rot (FCR) and head blight
(FHB) cause >AU$100M in losses annually in
the Australian industry. There are currently no
immune cultivars available for either disease
and therefore a greater understanding of the
pathogen?s virulence arsenal is required to
allow informed design and application of future
crop protection strategies. This project will take
advantage of the recent advances in pathogen
genomics to understand the way in which
Fusarium spp. cause disease. Random
mutagenesis of F. graminearum will be used to
uncover novel mechanisms of virulence,
followed by rapid sequence based mapping of
the mutation(s). This approach will be a major
change in Fusarium research as previously
investigations have been largely restricted to
analysing selected genes one at a time. The
project will focus on the mechanisms
underlying how Fusarium spp. regulate the
production of the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol.
This toxin contributes to pathogen virulence in
both FHB and FCR and can contaminate grain
products. F. graminearum will be used as this
fungus can be crossed easily in the laboratory,
an essential feature for mapping mutations.
However, ultimately this approach could be
taken with other pathogens of importance to
the Australian grains industry
Rust diseases have caused significant losses
in Australian cereal crops, and whilst
resistance breeding has reduced the
frequency of rust epidemics, losses are still
experienced in some regions. In Australia,
cultivated barley (Hordeum vulgare) is affected
by three rusts: leaf rust caused by Puccinia
hordei, stem rust caused by P. graminis, and
stripe rust caused by a new form of P.
striiformis. Leaf rust and stem rust in particular
continue to evolve to overcome host
resistance genes, and at present, virulence
exists for most resistance genes derived from
cultivated barley.
Following our discovery and characterisation
of the first adult plant resistance (APR) gene
conferring protection against P. hordei
(Rph20), this project will undertake detailed
characterisation of several new sources of
APR we have identified, including gene
interaction, mapping and fine mapping to
develop markers to assist in the introgression
of the genes into local germplasm. The project
forms part of a broader objective of the
ACRCP, in providing barley cultivars with
durable resistance to leaf rust.
GRS10660: GRS - Eisrat Jahan (US) Genetypic
variation in mesophyll conductance of wheat
(Triticum aestivum) and its effect on WUE
Contract
Start 02/12/2012
Contract End
Contact Ms. Fiona Lawrence
Organisation
Phone
02/12/2015
Project Code
GRS10660
+61 2 8627 1002
Email
fiona.lawrence@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
Wheat is one of the most important grains in
the world as well as in Australia?s grain
industry. It has been predicted that climate
change will cause changes in the patterns of
precipitation and that these changes will
exacerbate existing challenges of water
availability for agriculture. Thus, improvements
in water-use efficiency are required to maintain
and improve wheat yield.
The conductance to CO2 diffusion from
intercellular airspace to chloroplasts has been
termed mesophyll conductance (gm), and
significantly limits photosynthetic rate.
Increased mesophyll conductance has the
potential to improve leaf-level water-use
efficiency through increases in photosynthetic
rate. For estimating mesophyll conductance I
will use gas exchange measurements in
combination with discrimination against
13CO2.
Our objectives are; to assess existing genetic
variation in mesophyll conductance among
selected wheat cultivars, to quantify the effect
of plant water potential and leaf nitrogen
concentration on mesophyll conductance and
to determine the physiological basis of
variation in mesophyll conductance and its
effect on water-use efficiency.
GRDC
National
Region
103
GRS10661: GRS - Emma Thompson (UQ)
Brewer Nutrient recovery from wastewater
using electrodialysis
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 15/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Vivienne Clayton
Organisation
Phone
15/07/2016
Project Code
GRS10661
(07)33654680
Email
enquiries@awmc.uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Fertiliser price instability, due to increasing
global demand, energy costs associated with
production and limited resources, has put
financial pressure on the Australian agriculture
industry.
104
To address this issue, there is a need to
assess nutrient resources from wastewater
streams and their potential for being
processed into high value fertilizer products. A
substantial fraction (30-100%) of major
nutrients (NPK) can be serviced from
wastewater streams in Australia. The project
will investigate the application of multi-cell
electrodialysis to recover nitrogen and
potassium from wastewater streams. The aim
is to yield a useful fertiliser product at
comparable energetic and economic costs to
existing non-renewable sources, with a
particular focus on nitrogen and potassium
based products.
Key challenges include the separation of
desired ions (i.e., ammonium, potassium),
avoiding scaling, and minimising energy
consumption. This will be addressed through
mechanistic modelling of the electrodialysis
process and demonstrating application of the
process using different types of wastewater
streams.
The mechanistic model is a computer
simulation which is based upon first principle
theories of electrochemistry and process
engineering. Given input conditions, it will be
able to predict the efficiency of an
electrodialysis process in terms of both the
composition of the product and the energy
consumption.
GRS10664: GRS - Clare Flakelar (UCS) Canola
quality - the influence of processing
parameters on valuable minor components.
Contract
Start 17/02/2014
Contract End
Contact Professor. Andrea Bishop
Organisation
Phone
15/11/2016
Project Code
GRS10664
+61 2 6933 4748
Email
abishop@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
Previously, little research focus has been
placed on bioactive components in canola oil.
Furthermore, these components (particularly
carotenoids, tocoperols and sterols) are
reduced or eliminated entirely during current
commercial oil production. Many of these
compounds are linked to health beneficial
effects, e.g. lutein for protection against
macular degeneration, and were shown in my
2013 honours project to be present in canola
oil in significant amounts, when extracted
under mild conditions.
Therefore a new project will be undertaken in
my PhD to investigate conditions such as
temperature, light exposure, addition of solvent
etc. and processing techniques (e.g
bleaching), and their effects on the
concentrations of these components.
Furthermore, after discovering that many of
these components were strongly influenced by
variety in commercial canola samples, the PhD
project will investigate GxE effects in a
balanced sample set of 64 different
geneotypes grown at three field sites in 2013
(from a companion GRDC project conducted
at NSW DPI, Wagga).
At the beginning of the project I will develop an
LCMS/MS method for the simultaneous
determination of sterols, carotenoids and
tocopherols, to be used throughout the study.
Further research will investigate whether a
rapid NIR method, such as is used currently in
industrial settings, can be developed to
determine these compounds in whole seed
and/or oil.
GRDC
National
Region
105
GRS10667: GRS - Fabian Inturrisi (UQ)
Identification of candidate genes for blackleg
resistance in Brassica Juncea
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/02/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Kaye Hunt
Organisation
Phone
01/04/2017
Project Code
GRS10667
07 33653458
Email
SAFS_research@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
106
Brassica species are important crops
producing cooking oils, vegetables,
condiments and biofuels, grown in diverse
environments, with high economic and export
value. A thorough understanding of the
relationships between plants and pathogens is
essential if we are to continue to meet the
agricultural needs of the world’s growing
population.
canola breeding for blackleg disease
resistance by identification, characterisation
and assessment of diversity and allelic
variation of candidate resistance genes among
B. juncea lines. The newly available Brassica
genome sequence and the recent avaliability
of next generation sequencing methods enable
the de novo sequencing of Brassica genomes
for gene discovery.
Leptosphaeria maculans (blackleg fungus) is a
devastating fungal pathogen for canola in
Australia. L. maculans and Brassica species
are locked in an evolutionary arms-race
whereby a gene for gene interaction confers
either resistance or susceptibility in the plant
depending on the genotype of the plant and
pathogen. Brassica juncea is important in
The aim of this project will be to add to the
growing genomic knowledge of Brassicas,
through the identification of candidate
resistance genes in B. juncea against L.
maculans along with applying this knowledge
in the breeding of disease resistant cultivars.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Gagan Bhardwaj
Organisation
Phone
08/01/2018
Project Code
GRS10683
+612 6125 9395
Email
Gagan.Bhardwaj@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
For this project, I am particularly interested in
researching the involvement of epigenetic
mechanisms in enhancing the adaptive ability
of plants to their environment and the
associated stresses, and in particular
elucidating the particular epigenetic
mechanisms that may be involved.
This project is aimed at confirming that plants
harbor the ability to have a ‘memory’ of past
stresses that are passed down through
generations such that later generations are
‘primed’ to thrive in those growth conditions.
Currently, it is largely unknown the extent to
which epigenetic mechanisms can effect the
phenotypes of plants, including yield produced
by crop species. In particular, I want to
establish the impact that the environment has
in influencing plant phenotypic traits,
specifically through epigenetic mechanisms.
For instance, we may be able to influence the
resulting phenotype of a plant by controlling
the conditions that the parental seed stock are
exposed to. This project is also aimed at
exploring which genes are targeted by such
epigenetic marks, such that this project may
contribute to the understanding of plant
epigenetics at a molecular/mechanistic level.
For this project, I will begin by investigating
which of the following plant organisms:
Arabidopsis thaliana or Brachypodium
distachyon, will be most suited for my project.
Additionally, I am also concerned about having
a consistent and reliable application of stress;
therefore, the early stages of this project will
involve optimizing the experimental design.
For this project, I am considering using excess
light, heat, drought, fluctuating light or a
combination of these as forms of stress to
apply to plants.
The current major aspect for this project
involves applying the chosen stress-treatment
to the chosen plant species over multiple
generations (at least 10 generations) and
observing for the transgenerational inheritance
of epigenetic marks.
107
GRS10683: GRS - Diep Ganguly (ANU) What
are the epigenetic mechanisms involved in
regulating stress response in Arabidopsis
thaliana and Brachypodium distachyon
GRS10686: GRS - Jessica Mackay (UA)
Biological farming systems: is there a role for
mycorrhizas and organic amendments in the
grain industry?
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Andrea Przygonski
Organisation
Phone
30/11/2016
Project Code
GRS10686
+61 8 8313 4739
Email
andrea.przygonski@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
As nutrients become increasingly scarce and
expensive, we need to find innovative ways to
supply grain crops with the nutrients they need
in order to maximise production. Equally, we
need to ensure that the nutrients we apply are
available to plants and are not lost to the
environment via leaching or as greenhouse
gasses such as nitrous oxide.
108
If we are to achieve these goals, we need to
identify: ? Sustainable new options for
supplying nutrients to our crops ? Soil
biological processes that help release nutrients
to plants when they are needed most and ?
The processes that maximise the capacity of
plants to acquire nutrients
In this project I will investigate the potential for
biological farming systems to be applied to
mainstream grain production systems. I will
focus on the potential to supply nutrients to
crops as organic amendments, and the role of
mycorrhizas in acquiring those nutrients.
The project will involve a combination of
laboratory and glasshouse based studies
complimented with on-farm surveys and
experiments. A wide range of analytical
techniques will be used to generate currently
lacking knowledge, that is both scientifically
cutting edge, and farm-relevant. Techniques
used will include those used in other GRDC
programs, such as the soil biology initiative.
GRS10687: GRS - John Rivers (ANU) RNA
secondary structure and the regulation of
metabolism
Contract
Start 31/03/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Patricia Seddon
Organisation
Phone
31/03/2017
Project Code
GRS10687
61261259090
Email
paritcia.seddon@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
The ability to control the activity of specific
genes (AKA ‘gene expression’) is central to
plant biotechnology. A key determinant of
gene expression within cells are the
intermediary, polymeric molecules known as
ribonucleic acid (RNA), which contain
information encoded by an organism’s
genome. RNA molecules are known to fold
back on themselves, forming secondary
structures known as ‘riboswitches’ and
‘thermometers’.
I am interested in developing metabolic
screening technology to identify regulators of
signalling pathways that control natural
product accumulation (e.g. carotenoids) in
grains such as wheat. Recent work in the
Pogson Lab at ANU has revealed that a
carotenoid biosynthetic ?-cyclase (?LCY)
gene, is regulated by cis-carotenoid
accumulation and an unknown derivative is
hypothesised to alter the structure of the ?LCY
RNA, thereby affecting gene-expression.
In bacteria RNA can affect the ability of cellular
enzymes to access the information encoded in
RNA, thus regulating gene expression and
protein activity.
The discovery of RNA regulatory processes
that are controlled by chemical application will
pave the way to enhance natural productenrichment in grains and lead to new
commercial ventures.
This proposal will investigate RNA regulatory
mechanisms controlling metabolic
accumulation in plants. Plants are natural
chemical factories.
GRDC
National
Region
109
GRS10690: GRS - Kenton Porker (UA)
Manipulating and understanding barley
phenology to maximise yield potential
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 03/10/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Andrea Przygonski
Organisation
Phone
03/09/2017
Project Code
GRS10690
(08)83134739
Email
andrea.przygonski@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
The combination of genetics involved in grain
phase development and flowering date
(phenology) is a major determinant of the
adaptation of barley to different environments.
Flowering time during the 'optimal window' is
critical to maximise yield and minimise the risk
of frost, heat, and drought stresses.
Improvements in barley genomics have
identified diversity in major development genes
known to control phenology, including
vernalisation requirement, photo-period
sensitivity, and inherent earliness. Current
understanding of phenology-gene
combinations, interactions with the
environment and yield components is limited.
110
This PhD intends to align with the GRDC
strategic research and development plan
surrounding agronomy and crop physiology
and the 2014 GRDC investment plan
‘manipulating barley phenology to maximise
yield potential’
involving collaboration with the University of
Adelaide, CSIRO, and the University of New
England.
Based on field and laboratory validation, this
project aims to:
a. provide understanding of the
relationship between phenology genes
and yield components to identify the
optimal phase development pattern for
barley
b. link gene sequence information with
field phenotyping to better understand
how gene combinations
impact phenology
c. assist development of a gene-based
phenology model which would enable
breeders to better target optimal gene
combinations for different production
environments using parameters from a
smaller set of phenotypes
Growers are increasingly sowing earlier
without knowledge of varietal developmental
responses.
Part of this project therefore aims to
characterise, assess, and simulate the
suitability of current genetics for earlier sowing
in Australian farming systems across a range
of environments using crop management tools
such as APSIM.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Leanne Pooley
Organisation
Phone
04/04/2016
Project Code
GRS10691
(07)54601342
Email
SAFS_Research@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
The objectives of this study are to gain an
understanding of the biology of
Neocosmospora vasinfecta, an emerging
soilborne pathogen of peanuts that
causes severe root rot, and to develop
accurate phenotypic screening techniques to
identify sources of resistance to the
pathogen Neocosmospora root rot has been
found in all peanut-growing regions in
Australia, in recent years causing between 10
and 50% crop and economic losses leading to
reduced plantings in Central Queensland,
Bundaberg and the Burnett regions. Whilst
there is much literature on the ecology and
biology of other soilborne diseases of peanuts,
there is a paucity of information available in
the global literature concerning
Neocosmospora infection in peanuts.
The project will therefore initially concentrate
on understanding the biology and
epidemiology of Neocosmospora root rot, as a
prelude to developing a phenotypic screening
tehcnique for potential use in the Australian
peanut breeding program, based at Kingaroy,
Queensland. Rapid screening techniques for
this SBD under controlled conditions offers
plant breeders the opportunity to achieve early
generation selection and hence save precious
time and resources. There is also the potential
to develop molecular markers for these traits,
via collaboration with an allied UQ PhD
program (Mr Dan O'Connor) being conducted
at DAFF Kingaroy.
111
GRS10691: GRS - Kylie Wenham (UQ)
Investigations into the biology and
management of Neocosmospora root rot of
peanuts in Australia.
GRS10692: GRS - Nathan Craig (UWA) The
influence of cereal monoculture and high crop
residue levels on mineral nitrogen availability
under long term no-tillage systems.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
03/04/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Mr. Alan Luks
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2016
Project Code
GRS10692
08 6488 2541
Email
alan.luks@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
The application of artificial nitrogen fertiliser to
maximise crop yield represents a significant
cost to farm production. In the low rainfall zone
of Australia, this is exacerbated by the
adoption of cereal monoculture as the most
profitable sequence of crops to be grown.
112
This project will explore the influence of crop
rotation and the adoption of high-crop-residue
no-tillage systems on labile soil carbon and
plant available soil nitrogen. A key focus of
this project is to determine if cereal
monocultures can become less dependant on
artificial nitrogen fertiliser through long-term
changes in soil microbiology. An established
long-term no-tillage trial site with cereal
monoculture and diverse crop rotation
including legumes will be used to measure
nitrogen mineralisation, changes in soil
microbiology, and changes in soil organic
carbon under each crop rotation. The
identification of the gains and losses of soil
nitrogen under each crop rotation will be
further investigated to better understand the
factors affecting seasonal changes in soil
nitrogen under a high-crop-residue
environment.
The Agricultural Production Simlulation model
(APSIM) will be calibrated using the results
from this trial to predict the long-term changes
in crop yield from changes in soil nitrogen and
organic carbon.
GRS10694: GRS - Sandra Kerbler (UWA)
Investigating the molecular basis of thermal
acclimation in plant mitochondria
Contract
Start 25/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Jenny Gillett
Organisation
Phone
25/03/2016
Project Code
GRS10694
08 64884416
Email
jennifer.gillett@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Fluctuations in temperature can profoundly
impact plant growth and development.
Although crop plants have the ability to
acclimate to different temperatures, this has a
major impact on the energy efficiency of crop
production. As temperatures in agricultural
regions are becoming increasingly
unpredictable, knowledge of how plant growth
responds to different temperatures is vital if we
are to maintain current levels of crop
productivity.
Mitochondria play a key role in determining the
rate of plant growth as actively functioning
mitochondria produce much of the energy and
carbon skeletons necessary for biosynthesis
and cellular maintenance during plant
respiration. Mitochondrial function in flowers is
also critical for fertility and pollen production,
linking respiratory dysfunction and infertility of
crops during temperature extremes.
Respiratory processes are very conserved
across plant species and therefore study in
model plant species has broad applicability to
many crop species.
Recent research has revealed that changes in
mitochondrial proteins have a key role in plant
thermal tolerance by maintaining ATP
production. However, the entire suite of
proteins, the degree and mechanism by which
they change and how this process can be
modified to enable acclimation of respiration, is
yet to be fully understood.
Therefore this PhD project aims to identify how
molecular changes within the mitochondria
allow plants to continue growth at a range of
temperatures.
GRDC
National
Region
113
GRS10695: GRS - Sarah Lorberg (UQ) Novel
sources of disease resistance in Brassica
GRDC
Region National
Contract
10/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
10/01/2016
Project Code
GRS10695
07 33653458
Email
Project Summary
The study of plant interactions with microbes,
both beneficial and pathogenic, has important
implications for improving plant productivity.
Plants require mechanisms to recognise both
types of microbe and respond accordingly.
This project will investigate the role of
Brassicaceae SYMBIOSIS (SYM) genes in
pathogenicity, as they appear to form part of
an ancient microbial recognition pathway.
Specifically I aim to discover if any of the
known SYM genes are involved in pathogenic
interactions, including between canola and the
devastating disease, blackleg, caused by the
114
fungus Leptosphaeria maculans. In parallel,
my PhD aims to further understand the
general biology of L. maculans and particularly
the molecular and genetic changes that occur
during in vitro loss of pathogenicty following
rounds of continued subculturing.
Additionally, I will characterise molecular
differences between L. maculans and its
relative L. biglobosa , which is extremely
aggressive in the early infection stages but
does not form major disease symptoms or
crop losses.
GRS10698: GRS - Thomas Simnadis (UW)
Studies in Novel Grains for the Australian Food
Supply
Contract
Start 03/03/2014
Contract End
Contact Mr. Peter Roope
Organisation
30/11/2016
Project Code
GRS10698
University of Wollongong
Phone
Email
Project Summary
The research will focus on the Australian
grains industry and explore the possible
incorporation of ancient grains such as
amaranth , buckwheat, millet, sorghum, spelt
and teff into the Australian food supply. The
health benefits of consuming these grains will
be explored through a systematic literature
review while econometric modelling will be
undertaken to explore factors which may
promote or inhibit the adoption of these grains
in the Australian agricultural industry from an
environmental and economic perspective. It is
anticipated that this focus will be
complemented with preliminary investigations
into the possible introduction of ancient grains
into an overseas market such as the United
States through pre-existing research linkages.
GRDC
National
Region
115
GRS10699: GRS - Vijira Wanniarachchi (UF)
Alternative respiratory genes can improve
tolerance to abiotic stresses in
cereals     
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/11/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Associate Professor. Kathleen Soole
Organisation
Phone
02/10/2017
Project Code
GRS10699
Flinders University
08 8201 2030
Email
kathleen.soole@flinders.edu.au
Project Summary
Abiotic stresses such as drought, salinity,
extreme temperatures and chemical toxicity,
cause significant annual yield reductions
worldwide. Normal growth and development of
plants is dependent on the capacity of plants
to overcome these stresses, and this capacity
has enormous significance in crop yield.
Tolerance mechanisms in plants are controlled
by genes, and, once the controlling genes
have been identified, they can be manipulated
to develop improved crop varieties using
biotechnological tools.
116
The alternative respiratory pathway associated
with the mitochodnrial electron transport chain
helps to reduce the production of reactive
oxygen species, thus alleviate growth defects
from oxidative stress. The main proteins in this
pawthay are alternaive oxidase (AOX) and
alternative dehydrogenases (NDH). It has
been shown that increased level of expression
and activity of AOX and NDH, can improve
biomass growth of the model plant,
Arabidopsis by 30-40% under stress
conditions that induce oxidative stress, such
as salinity, and combined heat, drought, and
high light. I wish to extend these observations
to the model cereal, rice.
I am using two approaches;
1. screening already tolerant rice
varieties for the expression of AOX
and NDH genes and
2. producing transgenic lines with upregulated levels and assessing their
tolerance to environmental stress and
impact on seed yield.
GRS10780: GRS - Adam Taranto (ANU)
Compontents of Immunity to Stagonospora
nodorum in Wheat
Contract
Start 03/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Amelia Irby
Organisation
Phone
03/01/2017
Project Code
GRS10780
+61 2 6125 9394
Email
amelia.irby@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Stagonospora nodorum is the causal agent of
septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) of wheat and is
estimated to cost Australian growers $108 M
per annum. Recent whole genome sequencing
of S. nodorum has enabled the identification of
necrotrophic effectors (NEs) specific to virulent
races of the pathogen (e.g. ToxA, Tox1 and
Tox3). These effectors alone cause necrosis
on susceptible hosts and are critical for
disease.
The Solomon lab has shown that,
paradoxically, these effectors also induce a
very strong host defence response that S.
nodorum must either evade or suppress to
cause disease. I will use deep RNAsequencing to profile the response of
susceptible and resistant wheat varieties to S.
nodorum during infection. These data will
reveal how S. nodorum copes with plant
defence and will also aid in identifying host
genes involved in disease resistance.
In a complementary approach, I will scan my
RNA sequencing data to seek small RNAs
secreted by S. nodorum during infection.
Recent studies have shown that these
secreted small RNAs interfere with host
defence enabling rapid disease progression. I
plan to functionally characterise the identified
wheat genes using a viral-induced gene
silencing approach through the collaboration of
the Solomon lab with the Rothamsted
Research Station (UK).
GRDC
National
Region
117
GRS10781: GRS - Jayachandra Rongala (UA)
Cereal Transport Proteins Involved In Boron
Toxicity Tolerance: How Natural Variation And
Sequence Diversification Relate To Structural
And Functional Properties
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Monica Ogierman
Organisation
Phone
31/01/2016
Project Code
GRS10781
8 8303 6725
Email
monica.ogierman@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
Soil toxicity due to a high subsoil concentration
of boron and related metalloids is a constraint
influencing cereal crop production many
regions of the world. Toxicity effects grain
production through reduced yield and quality
through accumulation of metalloids that can
cause intoxication of both humans and
animals. Amelioration of high concentrations of
metalloids from agricultural soils is not
practical.
118
Breeding tolerant varieties remains the only
feasible strategy to address the problem, and it
is imperative that research is directed towards
understanding boron transport protein function
so that the identified naturally occurring
variation for tolerance can be effectively
deployed in breeding. Recent discoveries of
the barley and wheat transport proteins such
as boron transporter (HvBot1, TaBot-B5b) and
multifunctional aquaporins (HvNIP2;1) have
advanced our knowledge of the genetic control
of boron tolerance and provided new
opportunities to address the problem.
In my PhD study these proteins from barley
and wheat will be functionally characterised to
further our understanding of the relationship
between tolerance allele sequence and
functionality in the plant. This information will
support the implementation of novel and
naturally occurring allelic variation in breeding.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Lambert Brau
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2013
Project Code
GRS187
Murdoch University
+61 3 9251 7055
Email
lambert.brau@deakin .edu.au
Project Summary
The ability of legume plants to fix atmospheric
nitrogen and make it availabel is the result of a
symbiotic relationship between the host plant
and soil bacteria know as rhizobia. The
rhizobia occupy structures (known as nodules)
on the root of platns ans it is within these
structures that they are able to convert
atmospheric N2 to NH3+. It has been shown
that the formation of nitrogen fixing nodules on
grain legumes (such as lupins) or pasture
legumes (such as clover) can be enhanced by
co-inoculating with specific plant growth
promoting rhizosphere bacteria (PGPRs).
Increased number of nodules can increase the
amount of atmospheric N2 fixed and thus
enhance plant growth.
Preliminary work suggests that the increase in
nodulation is not as a result of a change in root
physiology of the host plant but may be
caused by an exchange of molecular signals
between the PGPR and the rhizobia, the
PGPR and the plant or the PGPR with both.
This project will aim to elucidate if such
signalling is occurring and if so, to determine
the nature of these signal molecules.
The second aim of the project will be to
establish whether the PGPR are able to colocate with the rhizobia in the nodule
structures ow whether they remain outside the
plant tissue, in the rhizosphere.
119
Scholarship - Liza Parkinson (UMU)
Investigating the method of action of plant
growth promoting Rhizosphere bacteria
enhancing nodulation in legumes
GTA10022: Travel Award - Mr Pradeep Sornaraj
(UF) The XV Congress on Molecular PlantMicrobe Interaction/Presenting data at the
Conference
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/08/2011
Start
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
13/08/2012
Project Code
GTA10022
Flinders University
08 8201 5269
Email
Project Summary
120
1. The conference will provide me with
an opportunity to meet the research
community working on common goal
to improve the means of controlling
pathogen mediated loss to the grain
industry.
2. The conference will enable me to
identify new techniques that could be
useful in understanding the role of
different domain in the plant resistance
R protein and the importance of
nucleotide binding leading to the
activation of resistance R proteins.
3. It may help in developing new
research collobrations between
research laboratories within Australia
and all over the world.
4. The conference will act as a mean to
transfer knowledge and will improve
the general understanding of the
biology behind pathogen/plant
interactions among industry
collaborators and plant researchers
5. I will also be able to demonstrate the
participation and commitment of the
GRDC to support and nurture
fundamental research in
plant/pathogen interactions towards
improving the management of pests
and diseases to grain growing
industry.
GTA10267: Travel Award - Julia Brueggemann
(UA) Plant & Animal Genome XX
121
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Prof. Diane Mather
Organisation
Phone
20/01/2012
Project Code
GTA10267
08 8313 7156
Email
diane.mather@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
Information on and implementation of new
molecular markers for traits of interest to
Australian wheat and barley breeders and to
pre-breeding research. Information on novel
molecular marker techniques whose adoption
has the potential to reduce the cost of marker
assisted selection and/or of pre-breeding
research.
Information on new wheat and barley
genomics data resources and on the related
bioinformatics tools that can accelerate
molecular marker development.
Contract
13/01/2012
Start
GTA10348: Travel Award - Maarten Kooiker
(CSP) International Plant Molecular Biology
Congress
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 30/06/2012
Contract End
Contact Mr. Gang-Ping Wynne
Organisation
Phone
28/10/2012
Project Code
GTA10348
07 3214 2354
Email
Project Summary
At the conference in Korea several groups,
including leading researchers in the field will
present their data and recent findings. Since
many of these presentations will cover
research topics closely related to my research,
I will be learning from these researchers and
their approaches and/or new techniques. It will
also give me the opportunity to contact these
researchers and exchange ideas and possibly
122
establish collaborations.
New information about the proceedings in the
of colleagues working in the same research
field will impact future research strategies that
aim to increase yields of wheat in terminal
drought conditions and the adaptation to
climate changes.
GTA10361: Travel Award – Alexandra MilnerSmyth (SAN) SANTFA Bus Trip to New South
Wales
Contract
Start 16/06/2012
Contract End
Contact . Alexandra Milner-Smyth
Organisation
Phone
20/07/2012
Project Code
GTA10361
South Aust. No-Tillage Farming Ass. Inc. (SANTFA)
888424278
Email
alex@santfa.com.au
Project Summary
The trip aims to build on the existing
knowledge of South Australian farmers by
exposing them to new methods and
technologies with an emphasis on releavence
to SA conditions and ease of implementation.
By educating farmers in the eareas of subjects
including (but not limited to) permanent ground
cover, minimum / zero-tillage, soil health,
biodiversity, reduction of herbicide resistance
and crop rotations, SANTFA aims to assist
growers to reduce their inputs while increasing
the quality and quantity of grains.
SANTFA also seeks to show attendees how to
manage stock in a conservation agriculture or
no-till system to minimise financial risks during
drought or disease.
GRDC
National
Region
123
GTA10368: Travel Award - Matthew Gilliham
(UA) Conference Travel to US and visits
researchers to strike up collaboration
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 20/06/2012
Contract End
Contact . Chelsea DuBois
Organisation
Phone
01/08/2012
Project Code
GTA10368
883137116
Email
chelsea.dubois@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
The purpose of my trip is two fold, to form
international collaborations and to showcase
the capacity for high-impact salinity tolerance
research in cereals in Australia. In terms of
collaboration I will build relations with two of
the leading research institutes in the area of
abiotic plant stress tolerance, UCSD and the
DanForth Centre, and an industrial giant that is
124
already beginning to invest in the Australian
wheat industry through Intergrain. It is
important that the results of our high-profile
paper, resulting from a collaboration between
several Australian Institutes with support from
the GRDC, is desiminated in such a highprofile international forum.
GTA10385: Travel Award – Sarita Bennett
(CUR) To present a paper at the 16th Australian
Agronomy Conference
Contract
Start 30/06/2012
Contract End
Contact . Belinda Northeast
Organisation
Phone
18/10/2012
Project Code
GTA10385
892664248
Email
b.northeast@curtin.edu.au
Project Summary
My research on abiotic stresses has been
based in Western Australia with limited
collaboration with researchers in the eastern
states. Through attendance and presenting at
the Agronomy Conference I am to meet new
researchers working in a similar area where
we can discuss current research aims and
future collaboration.
This will ensure that current research is
applicable to both eastern and Western
Australia, thus increasing its benefit to the
Australian grains industry and ensure that
future work is applicable to both eastern and
Western Australia. Presenting the work on
boron and salinity tolerance in field peas will
communicate the results to the wider
community as the techniques used can be
applied across different crop and pasture
varieties.
GRDC
National
Region
125
GTA10419: Travel Award - Bo Xu (UA)
International Workshop on Plant Membrane
Biology XVI 2013
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 24/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Matthew Gilliham
Organisation
Phone
05/04/2014
Project Code
GTA10419
08 8303 8145
Email
matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
By travelling to and presenting at IWPMB2013
I will have the opportunity to describe my
results demonstrating the discovery of two
natural sources that confer Na-exclusion in
wheat. My work, which is part of a national
collaboration with CSIRO and ACPFG not only
demostrates that Australian wheat production
can be improved on saline soil but also has
drawn notable international attention from both
the scientific community and the general
media, with over 500 media stories. It
demonstrates the importance of exploring
natural variation for improving abiotic stress
126
tolerance and yield in the field. Meanwhile my
comparison of the properties of different Natransporter variants will provide a guide to
breeders for selecting candidates for improving
salt tolerance of wheat and other cereals.
Additionally, visiting Ma’s and Uozumi's labs
will provide an opportunity to improve
international collaboration in this area with
leading overseas laboratories who also
explore cereal abiotic-stress tolerance.
GTA10422: Travel Award - Kaitao Lai (UQ) PAG
XXI Conference
127
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Dr. Owain Edwards
Organisation
Phone
18/01/2013
Project Code
GTA10422
08 9333 6401
Email
Owain.Edwards@csiro.au
Project Summary
My unpublished work is focusing on
characterize genetic diversity in 16 Australian
bread wheat varieties. I expected to exchange
the latest research ideas related to
characterizing genetic diversity between
varities from the coference.
These experiences from other research group
could help me to characterize genetic diversity
in Australian bread wheat varieties to enable
the generation of superior genotypes for crop
imovement and producitivity.
Contract
10/01/2013
Start
GTA10427: Travel Award - Roslyn Jettner
(DAW) Understanding the China market and its
requirement for Milling Oats - Industry
Champion travel
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
30/06/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Roslyn Jettner
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2013
Project Code
GTA10427
Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA)
08 9368 3241
Email
roslyn.jettner@agric.wa.gov.au
Project Summary
128
The growth in development of new consumer
products with health benefits and in oat
processing facilities in China represents a
major opportunity for the growth of milling oat
exports from Australia.
capture future growth in the Chinese
market. It will create an environment to
establish relationships between the Australian
industry and key Chinese oat researchers,
processors and manufacturers.
This visit will provide intelligence on the oat
quality characteristics that are required for the
production of traditional and new nontraditional Asian food products for the oat
breeding program. This market tour will clearly
define the China oat opportunity and how the
Australian oat industry may position itself to
The Australian oat brochure will promote the
benefit and quality characteristics of Australian
oats aimed at differentiating our grain from
alternative sources in order to be the supplier
of choice with the objective of returning greater
value to Australian oat growers.
GTA10428: Travel Award - Sandra Schmoeckel
(UA) International Workshop on Plant
Membrane Biology XVI 2013
Contract
Start 25/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Rob Harris
Organisation
Phone
02/04/2013
Project Code
GTA10428
03 5573 0963
Email
rob.harris@dpi.vic.gov.au
Project Summary
I am a member of the Salt Focus Group under
the supervision of Dr Stuart Roy, Dr Bettina
Berger and Prof Mark Tester. Our research is
targeting the understanding of salinity effects
on plants and to improve the plants? salinity
tolerance, in particular crop plants. Abiotic
stress caused by salinity is a major threat to
agriculture, resulting in reduced crop yields
and endangering food security.
With a continuously increasing land area
affected by salinity, the understanding of the
molecular mechanisms concerning salt
affected plants is of heightened importance.
Particularly important to improve the plant’s
tolerance to salt (sodium) stress is to
understand how sodium is being taken up by
the plant and transported throughout the plant.
These processes are facilitated by transporters
located at the various membranes of each
plant cell and generally tightly regulated. In my
PhD project I am analysing the sodium
transporter HKT in the model plant
Arabidopsis, with the aim to understand the
regulation of sodium transport within the plant.
This knowledge could then be transferred to
crops like wheat and barley. As a successful
example I would like to mention the
Arabidopsis gene CIPK16, which was used to
improve salinity tolerance in barley (Roy et al.
2012). I was involved in the characterisation of
the gene in Arabidopsis, which demonstrated
to not only improve salinity tolerance in the
model system Arabidopsis, but also in the
cereal crop barley.
The International Workshop on Plant
Membrane Biology would be a great
opportunity to get to know new cutting edge
technology that is not used within the
University of Adelaide and to discuss my
research and moreover my ideas with scientist
in that field. I will have the chance to network
towards establishing collaborations for my
work. As the conference in the final year of my
PhD studies, I anticipate to gain valuable
information which I can relate to the direction
of my research before completing my PhD in
end-2013.
GRDC
National
Region
129
GTA10430: Travel Award - Stephen Carr
(Aglime) Gain a more detailed understanding of
techniques used in encouraging farmers to
apply adequate lime to remove soil acidity
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Mr. Stephen Carr
Organisation
Phone
01/08/2013
Project Code
GTA10430
Aglime of Australia
892775529
Email
steve@aglime.com.au
Project Summary
My aim is to meet with several lime supply
companies, farmers and farm advisers. I am
interested to meet both technical people and
those involved in marketing, using and
recommending aglime.
130
I represent the whole lime industry in WA (I
am currently the Deputy Chair of Lime WA Inc,
a voluntary code of practice, whose members
supply in excess of 80% of all aglime sold in
WA). I have held this role for the past 3 years,
and our members have largely based their
marketing approach around the technical need
to apply aglime, but this approach seemingly
has flaws that prevent us from convincing all
farmers they need to apply aglime at the rates
DAFWA recommends.
In the specific business I manage, we have a
large and ongoing field trial program; this
enables us to show farmers long term and
ongoing aglime responses, but even in the
most favourable seasons, farmers still only
apply about 30% of the aglime they need to.
We need to understand other factors that
influence farmers decision making, and
speaking to aglime suppliers, marketing
people, farmers and their advisers that are
involved in agriculture where aglime use is
routine will enable these approaches to be
adopted to increase aglime use in WA.
Soil acidity is a major land degradation issue in
WA, conservatively costing 500 million dollars
per annum in lost production. The application
of aglime removes soil acidity as a constraint,
but farmers in WA do not apply adequate
lime. The Lime industry in WA needs to
understand how other factors (other than yield
responses and economic gain) influence
farmers to not apply lime that is essential for
sustainable farming.
The use of aglime in WA has only really been
for about 30 years, despite the clear scientific
facts about the need for this process. In
contrast, lime has been used for hundreds of
years in other parts of the world, and possibly
thousands of years. We need to understand
how better to be able to influence farmers to
apply what is required. Our approach has
been to conduct long term field trials, that
show marked yield response to the use of
aglime.I worked as a soil researcher for nearly
20 years, and in a commercial setting for 10
years. Much of my early career was dedicated
to understanding the chemical impact of soil
acidity (eg aluminium toxicity).
As Deputy chair of Lime WA Inc, I represent
the whole industry in WA, and have an
unrivalled blend of technical and commercial
experience in identifying and treating soil
acidity. There is adequate aglime available in
WA to remove soil acidity as a constraint to
productive agriculture. If soil acidity did not
exist in WA, conservative estimates suggest
this would add 500 million dollars annually to
the economy.
Aglime was virtually not used in WA 30 years
ago, and although use in WA has increased
from a very low base, it is still not routine for
many farmers. Possibly as many as 50% of
farmers have not applied any aglime. By
meeting with people that have been involved in
supplying and marketing and using aglime in
South Africa, USA and Chile, where it has
been far more routine for many hundreds of
years will help me to help the WA Lime
industry and directly the wider Australian
farming community.
131
GTA10475: Travel Award - Michael Nash (UM)
Attend conference and gain knowledge of
current slug control research
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/09/2013
Contract End
Contact Ms. Emily Thomson
Organisation
Phone
15/09/2013
Project Code
GTA10475
University of Melbourne
61383442522
Email
emilyct@unimelb.edu.au
Project Summary
By presenting results from Australian research
I will communicate problems associated with
slug species adapted to drier and warmer
enviroments. Feedback and meetings to be
organised will build links to European experts
studying these pests. Advice / insights gained
on the implications of Milax and the new
invasive species and why they are becoming
more dominant is directly relevant to the
Australian grains industry, as these species
are the least studied but most damaging.
132
Establishing links with international
collaborators will enhance capacity that could
inform control guilines. Investigating how
European canola growers control slugs and
what bait technologies are being used to
reduce environmental loading will limit likely
environmental impacts in Australian farming
systems and improve control outcomes using
existing molluscicides.
GTA10498: Travel Award - Iain Searle (ANU)
Keystone Conference- RNA Silencing
133
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Mr. Iain Searle
Organisation
Phone
18/03/2013
Project Code
GTA10498
02 6125 2322
Email
iain.searle@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Canola, an important Australian oil seed crop,
has significant yield reduction due to biotic
(e.g. Blackleg disease) and abiotic stresses
(e.g. drought and frost). My laboratory has
developed an innovative method to allow widecrosses to suceed therefore allowing
introgression of novel agronomically important
genetic variation from wild relatives into crop
plants. While we have successfully achieved
this within the Brassicaceae, cereals are our
next goal. Achieving routine wide-crosses
within the cereals would be of immense benefit
to the Australian grains industry.
A deeper understanding of the mechanism
underlying our novel discovery involing non-
coding RNAs and hybridization barriers would
increase the chances of successful application
for our technology to cereals.
An expected outcome from this research
would be producing pre-breeding genetic
material with enhanced genetic variation (e.g.
crown rot resistance) for breeding programs
(e.g. durum wheat breeding program).
Furthermore during this proposed trip, I intend
to establish an international collaboration with
Lars Ostergaard (UK) to translate our
discovery to canola via a non-transgenic route.
Contract
17/03/2013
Start
GTA10499: Travel Award - Jiaen Qiu (ACPFG)
International Workshop on Plant Membrane
Biology XVI 2013
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 22/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Stuart Roy
Organisation
Phone
16/04/2013
Project Code
GTA10499
08 8303 7159
Email
stuart.roy@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
Presenting at IWPMB2013 will give me the
opportunity to describe my results to other
researchers and obtain more valuable
information which will help me further
understand the role of Cl- transporters in salt
tolerance.
The ultimate goal of my research is to apply
134
the genetically Cl- transport information to the
Australian crop plant, such as wheat and
barley. It is well knowledge that regulates Cltransport within crop plant is also an important
method to improve the crop production under
saline conditions.
GTA10511: Travel Award - Wenmian Huang
(ACPFG) International Workshop on Plant
Membrane Biology XVI 2013
Contract
Start 22/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Stuart Roy
Organisation
Phone
16/04/2013
Project Code
GTA10511
08 8303 7159
Email
stuart.roy@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
The information obtained from the conference
will help to improve my PhD work and further
my career. Due to the diverse mechanisms
involved in plant salinity tolerance, a candidate
gene needs to be investigated at genomic,
transcriptional, translational and
posttranslational levels before breeding and
genetic modification.
My PhD project focuses on the investigation
the role of the CIPK16 as a protein kinase in
plant salinity tolerance. AtCIPK16 was recently
identified by positional cloning as an important
gene reducing shoot Na+ accumulation and
increasing plant salinity tolerance (Roy et al.,
2012, PCE DOI:10.1111/j.13653040.2012.02595.x). Before PhD project, my
master project focused on characterisation of
AtCIPK16 gene and this project heavily
contributed to a recent publication from the
laboratory (Roy et al., 2012, PCE
DOI:10.1111/j.13653040.2012.02595.x). Transgenic Arabidopsis
constitutively expressing AtCIPK16 has
significantly reduced shoot Na+ (Roy et al.,
2012). After transferring this gene into barley,
transgenic barley constitutively expressing
AtCIPK16 shows increased salinity tolerance,
as measured by biomass production under salt
stress in greenhouse conditions (Roy et al.,
2012). Field trials of transgenic barley
constitutively expressing AtCIPK16 are
currently undergoing yield evaluations in the
saline field in WA. New technology presented
in this conference will provide me more
technical support and potential approaches to
fully examining my candidate gene identified to
increase salinity tolerance of plants. After
characterisation of gene and understanding
relevant cellular processes, by using genetic
engineering to introduce salinity tolerance
traits into cereal and to manipulate these
mechanisms in crop plants to create new
varieties which can survive and produce higher
yields on saline soils and then eventually to
enhance the productivity of Australian grain
industry.
Therefore, insights gained from the conference
on plant breeding session are going to help me
and my lab with the delivery of the knowledge
from my PhD project to Australian cereal
breeding, genetic engineering projects, which
then could benefit the grain industry of
Australia.
GRDC
National
Region
135
GTA10579: Travel Award - Andrew Robson
APRES Conference, project development with
University of Florida, USDA and Birdsong
Peanut
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
02/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact . Helen Kamel
Organisation
Phone
12/07/2013
Project Code
GTA10579
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
746315380
Email
helen.kamel@daff.qld.gov.au
Project Summary
The sheer scale of the American Peanut
industry offers far more opportunity for rapid
resourcing and development of the prototype
remote sensing and GIS applications. This
support will allow for a greater opportunity to
develop a commercially adoptable process
that will improve yield forecasting, crop
variability mapping, paddock traceability and
crop/variety auditing for protection if
136
intellectual property rights.
This collobration will ultimately result in the
faster development of a commercially
adoptable product that will not only be relevan
to Autstralian Peanut industry but also to the
wider Australian grains industry.
GTA10592: Travel Award - Huajian Liu 2013
Society for Engineering in Agricuture
Conference
Contract
Start 21/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Chris Saunders
Organisation
Phone
26/01/2013
Project Code
GTA10592
08 8302 3664
Email
chris.saunders@unisa.edu.au
Project Summary
The developed machine vision system can
make weed map which presents classified
weed batches, distribution and density
information which can guide subsequent weed
control plans or decision making with a more
effective chemical but at reduced overall
chemical load on the environment.
GRDC
National
Region
137
GTA10600: Travel Award - Keith Alcock
Genetically Modified Crops Coexistence
Conference, GMCC-13
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 10/11/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Keith Alcock
Organisation
Phone
16/11/2013
Project Code
GTA10600
Alcock Consultancy Services
86293112
Email
ktalcock@bigpond.com
Project Summary
The advent of GM crops has transformed grain
production in the Americas from north to south.
It is crucial that the technologies for abiotic and
biotic stress resistance, quality and other traits
are further progressed and that they flow
through to new crops (especially wheat and
barley). Paramount in my involvement is to
identify how Australian grain growers can
access the technology in then most timely
manner.
138
Europe is still the key obstacle to the
breakthough to GM food crops. The history of
European Government opposition to GM crop
production and imports, at least partly driven
by Europe-centred organisations like
Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, has
influenced Governments throughout the world
to prevent or at least restrict access to GM
crops and produce. There are signs of
progress, but real success stories are limited
to maize in Spain and Portugal and to the
widening acceptance of maize and soybean
imports from the Americas as stockfeed. The
return of the GMCC conference to Europe,
after excursions to Melbourne and Vancouver,
refocuses on the main area where progress is
essential.
Consumer acceptance will continue to be the
major issue impacting market acceptance of
GM production and products, particularly as
the technology is extended from feed grains
(soybeans, maize) and oilseed crops
(canola). Overcoming grower concerns about
GM technologies will follow many streams testing to prove the safety and communication
to the public of the safety and benefits. The
contribution of coexistence frameworks to
expanded adoption of GM crops is to ensure
that the general public and Governments alike
are reassured that this is not technolgy being
forced on unwilling consumers, but that choice
is preserved. It is to be hoped that
communities will eventually choose to accept
GM crops as safe and indeed essential to
feeding the world - but in the short term
coexistence is essential if Australian grain
production is to avoid the stalemate and 10+
years delay in GM crop adoption that
beleaguers European grain and livestock
producers.
GTA10605: Travel Award - Dr Megan McDonald
10th International Congress of Plant Pathology
139
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Megan McDonald
Organisation
01/09/2013
Project Code
GTA10605
Phone
Email
Project Summary
The International Congress of Plant Pathology
2013 (ICPP13), organized every five years,
provides and excellent and rare opportunity to
engage with a large number of international
scientific experts in disease management and
control. The current theme ‘Bio-security, Food
Safety and Plant Pathology: The Role of Plant
Pathology in a Globalized Economy’ aligns
tightly with one of the major goals of the
GRDC to secure Australia against emerging or
novel grain pests in an expanding international
market. A broad range of both fundamental
research sessions, including molecular hostpathogen interactions, and applied sessions,
such as plant pathology extension, are
scheduled. This allows attendees to expand
their knowledge and interact with both lab and
field experts.
Additionally our lab leader has arranged a half
day meeting and tour of the facilities at the
Luancheng Agro-Ecosystem Experimental
Station, hosted by Prof. Shen Yanjun. This
facility hosts three-research groups focused on
molecular wheat breeding, genetic
improvement of wheat germplasm and
drought-resistance breeding. This visit offers a
great opportunity to establish personal
collaboration and communication with Chinese
wheat breeders.
Contract
24/08/2013
Start
GTA10625: Travel Award – ICC-AGSA 2013
GRDC
Region National
Contract
24/08/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Anita Needham
Organisation
Phone
29/08/2013
Project Code
GTA10625
458850088
Email
an442@uowmail.edu.au
Project Summary
BACKGROUND:
Sorghum is an antioxidant-rich, gluten free
cereal grain that is grown locally and
represents a novel high value food ingredient
in the manufacture of new grain products for
the Australian food sector. Sorghum may
confer similar favorable human health benefits
as other whole grains, with the added value of
being a sustainable crop to grow (on the basis
of its high drought tolerance and ability to
survive harsh conditions common to Australia).
However, sorghum’s unique nutritional,
environmental and economic benefits have not
been exploited by farmers, the food industry
and consumers in Australia, largely due to its
reputation as a livestock feed, the lack of
potential roles and markets and the lack of
quality human studies investigating effects of
consuming sorghum.
140
Therefore, our research team has embarked
on building an evidence base for potential
health benefits of consuming sorghum (in
world first human-centered dietary trials) as
well as an important investigation of the
feasibility of introducing sorghum-based food
products into the Australian human food
supply chain, including an assessment of the
palatability of sorghum products as an
indicator of acceptability in the market place.
IMPORTANCE OF ATTENDING ICC-AGCA
2013:
The ICC-AGCA 2013 Forum represents an
exciting opportunity to open up discussions
about sorghum as an important food source for
Australians with key stakeholders (grain
growers, researchers, consumers, food
industry representatives) and to debunk old
myths that sorghum is merely a low value
dollar animal feed. This will not only be
achieved through presenting our findings in an
oral/poster presentation but also through the
opportunity to develop relationships and
collaborations with key stakeholders to enable
future access to cutting-edge knowledge.
Specifically, the opportunity to meet Professor
John Taylor from the University of Pretoria is
of great significance to me. Professor Taylor is
a world expert in sorghum and is the author of
several papers that call for more human
focused studies, not unlike the research I have
embarked upon in my PhD 6 months ago.
Professor Taylor’s expansive understanding of
sorghum will give me new knowledge that will
help develop my studies and ultimately
contribute to the evidence base required to
provide a step-change towards acceptance of
sorghum food products by consumers. Such
multi-stakeholder collaborations and sharing of
knowledge will help to drive changes
necessary to bring sorghum products into a
competitive marketplace and help them
succeed.
BENEFITS TO GRAINS INDUSTRY:
Currently sorghum is Australia’s third largest
crop but is used mainly for animal feed/pet
food. Understanding the potential roles and
alternative markets for sorghum beyond this is
an important starting point in terms of
increasing production targets (human food
consumption, household building materials,
ethanol). This is particularly important in the
face of climate change - sorghum is more
environmentally sustainable and cheaper to
grow compared to other major cereal crops.
Therefore education and research are critical
in developing the ‘science push’ for sorghum
as a health promoting food - this knowledge
needs to be interpreted and disseminated to
the Australian grains industry (farmers,
producers), food products developers,
marketers and key government organisations
(i.e. GRDC), dietitians/nutritionists and
importantly to consumers.
Ultimately, this will give the Grains Industry a
competitive advantage as sorghum production
increases to meet demands for novel grain
products (breakfast cereals, pasta, snacks,
breads, bakery goods) that are inherently
‘functional’ - nourishing, rich in antioxidants,
slowly digested and gluten-free. This is very
important given the consumer ‘pull’ for novel
functional foods. As it stands, the grains and
food industry in general are overlooking a
healthy, sustainable and cost-effective food
source that could be profitable for industry and
accepted by consumers.
141
GTA10638: Travel Award - Scott Boden
Attendence of International Wheat Genetics
Symposium
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 07/09/2013
Contract End
Contact Prof. Steve Swain
Organisation
Phone
18/09/2013
Project Code
GTA10638
62465468
Email
steve.swain@csiro.au
Project Summary
By obtaining up-to-date information about the
international capabilities of wheat genetics,
including available sequence information and
tools being developed to improve functional
characterisation of genes in wheat, I expect to
improve the outcomes of my project which are
designed to increase yield potential in wheat
through modifying the amount of seed
produced on a wheat spike.
A significant aim of attending the conference
will be to meet and develop international
collaborations with key note speakers who
have strong research backgrounds in wheat
functional genomics, to ensure that future
aspects of my career in wheat genetics are in
142
alignment with the cutting-edge capabilities of
wheat research. By visiting the lab of Junko
Kyozuka, a world-leader in rice inflorescence
genetics, I would like to establish a
collaboration to foster the development of
wheat inflorescence genetics, which is
currently lagging behind similar research in
rice and maize.
It is anticipated that development of such
research in wheat will lead to improvements in
seed number per inflorescence, as such
studies are showing that modifications in
inflorescence architecture have been vital to
yield improvements in rice and maize.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
08/09/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Alice Lee
Organisation
Phone
12/09/2013
Project Code
GTA10643
University Of New South Wales
02 9385 4363
Email
alice.lee@unsw.edu.au
Project Summary
Development of linkages with international
scientists, esp. those working in antioxidants
and functional foods, novel processing, and
analytical technology, which will help our
research group (at UNSW and collaborators)
and the Australian peanut industry to stay upto-date with the latest research developments.
In particular, I will be exploring techniques
being used in other crops to rapidly and
cheaply screen genotypes for functional food
traits.
This is particularly relevant in functional food
research, as techniques are transferrable and
hence the peanut industry can learn from what
is being done in other crops.
143
GTA10643: Travel Award - Kim-Yen Phan Thien
To participate in the 13th ASEAN Food
Conference 2013 on Meeting Future Food
Demands: Security and Sustainability
GTA10705: Travel Award - Ehsan Tavakkoli
(UA) 20th World Congress of Soil Science
(WCSS)
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 06/08/2014
Contract End
Contact . Chelsea Dubois
13/06/2014
Project Code
GTA10705
Organisation
Phone
83133716
Email
Project Summary
Productive, healthy soil is the foundation of
Australia’s sustainable grain and food
production. The foundation of this success is
soil quality, yet grain producers have to cope
with some of the poorest agricultural soils in
the world. Soil organic matter is the driver of
many chemical and biological processes that
underpin agricultural production and which
influence the efficient use of water and
nutrients.
144
Surprisinlgly, given the importance of
producitve soils to the grains industry both in
Australia and internationally, there is still much
we don’t know about soil-plant intercations in
alkaline soils and this limits our ability to
develop mangement strategies and to
understand the key physiological processes
that may improve crop adaptation. The major
aim of this conference is to bring together
international scientists to review our current
state of knowledge of soil-plant interactions,
identify important research gaps and to
suggest the most productive areas for future
work. This will allow important collaborative
links to be developed as well as exposing
Australian based research to a wider
audience. The conference, whose theme is,
?Soils Embrace Life and Universe,? will
consider a wide range of scientific programs
and renowned experts will address the
pertinent issues and technological advances in
the broad areas of soil science.
An objective of my current research activities
is to develop a research capacity focussed on
C and nutrient cycling in soils within the School
of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University
of Adelaide. I believe that a South Australian
research hub focussing on research in this
field is essential given that concerns over food
security and climate change will undoubtedly
continue to grow in the future. Attending the
20WCSS will be an excellent opportunity to
partially achieve this goal through
consolidation of existing collaborations and
development of new collaborations with
leading research groups who will also attend
this conference.
GTA10706: Travel Award - Elizabeth Kingston
(WNRM) Resilience 2014
145
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact . Tyanna Jankauskas
14/05/2014
Project Code
GTA10706
Organisation
Phone
96703100
Email
tjandauskas@wheatbeltnrm.org.au
Project Summary
The social, economic and environmental
issues of the Wheatbelt community, industry
and natural landscape will be presented to an
international audience of research scientists
and industry stakeholders. The future
resilience of the WA Wheatbelt industry will be
discussed during this presentation and
debated by the audience. The future pressures
on the WA Wheatbelt industry and
environment, such as market price,
government policies and climate variability
issues will be presented to international
experts from the perspective of a natural
resource management NGO operating in this
grain-growing region.
By attending this international conference it is
hoped that international research interest will
be attracted to the grain growing industry and
environmental issues of the WA Wheatbelt,
which will attract opportunities for international
research funding. At the conference, similar
case studies from around the world will be
sought and any successful resilience
strategies will be bought back to the Wheatbelt
community.
Contract
28/04/2014
Start
GTA10707: Travel Award - Glen Fox (UQ) 23rd
Institute of Brewing & Distilling
Convention - Asia Pacific Section (ht
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 23/03/2014
Contract End
Contact . Melissa Glendenning
29/03/2014
Project Code
GTA10707
Organisation
Phone
733460550
Email
m.glendenning@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Hearing the latest research findings on
processing and new technologies for barley,
malting and brewing will have benefit for
Australian barley breeding companies, malting
and brewing industries, through the
development of research projects to keep
improving the quality of Australian malting
barley.
This information will have flow to growers
146
through the continued development of high
quality malting varieties for the domestics and
export markets.
As mentioned previously, the expanded
network will provide the opportunities for
international collaboration for post-graduate
students (capacity building), research and new
method development
GTA10709: Travel Award - Jason Terpolilli
(UMU) The three objectives of this study tour
are:1. Present my research paper at th
Contract
Start 09/05/2014
Contract End
Contact . Kellie O'Toole
18/09/2014
Project Code
GTA10709
Organisation
Phone
893602557
Email
K.OToole@murdoch.edu.au
Project Summary
My research is targeted at improving nitrogen
fixation in grain legumes such as pea, bean
and chickpea by understanding the metabolic
dialogue between nitrogen fixing rhizobia and
their legume hosts. We have made an
important start in developing a new model to
explain how the host plant powers this process
in peas, but we need to build additional
collaborative links worldwide and acquire more
RNB germplasm to broaden this model to a
wider range of symbiotic associations.
Ultimately, this metabolic information will
enable us to better select elite RNB to
overcome suboptimal nitrogen fixation and to
boost N-inputs by legumes in agriculture.
GRDC
National
Region
147
GTA10712: Travel Award - Julien Bonneau (UM)
PAG
GRDC
Region
Contract
01/10/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Cassie Watts
16/01/2014
Project Code
GTA10712
Organisation
Phone
383445066
Email
cwatts@unimelb.edu.au
Project Summary
The Australian grains industry is highlighted in
this presentation through use of Australian
cultivars (RAC875, Gladius, Excalibur, Kukri,
and Drysdale) where RAC875, Excalibur and
Drysdale provide better tolerance to heat
and/or drought across a wide range of
environmental conditions at the national level
(SA and NSW) and international level (Mexico
- CIMMYT). An international collaboration with
INRA (France) was extremely valuable for this
project, giving access to chromsome 3B
sequencing data including gene annotation.
The talk will be presented to a large
international audience which could foster new
collaborations, possibilities to exchange plant
material, and provide access to additional
wheat production sites where abiotic stresses
148
(i.e. high temperature and water deficit) occur
throughout the growth cycle.
This work also makes significant contributions
to grain crop genetics through the discovery of
candidate gene(s) for yield improvement under
abiotic stress (heat and drought). The major
outcome of this travel award is the ability to
disseminate molecular marker information
which is of great value to Australian wheat
breeders and therefore to the Australian Grain
Industry in general.
The results could be incorporated into
molecular marker assisted selection schemes
and implemented directly into breeding
programs.
GTA10715: Travel Award - Manuel Zander (UQ)
International Plant & Animal Genome XXII
Conference
Contract
Start 01/09/2014
Contract End
Contact . Kaye Hunt
22/01/2014
Project Code
GTA10715
Organisation
Phone
61733653458
Email
Project Summary
By presenting my work at the PAG conference,
I will have the chance to represent the
University of Queensland and the Australian
grains industry to a worldwide audience, thus
enhancing our exposure globally. Attending
the conference will also give me the
opportunity to meet fellow peers in my field of
research and learn to better understand the
issues and challenges that we face in solving
scientific problems. The meetings will also
allow me to arrange and finalise visits to local
research institutions during the days following
the completion of the PAG conference.
Hearing the experts in my field present their
work will be a good opportunity to capture the
current state of the Blackleg genetics research
worldwide as the major researchers from
France and Canada will be in attendance.
The Australian research community is a small
fraction of the worldwide scientific
establishment, and gaining the chance to
communicate with members from all around
the globe would be a great experience, not
only to my research but also on a personal and
professional level. In this way collaborations
can be formed between my current research
group in Brisbane and the leading researchers
in plant-fungal interactions from around the
world, allowing us to share invaluable insights
and experience.
This will ultimately lead to better research
outcomes that will benefit the Canola industry
in Australian and ensure that the blackleg
fungal disease is kept under control.
The better we can learn to understand the
relationship between Canola and the Blackleg
fungus, the greater the chance of developing
long-term and stable solutions for the
Australian industry.
GRDC
National
Region
149
GTA10717: The current status, potential
applications and future directions of bacterial
biocontrol research against Sclerotinia
sclerotiorum of canola in Australia
GRDC
Region
Contract
24/11/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact . Kamala Anggamuthu
29/11/2013
Project Code
GTA10717
Organisation
Phone
269332420
Email
kanggamuthu@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
Sclerotinia stem rot of canola is becoming
increasingly important in south-eastern
Australia. Until recently, Sclerotinia epidemics
were thought to occur once in a five to eight
year period and an increase inoculum
pressure was occurred last year in high rainfall
zones of NSW.
150
In surveys conducted in 1998, 1999 and 2000,
as part of a GRDC funded project at Charles
Sturt University, levels of stem rot in some
crops were found to exceed 30% in all years.
This could correlate to yield losses of 15 to
30%. Estimates of losses due to Sclerotinia in
1999 in New South Wales alone exceeded
$170 million. As there is no resistance
currently available in Australian canola
varieties, management of the disease solely
relies on the strategic use of fungicides
combined with other cultural management
practices. Reduced performance of fungicides
and environmental concerns has lead to
search for an alternative bio-control strategy
against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum in canola.
Efficient knowledge regarding the biological
control of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum through the
use of an antagonistic bacterial agent is still
scarce in comparison to fungal parasites in
canola. Currently there are no bacterial
biological control agents commercially
available for control of Sclerotinia diseases in
Australia.
The present investigation will explore the
current status, potential applications and future
directions of bacterial biocontrol research
against Sclerotinia sclerotiorum of canola in
Australia.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Pandy du Preez
15/04/2014
Project Code
GTA10718
Organisation
Phone
864883863
Email
pandy.dupreez@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Terminal drought is a major problem in the
Australian grains industry.
This proposed visit is the extension of my PhD
project, where I am working on a wild X
domesticated recombinant inbred line (RIL)
population to explore the physiological
response of yellow lupin to terminal drought
and early phenology. Lupins generally face
terminal drought which significantly affects
their grain yield. So far, breeders have only
focused on yield and developed cultivars with
early, highly temperature-responsive
phenology that escapes drought in their warm,
short-season target environments. Thus the
early flowering crops can complete grain filling
in favourable conditions but this has been
achieved on the expense of vegetative growth
which results in fewer potential flowering and
podding nodes.
In previous studies, the more widely cultivated
narrow-leafed lupin showed no genetic
variation for drought stress response except its
ability to survive terminal drought by following
drought escape strategy (early phenology). In
this study, we are testing the hypothesis that
yellow lupin has variation for response to
drought stress which is not explained by
drought escape. We are using a yellow lupin
RIL population which was developed from a
cross between ‘Wodjil’ (cultivar of low rainfall
origin) and P28213 (wild type of high rainfall
origin). Because of the diverse evolutionary
background from low and high rainfall origins,
this RIL population is valuable for identifying
genetic factors mediating response to drought
stress.
The information obtained will help plant
physiologists better understand lupin's
behaviour under drought stress and will enable
plant breeders to adopt efficient crop
improvement approaches to develop a welladapted crop. The RIL population is currently
being phenotyped for drought in a replicated
field trial where it is segregating for phenology
and drought adaptation traits. This phenotypic
information will be correlated by genomic
information obtained during my visit to the lab
of Prof Joshua Udall at the Genetics and
Biotechnology lab, Brigham Young University
(BYU), Provo, Utah, USA. Prof Udall played a
key role in sequencing lupin transcriptomes
and SNP discovery in yellow lupin. I would use
next generation DNA sequencing technology
to sequence so-called ?RAD-tag? genomic
libraries for the genotyping of my experimental
RIL population.
Ultimately, this genomic study will help in the
development of a comprehensive genetic map
of yellow lupin for mapping drought and
phenological adaptation quantitative trait loci
(QTLs). The resultant linkage map and QTLs
will serve as an important genetic resource for
the germplasm conservation, core collection
characterization and for marker-assisted
selection (MAS) in future breeding
programmes.
These resources will help breeders working in
Australian lupin industry to utilise this
information in their breeding programmes for
devising efficient crop improvement
151
GTA10718: Travel Award - Muhammad Munir
Iqbal (UWA) To present poster in Plant and
Animal Genome (PAG) Conference, 2014 and
study vi
approaches to develop a well-adapted
sustainable lupin crop. This visit will help
promote collaboration between Australian and
USA researchers with complementary
research strengths working in lupin genomics.
The scientific publications arising from this
152
collaborative research will reach more
prestigious journals than would otherwise be
possible. This will also help in raising the
profile of Australian agricultural science
research.
GTA10721: Travel Award - Enli Wang, Zhongkui
Luo, Hongtao Xing (CSO) 20th World Congress
of Soil Science
Contract
Start 01/06/2014
Contract End
Contact . Minka Schwabe
15/01/2014
Project Code
GTA10721
Organisation
Phone
262464046
Email
Minka.Schwabe@csiro.au
Project Summary
1. Better undertanding and prediction of
soil carbon sequestration potential and
its impacts in Australian cropland
2. Gain frontier knowledge of soil carbon
and nitrogen research, contributing to
development of sustainable and
productive cropping and management
systems in Australia
3. Knowledge gained directly contributes
to national soil carbon research
funded under the Filling Research Gap
program
GRDC
National
Region
153
GTA10786: Travel Award - Shi Ying Yang (UA)
Attend the Plant Genomics Congress:Asia
GRDC
Region National
Contract
23/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact . Chelsea DuBois
27/02/2014
Project Code
GTA10786
Organisation
Phone
883133716
Email
Project Summary
I will promote our Austrlian plant research on
the genomic research areas, and develop
relevant national and international
154
collaboration proposal with attendees.
ICN00017: Industry Pertnership Initiative
155
GRDC
Region
Contract End
Contact
Project Code
Organisation
Phone
Project Summary
31/03/2014
Email
ICN00017
Contract
28/11/2013
Start
IDA10355: Industry Development Award Living Farming - Farming systems and the
continued problem of herbicide resistance
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 30/06/2012
Contract End
Contact Mr. Richard Devlin
Organisation
Phone
03/09/2012
Project Code
IDA10355
Living Farm
08 96412845
Email
richardj@livingfarm.com.au
Project Summary
Wheat is generally regarded as the most
profitable crop on Western Australian farms,
and with Western Australia currently producing
approximately 36% of the Australian wheat
crop it is also of significant economic
importance to Australia as a whole.
Herbicides are the primary tool for weed
control in this production system but their
sustainability is susceptible to the evolution of
herbicide resistant weed populations
156
throughout Australia.
By allowing Western Australian growers to visit
leading industry bodies in South Australia,
further knowledge can be obtained regarding
the importance of monitoring herbicide use
and slowing the development and spread of
herbicide resistance, which is rapidly
becoming one of the major constraints to crops
throughout grain production areas of Australia
IDA10441: Attendance & dissemination of info
from the Global Herbicide Resistance
Conference Feb 2013
Contract
Start 20/02/2013
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Erin Green
Organisation
Phone
22/02/2013
Project Code
IDA10441
Yuna Farm Improvement Group
0899205454
Email
bradyerin@bigpond.com
Project Summary
This proposal is relevant to the Australian
grains industry because the Yuna area
contributes in excess of 200,000 tonnes of
grain into the economy annually. If we can
improve our weed control it will result in
greater yields, less costs and a more
sustainable future for our members and the
wider grains industry.
Due to our reliance on continuous cropping we
have been dealing with resistance issues for
20 years. If we can show other areas in
Australia the impact that resistance can have
and ways to manage it, we can help other
growers be proactive in preventing and
managing resistance.
Due to YFIG's participation in the WA Grower
Group Alliance (GGA) and North East Farming
Futures (NEFF) we are able to easily share
information with growers throughout the state.
GRDC
National
Region
157
IDA10447: Industry Development Award AgriKnowHow - Precision Agriculture (PA) and
Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) study tour
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
15/06/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Emma Leonard
Organisation
AgriknowHow
Phone
08 8834 1233
01/08/2013
Project Code
Email
IDA10447
emma.leonard@bigpond.com
Project Summary
PA pays - of those who have adopted PA 72%
reported an ecconomic benfit (PA Grower
groups survey). Yet, in Australia, PA uptake
has focused on a few applications.
There are opportunities across the produciton
chain, including disease and pest managment
and automated equipment. ICT offers hugh
benefits to our small and dispersed population,
158
including the rapid delivery of information as
well as remote management.
To meet the increasing costs of production,
reducing terms of trade and increasing global
food demand, we need to seek out these
technologies, so they can be tested and
applied in Australia.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Mr. Leighton Pearce
Organisation
Phone
02/01/2013
Project Code
IDA10452
Dodgshun Medlin Agricultural Management Pty Ltd
1300 329888
Email
lpearce@dodgshunmedlin.com.au
Project Summary
Many grain growers are reviewing their current
seeding machinery due to federal government
rebate through the clean energy future
program. Dodgshun Medlin see an opportunity
to coordinate a celebration of the regions
progress in relation to No-till farming, along
with demonstrating the next phase of
conservation farming in the region.
159
IDA10452: Industry Development Award Dodgshun Medlin Agricultural Management Ten Years of No-till in the Victorian Mallee
"Celebration and Demonstration"
IDA10463: Industry Development Award - DAN Understanding and interpreting grains
research and extension
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 20/06/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Rohan Brill
Organisation
Phone
23/06/2013
Project Code
IDA10463
NSW Department of Industry and Investment
0488 250 489
Email
rohan.brill@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Project Summary
The project will advance the uptake of
research outcomes across farms in the northwest and central-west plains regions. The
project will give participants the skills to
interpret and question information supplied to
160
them in all forms, from scientific publications to
product brochures promoting new products as
well as being able to question farm advisor
recommendations.
IDA10482: Industry Development Award Riverine Plains - Resistance Roadtrip
161
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Ms. Fiona Hart
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
IDA10482
Riverine Plains Inc
03 5744 1713
Email
info@riverineplains.con.au
Project Summary
The RPI members survey showed that 99% of
respondants were using no-till, min-till, direct
sowing or reduced till systems. All these
systems have a heavy dependency on
herbicides for weed control and managing
resistance is a constant challenge to farmers.
Resistance to groups A & B in ryegrass is
widespread, with resistance to Treflan and
Glyphosate beginning to be recorded.
Diversity of management is key to managing
herbicide resistance and this study tour
provides a unique opportunity to combine
learning from international and Australian
research scientist’s with learning from farmers
that have developed and are using integrated
weed management techniques to effectively
manage weed populations on their properties.
Contract
20/02/2013
Start
IDA10503: Industry Development Award Morowa Farm Improvement Group - Global
Herbicide Resistance Challenge Conference
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 20/02/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Mark Coaker
Organisation
Phone
23/02/2013
Project Code
IDA10503
Morawa Farm Improvement Group Inc
08 9971 6087
Email
markacoaker@hotmail.com
Project Summary
The conference will cover information
regarding weed resistance. Will include
information about world best practice and
162
worldwide herbicide resitance issues.
IDA10508: Industry Development Award Holmes Farm Consulting - Pulse market and
agronomic opportunities
Contract
Start 06/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Sam Holmes
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2013
Project Code
IDA10508
Holmes Farm Consulting
888322043
Email
sholmes@internode.on.net
Project Summary
The Australian grain growers require more
informed market access information. By
allowing growers to meet with end users
directly and to experience the different culture
they are growing pulses for will provide
relevant information about the varieties grown,
particularly lentils.
The previous trip conducted by PBA to end
users was conducted when there was a
shortage in the market, however presently
there is low demand for lentils allowing a more
timely assessment of the varieties grown and
soon to be released. It will also provide the
Australian grain industry with information on
how Canadian growers manage pulses and
the disease and quality issues they deal with
along with recent research activities and how it
can be applied for farmers in Australia.
GRDC
National
Region
163
IDA10513: Industry Development Award Hooper Consulting - North America farmers
study tour
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 07/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Peter Hooper
Organisation
Phone
20/07/2013
Project Code
IDA10513
Hooper Consulting
0427 225 590
Email
pj_hooper@bigpond.com
Project Summary
There is great value for farmers to spend time
outside of their own businesses and look at
how other farmers and business people are
approaching their own set of problems and the
technologies that they are using to do so. With
the tour group comprising approximately 25
young and energetic farmers that will form the
future of their local farming communities, it is
important that they are encouraged and
stimulated to look for the next steps that their
164
businesses can take with the best knowledge
of new innovative tools that are available.
This tour will provide a great opportunity for
these farmers to learn more about new and
innovative agronomy, technologies and
business concepts that they can apply in their
own businesses.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
06/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Debby Clarke
Organisation
Phone
14/07/2013
Project Code
IDA10587
WA Grains Group Inc
898654041
Email
wagrainsgroup1@bigpond.com
Project Summary
In addition to WAGG’s marketing interests a
number of important industry drivers will be
agenda items during our China meetings.
Content of and outcomes from these
discussions will be of significant interest to the
Australian Grains industry, including:
1. Research into farm storage of grain in
Nitrogen at the Academy of Grain
Science China (a project WAGG
members Doug and Debby Clarke are
long term collaborators on),
2. encouraging patient capital from the
Beidehuang Group and/or COFCO,
and
3. research into cultivar development and
grain quality undertaken by the
Australian-China Centre for Wheat
Improvement group (Murdoch
University/Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Science).
165
IDA10587: Industry Development Award WAGG in China - Continuous improvement and
innovation of grower education and market
development within the complex agricultural
relationships between China and Western
Australia.
IDA10588: Industry Development Award Mallee Sustainable Farming Karoonda Field
Day 2013
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/09/2013
Contract End
Contact Ms. Donna Robertson
Organisation
Phone
02/09/2013
Project Code
IDA10588
Mallee Sustainable Farming Project Inc
350219100
Email
donna@msfp.org.au
Project Summary
Weed management, paricularly in the Mallee
regions of southern Australia is an important
topic, and goes hand-in-hand with other issues
such as water use efficiency and herbicide
resistance.
By incorporating microwave technology for
weed management, this will contribute greatly
to the grains industry in terms of increasing
166
efficiency and profitibility of Mallee farmers.
With an ever-increasing average age of Mallee
farmer, health is a topic that hits close to home
and ways in which farmers can make small
changes to look after themselves can benefit
the industry.
IDA10589: Industry Development Award South Australian grain production with
declining rainfall tour
Contract
Start 13/10/2013
Contract End
Contact Mr. Gerald Williams
Organisation
Phone
18/10/2013
Project Code
IDA10589
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group Inc.
0487 321 067
Email
geralyn-clare@bigpond.com
Project Summary
To ensure that the local area has a viable
grain production future it is imperative that we
review and adopt from the lessons that have
been learnt in other areas. Central parts of the
Western Australia wheatbelt, in particular, are
being challenge by decreasing winter rainfall
and increased frost incidence due to the
change in weather patterns. This is perhaps
the greatest challenge many farmers in the
area have faced in their farming career.
Historically this has been a reliable grain
growing area but now many farmers and now
facing yield decline. In order to stop this
decline Corrigin farmers are keen to review
and improve their farming systems to adapt to
the changing conditions at hand. This could
provide a good example to other farmers in
other areas, if better efficiency can be
achieved.
Corrigin Farm Improvement Group is a strong
farming group with a history of contributing onfarm research and information back to the
farming community.
GRDC
National
Region
167
IDA10596: Industry Development Award Learning the best from the West - FarmLink WA
Study Tour
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 04/08/2013
Contract End
Contact Miss. Judith Neill
Organisation
Phone
16/08/2013
Project Code
IDA10596
FarmLink Research Pty Ltd
269244633
Email
judith@farmlink.com.au
Project Summary
Learning and adopting new management
practices from other farmers who have a
deeper experience of emerging problems in
our regional grains industry has proven to be a
very successful extension activity for southern
NSW farmers.
Issues of concern for local growers to be
168
studied include herbicide resistance
management, machinery development,
managing changes to farm scale, innovative
machinery and farm ownership/leasing models
and climate change adaptation.
IDA10601: Industry Development Award - The
Changing Nature of Agricultural Training
169
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Ms. Nickie Berrisford
Organisation
Phone
07/08/2013
Project Code
IDA10601
Partners in Grain Inc.
352264075
Email
nickie.berrisford@dpi.vic.gov.au
Project Summary
Female partners in the farm business have a
strong influence on farm practices and
adoption of improved practices. In general
partners have greater separation from day to
day farm operations resulting in a more
questioning and holistic view of the farm
business and current practices.
This tour exposes key women to industry
research, innovation, processes and practices
to increase women’s involvement in the
industry at the farm level and beyond. The
proposal also allows for participants to think
about how to apply what they have learnt to
their business and farming system group once
they return to their state..
Contract
04/08/2013
Start
IDA10614: Industry Development Award Farming systems and the move to continuous
cropping
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 02/09/2013
Contract End
Contact Ms. Rebecca Jenkinson
Organisation
Living Farm
Phone
896412845
07/09/2013
Project Code
Email
IDA10614
rebeccaj@livingfarm.com.au
Project Summary
Wheat is generally regarded as the most
profitable crop on Western Australian farms,
and with WA currently producing about 36% of
the Australian wheat crop it is also of
significant economic importance to Australia
as a whole.
Growers in WA wish to increase the number of
years they can continuously crop their
paddocks, increasing wheat production, while
also adhering to sustainable agricultural
practices. However, soil compaction
constraints are impeding this ability. The cost
170
of lost crop and pasture production from soil
compaction is currently estimated at $333
million (DAFWA, 2011) in cropping regions of
WA.
By allowing WA growers to visit leading
industry bodies in Queensland, knowledge can
be obtained regarding the importance of soil
health and functions of slowing the
development of compaction in continuous
cropping programs.
IDA10621: Industry Development Award Grower attendance - Australian Summer Grains
Conference June 2013
Contract
Start 16/06/2013
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Jennie Hehir
Organisation
Phone
20/06/2013
Project Code
IDA10621
The Maize Association of Australia
358834445
Email
jenniehehir@bigpond.com
Project Summary
As a representative of maize growers and as a
summer grain grower myself I see the
requirement for growers to be educated about
grower requirements to meet the ever
demanding need from exporters. It is obvious
on ground the there is massive potential for
maize production to esculate in the future. In
having said that we must ensure growers
understand the stringent requirements when
exporting their produce. It will only take one
shipment of inferior grain to be exported to
deter these esculating market opportunities.
GRDC
National
Region
171
IDA10728: RPI New Zealand Study Tour
GRDC
Region
Contract
13/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Fiona Hart
Organisation
Phone
19/01/2014
Project Code
IDA10728
Riverine Plains Inc
57441713
Email
info@riverineplains.com.au
Project Summary
This proposal is relevant to the Australian
grains industry as participants will gain
valuable knowledge of New Zealand crop
production systems with an emphasis on high
yeilding, high input cropping similar to the
Riverine Plains. Lessons learnt will aid to
assist growers in Australia, particularly the
Riverine Plains aim to increase production and
172
profitability through the adoption of new
technology/research findings.
This study tour will also foster agricultural
networks between growers, advisors and
researchers in Australia and New Zealand.
IDA10732: IDA - WANTFA  - Growers
South America Study Tour
173
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Miss. Lauren Celenza
Organisation
Phone
09/01/2014
Project Code
IDA10732
WA No-tillage Farmers Association
419908793
Email
lauren.celenza@wantfa.com.au
Project Summary
Growers are our most practical researchers,
and without them being committed, stimulated
and successful in the work that they do, we
have no grains industry. This study tour will
bring together well-connected, discerning
growers to take a global persective about
challenges and opportunites they face, and
explore novel ideas.
Tour participants will get first-hand exposure to
different production systems, RD&E models,
market influences, public perception of
agriculture, and roles of government and
industry. This will highlight where Australia sits
on the world scale as well as indentifying
practical activities that might be trialled or
incorporated to improve current Australian
practices.
WANTFA members have strong connections
with other industry and grower groups, and
there will be informal and formal dissemination
of their learnings through presentations,
conversations and other activities they pursue
as a result of what they have seen overseas.
Contract
08/01/2014
Start
IDA10734: IDA - RAIN - Perth 2014
Agribusiness Crop Updates
GRDC
Region National
Contract
23/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Miss. Elisa Spengler
26/02/2014
Project Code
IDA10734
Organisation
Phone
898381018
Email
rainoffice@westnet.com.au
Project Summary
Growers who attend this event can adopt their
new learnings on farm. They can also share
these learnings with their grower groups,
community, neighbours and collegues -
174
resulting in greater adoption of research and
development outcomes.
IDA10736: IDA - MSF - Mallee Sustainable
Farming team participating in the GRDC
Update for Advisors - South Australia
Contract
Start 25/02/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Donna Robertson
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2014
Project Code
IDA10736
Mallee Sustainable Farming Project Inc
350219100
Email
donna@msfp.org.au
Project Summary
The grains industry will benefit from the study
tour for the following reasons: men and women
are inspired and motivated to improve the way
in which they operate within the mallee to help
farmers to increase skills and knowledge of
building successful farm businesses;
networking opportunity for everyone in the
industry; and linkages to growers, marketers,
researchers and media are fostered during the
event.
GRDC
National
Region
175
IDA10740: IDA - ASS - Study tour of research
and farming practices that improve soil
management in the low rainfall Mallee
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 07/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Mr. Sam North
15/08/2014
Project Code
IDA10740
Organisation
Phone
58819926
Email
samuel.north@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Project Summary
The focus of the study tour is to see how
farming systems in the Mallee have changed
over the past 15 years to increase productivity
while improving soil health. Soil is the key
asset that drives the productivity and
sustainable soil management practices are
important for productive and profitable grains
industry in the future.
Research in the Mallee has focused on how
176
no-till, stubble retention and intensive cropping
can improve the soils biological health and
prevent soil degradation through erosion.
Mallee farmers are also industry leaders at soil
specific management with precision
agriculture. Therefore there are many leading
farming practices in the Mallee that could be
applicable to Riverina farming systems.
IDA10741: IDA - Rural Directions - Study Tour
to WA Northern Wheatbelt to look at Herbicide
Resistance and Other Issues
Contract
Start 14/07/2014
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Sarah Heinjus
18/07/2014
Project Code
IDA10741
Organisation
Phone
888414500
Email
sheinjus@ruraldirections.com
Project Summary
The grains industry is putting a lot of resources
into integrated weed management, and this
tour will highlight the extreme impacts of
resistant radish. In many ways the WA
experience with herbicide resistant radish is a
useful case study of resistance in a broadleaf
weed.
Using this to educate other growers is a way of
avoiding repeating the same pattern. Aside
from herbicide resistance, the WA grainbelt
has other features that provide lessons for SA
growers. These include managing large scale
cropping enterprises, amelioration of acidity
and non wetting sands, and growing and
professionalising the family farm.
GRDC
National
Region
177
IDA10743: IDA - Ag Excellence Alliance Annual Grower Group Forum
GRDC
Region National
Contract
17/03/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Mandy Pearce
Organisation
Phone
18/03/2014
Project Code
IDA10743
Ag Excellence Alliance Inc
418805670
Email
mandy@agex.org.au
Project Summary
The Ag Ex forum targets those at the
operational level of grains industry RD&E in
SA. This is the only forum where farming
groups from across the state can network,
hear each others stories and learn new skills.
Group members are able to meet each other
face to face and discuss issues of common
concern and to explore opportunities to work
more collaboratively.
178
The forum provides an effective mechanism
for policy makers and leaders from key
government departments and industry to learn
about issues directly from those involved from
across the state. Formal presentations allow
farmer groups to inform their peers on their
achievements and issues, and report on the
outcomes of projects.
IDA10772: IDA - UNFS - Eastern Low Rainfall
Zone Bus Tour
179
GRDC
Region National
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Ruth Sommerville
08/08/2014
Project Code
IDA10772
Organisation
Phone
Email
unfs@outlook.com
Project Summary
This proposal aims to explore the climatic and
industry challenges faced by farmers in the low
rainfall zones of SA, Vic and NSW through
visiting trial sites, on farm visits and discussion
sessions with the coordinators of the Mallee
and Central West Farming Systems Groups. It
will look at pest and weed management,
modification and adaption of machinery to
overcome regional issues, application of
precision agriculture and the ways in which
Farming System Groups can improve the
viability and sustainability of the regions
farmers on the small and large scale.
Contract
08/04/2014
Start
IDA10784: IDA - BCG - Grower study tour of WA
Northern Agricultural Region focused on
management of resistant wild radish
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 08/11/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Justine Severin
Organisation
Phone
15/08/2014
Project Code
IDA10784
Birchip Cropping Group
-354922787
Email
justine@bcg.org.au
Project Summary
Herbicide resistance poses a very real threat
to the productivity of Wimmera and Victorian
Mallee farmland. In the Western Australia
Northern Agricultural Region herbicide
resistant wild radish has been extremely
detrimental to the productivity and profitability
of grain growing enterprises, and the lessons
learned there should be understood and
heeded to avoid a similar situation developing
180
in GRDC's southern region.
Allowing key Victorian growers, who are
already suffering the early effects of herbicide
resistant wild radish, to witness first-hand the
consequences of its spread in WA is a very
powerful way to motivate practice change and
ensure the sustainability of the industry.
IDA10798: IDA- RAIN - 2014 Innovation
Generation Conference - Toowoomba,
Queensland
181
Contract
Start 07/04/2014
Contract End
Contact Miss. Elisa Spengler
Organisation
Phone
07/11/2014
Project Code
IDA10798
Ravensthorpe Agricultural Initiative Network Inc (RAIN)
898381018
Email
rainoffice@westnet.com.au
Project Summary
Innovation Generation quotes it is 'the leading
annual muster for young people working in
Australian agriculture.' The 2013 conference
had a theme of 'Australia in the Asian Century'
- the 2014 theme is yet to be announced.
Youth numbers in agriculture are lessening - it
is important to create opportunity for our
younger collegues and to challenge how they
think. It is also important for them to network
with industry and researchers and to see how
other farming enterprises operate.
GRDC
National
Region
IDA10799: IDA - Liebe Group - Innovation
Generation Young Farmers Tour
GRDC
Region National
Contract
02/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Jemma Counsel
Organisation
Phone
09/01/2014
Project Code
IDA10799
Liebe Group
896610570
Email
admin@liebegroup.org.au
Project Summary
Innovation Generation encourages the
development of the future leading farmers
of the grains industry. The Liebe Group have
a large number of young and lateral thinking
farmers, both male and female, who are
heavily involved in the group's committees and
events, they have a thirst for involvement and
182
building knowledge.
This event provides the opportunity to
generate new research and development
ideas and find solutions to farming issues.
LYH00001: Theme 6 Strategy and MERI Plan
183
GRDC
Region
Contract End
Contact
Organisation
31/12/2013
Project Code
Lyndal Hasselman
Phone
Project Summary
Email
LYH00001
Contract
25/10/2013
Start
ORM00011: Farm Business Management
Updates in the Southern Region
GRDC
Region National
Contract
30/06/2014
Start
Southern Region
Contract End
Contact Mr. Gavin Beever
Organisation
ORM Pty Ltd
Phone
03 54416176
30/06/2015
Project Code
Email
ORM00011
gavin.beever@orm.com.au
Project Summary
Intensification of cropping, farm expansion,
increased debt and an almost doubling of farm
costs have been hallmarks of Australian
farming over the past decade. This period has
also seen some powerful influences of variable
weather, for example rainfall (too little, too
much at the wrong time) and temperature
(frost). Together, these factors have impacted
on farm business performance and focussed
growers attention on financial risk
management and in seeking new and more
effective methods and tools to assist them in
dealing with the business consequences of
these factors.
As a consequence, farm decision-making has
become increasingly complex as businesses
strive to meet the challenges of managing
production and financial risks in the face of
ever-changing climatic, seasonal and
marketing environments. Yet, despite
mounting challenges, many farms are
prospering.
The GRDC Farm Business Updates for
Advisers and Growers provides a unique
forum to learn from and network with leading
growers and industry professionals. The
program has a broad range of topics delivered
by an outstanding selection of expert
speakers. It provides topical and practical
advice and information on the key issues
facing grain growers and their advisers.
This one-year project will:
184
1. Continue the operation of GRDC Farm
Business Updates in the GRDC
Southern Region (following on from
ORM00004 – completion date
30/6/14);
2. Undertake new research and
development (R&D) based activities to
determine the effectiveness of the
Updates, the ongoing needs and
improve the content and effectiveness
of the Updates.
The new R&D activities focus on the following
aspects:
1. Evaluate the effectiveness of the
Updates delivered as part of
ORM00004, including the contribution
of the Updates to practice change in
advisers and the growers that they
support;
2. Develop new resources (Southern
Region Gross Margin Guides) to
support the Update presenters, with
the aim of ensuring content in the
Updates is up-to-date and relevant,
based on the most recent and
accurate farm financial data and
provides the best financial tools for
advisors to assist growers in
optimising their farm business
management.
Project activities include:

Four (4) regionally based GRDC Farm
Business Management Updates for
Advisers in key regional centres
across New South Wales (Wagga),
Victoria (Bendigo), South Australia
(Adelaide) and Tasmania
(Launceston) to present the latest
information relating to farm business
management. These updates target
advisers(agronomists, farm business
management consultants, financial
service providers and accountants)
and others providing fservices to grain







Produce four (4) GRDC Farm
Business Management Fact Sheets
covering new or current topical issues.
"Support Farm Business Management
Networks’:
o Develop and maintain a
partnership arrangement with
the CPA Australia member
bodies in each state to ensure
the GRDC Farm Business
Updates for Advisers meets
CPD requirements and are
promoted by CPA Australia;
o Grow relationships with and
promote GRDC funded
organisations who have farm
business management related
activities,
o These include; Nuffield
Australia, the Australian Rural
Leadership Program, Partners
in Grain, Graham Centre and
Farming Systems Groups.
o Ensure where relevant they
are resourced as sources of
expert speakers for the farm
business updates and are
promoted in the proceedings;
and
o Manage the grdc updates
twitter account to promote and
extend the reach and impact
of the grdc farm business
udpates.
185

farming businesses.
At each GRDC Farm Business
Management Update for Advisers
web-stream at least one key topic to
extend the reach, engagement and
impact of key farm business
management topics.
Six (6) GRDC Farm Business
Management Updates for Growers in
regional locations to ensure
accessibility to growers across
Victoria, New South Wales and South
Australia. These one-day updates are
to target growers in these regions.
Operate and support Update Steering
Committees for each State that hosts
Update events to ensure that both
presentations and materials presented
at Updates are accurate, of the
highest presentation quality, using
credible accountants and other
appropriate farm business
management expertise.
Ensure the content of presentations
are tailored and coordinated,
consistent and use common farm
business management language.
Produce six (6) Farm Business
Management Update Newsletters
targeting advisers (and attendees to
Adviser Updates).
Produce six (6) pages of content for
GRDC Ground Cover covering issues
pertaining to the latest information on
farm business management.
PIG00007: Building the human capacity of
grain growers through Partners in Grain
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/10/2011
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Kim Blenkiron
Organisation
Phone
30/09/2012
Project Code
PIG00007
Partners in Grain Inc.
0427 592 243
Email
kim.blenkiron@bigpond.com
Project Summary
This is a 12 month project to develop three
program logic's that identify where the
opportunities exist to develop regional capacity
where it is needed most.
Through Partners in Grain Inc. this project will
conduct five regional facilitated workshops to
determine the training needs in the regions
and develop a capacity building program logic
and evaluation framework for each of the three
GRDC regions.
In addition the project team will deliver a range
of regional training activities. High priority
targeted workshops will be developed
following the regional workshops and twenty
five activities will be offered across the
186
regions. This will include five training activities
in the West, five in the North and 15 in the
South. Thirty e-newsletters will be distributed
throughout the regions over the 12 months to
promote these and other grains industry
training activities.
Partners in Grain is a program designed to
increase the human resource capital of the
Australian grains industry through the
facilitation of professional development and
networks for all partners in grain businesses.
Partners in Grain is grower driven through
regional reference groups.
SEP00012: Technology integration workshops
in the Western Region
187
GRDC
Region
Contract End
Contact
Project Code
Organisation
Phone
Project Summary
01/01/2017
Email
SEP00012
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
TAY00002: GRDC Network Stakeholder
Engagement Strategy
GRDC
Region
Contract
13/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact
Organisation
Project Code
Victoria Taylor
Phone
Project Summary
188
30/06/2014
Email
TAY00002
TEK00001: Western Region Fast TrackDetermining economic rates and incorporation
for lime in the Eastern wheatbelt o
Contract
Start 01/02/2014
Contract End
Contact
Organisation
28/02/2015
Project Code
Tek Ag
Phone
Project Summary
Email
TEK00001
GRDC
Region
189
UHS10054: Undergraduate Honours
Scholarship - Julian Greenwood (ANU) Genetic
regulation of cereal spike architecture
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2011
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
09/11/2011
Project Code
UHS10054
Flinders University
08 8201 5269
Email
Project Summary
The broad aim of my honours project is to
define a novel mechanism that regulates seed
size in plants. We understand almost nothing
about how plants regulate seed size, more
specifically endosperm size. One mechanism
influencing endosperm size is genomic
imprinting, that is deferentially gene
expression of the maternal and paternal
alleles.
Until recently only about a dozen of the 25,000
protein encoding genes in the model plant
Arabidopsis were demonstrated to be
imprinted. Now amazingly 5000 non-coding
190
heterochromatic small interfering RNA (siRNA)
producing loci were discovered to be are
paternally imprinted. These 5000 loci produce
about 100,000 small RNAs!
This is a unique and unappreciated level of
gene regulation that acts at the
posttranscriptional and transcriptional level
that I aim to investigate. This project will build
on research already in Dr. Searle’s laboratory
on the identification of imprinted micro RNAs,
another class of non-coding RNAs, and their
role in regulating of seed size.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
20/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact . Susan Wilson
Organisation
Phone
19/01/2013
Project Code
UHS10225
(02) 6773 2789
Email
swilso24@une.edu.au
Project Summary
Leptosphaeria maculans causes blackleg, the
major disease of canola worldwide. Fungal
effectors, small secreted proteins are key
molecules involved in disease, but so far only
five such proteins have been characterized
from L.maculans.
I will use bioinformatics to seek genes
encoding small secreted proteins in the newly
acquired genome sequences of L.maculans
and in a closely related species, L.biglobosa
'canadensis', which infects canola and junceacanola. I will mutate three of these effectors
and test the ability of the resultant fungal
strains to cause disease. I will examine when
and where these genes are expressed during
invasion of canola, which will indicate the roles
that these effectors play in disease, and the
differences in defence responses of canola to
these two closely related fungal pathogens.
191
Scholarship - Bethany Clark (UM)
Leptosphaeria effectors: key determinants of
blackleg disease of canola
Scholarship - Cheryl Day (UWA) Economic
impact of soil borne diseases over the entire
rotation sequence
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
06/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Barbara Howlett
Organisation
Phone
05/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10226
University of Melbourne
03 8344 5062
Email
bhowlett@unimelb.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will utilise a crop rotation trial
currently implemented by the Facey Group in
the WA wheat-belt. Crop disease status will be
monitored to evaluate the rise and fall of the
population under varying crop rotations
through time. Multiple diseases present in the
trial will be monitored using the SARDI DNA
probe (Predicta B). Soil borne pathogens
causing significant crop disease, such as
Take-all, Root rot, Crown rot and Rhizoctonia
will be evaluated. Study results will be used to
inform the disease module of the crop
sequencing economic model (LUSO).
192
This land use sequencing optimiser model was
developed under a previous GRDC project.
Further development continues, to evaluate
crop sequencing decisions throughout
Australia.
This project will provide vital, locally specific
information to LUSO and a better
understanding of the likely economic and biotic
impact that crop disease inflicts on the
individual crops and the crop rotation as a
whole. Embedding a more accurate prediction
of the disease status into the optimisable
decision tool will enable improved integration
of the disease susceptibility and expected
impact on crop growth and yield.
This project will help demonstrate the benefits
of this model and opportunities available to
grain producers using their own data.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
26/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Roger Lawes
Organisation
Phone
25/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10228
08 63336461
Email
roger.lawes@csiro.au
Project Summary
Water-use efficiency (WUE) in the high rainfall
zone of Tasmania can be extremely variable,
as a result of environmental and agronomic
constraints to grain production that limit yield
potential. Potential WUE, which takes into
account losses due to runoff and drainage, has
a maximum value of around 20 kg/ha.mm and
is variable as a result of constraints of climate,
soil attributes and water availability.
irrigated farming systems in Tasmania’, and
assess the effect of irrigation and applied N, as
standard basal vs. slow release, to optimise
crop growth and WUE of spring-sown barley.
Slow release fertilisers are used overseas and
mainly in Australian horticultural industries, but
may be an alternative strategy in a high-rainfall
environment such as Tasmania, to address
timing issues.
Yield, WUE and economic returns could be
improved by applying additional N fertiliser
with strategic irrigation, thus avoiding colimitation of these inputs. The proposed project
will be linked to ‘Improved WUE in rainfed and
N dynamics will be monitored during the
project and there will be opportunity to follow
up the results of the field trial in a glasshouse
pot experiment during the 2012 teaching year.
193
Scholarship - Deon Heys (UT) Effect of
irrigation and N supply on water-use efficiency
of barley
Scholarship - Elisha Thynne (ANU) Analysing
the production risks in the white grain
pathogen Botryosphaeria zeae
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
27/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Tina Acuna
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10229
University of Tasmania
03 6226 7507
Email
Tina.Acuna@utas.edu.au
Project Summary
194
My proposed Honours project will be to
analyse wheat grain infected with the fungal
pathogen Botryosphaeria zeae in an attempt to
determine whether Botryosphaeria zeae
produces any mycotoxins. Botryosphaeria
zeae has contaminated a significant amount of
wheat seed in Queensland, and whilst this
causes grain discolouration, it is currently
unclear as to whether Botryosphaeria zeae
produces any mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are
metabolites produced by many different types
of fungi. The consumption of mycotoxins via
fungal-infected foods, such as contaminated
wheat grain, has been associated with a
number of severe health problems.
Because of the uncertainty as to whether
Botryosphaeria zeae produces any mycotoxins
or not, wheat infected with this fungi has been
declared unsafe for human consumption.
My project will involve culturing Botryosphaeria
zeae and then using these cultures to infect
wheat grain samples. The Botryosphaeriainfected grain samples will be ground-down
and the metabolites present in the samples
extracted using an appropriate organic solvent.
The extracted sample will be analysed using
modern detection methods such as liquid
chromatography/time of flight mass
spectometry (LC/TOF-MS) in order to assess
the presence of any known mycotoxins.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
30/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Peter Solomon
Organisation
Phone
29/01/2013
Project Code
UHS10232
02 6125 3952
Email
Project Summary
The project will test how modern soil wetting
agents affect the pasture growth in an area
representative of forest gravel pasture and
cropping soils in the South West of Western
Australia. The project will investigate the
economic benefit of applying the products to
pasture and cropping systems, taking into
account how the products affect total dry
matter production and individual species dry
matter production in pastures, and through
laboratory work apply these findings to yield
potential of cropping systems in the same
soils.
The field trial will be conducted on gravel loam
soil in the Shire of West Arthur, an area
transitioning from total livestock production to
extensive grain production. Product will be
applied to the chronically water repellent soil at
rates of 0%, 50%, 100%, 150% and 200% of
recommended rate and be measured over a
period of two seasons.
In addition, laboratory work will investigate the
effect of variation of rate on the dry matter
production and yield potential of cereals. An
extensive economic analysis will be conducted
at the conclusion of the project to determine
the economic effect of varying the rate of
product.
195
Scholarship - James Campbell (UWA) Effect
and economic benefit of rate of soil wetting
agent in gravelly loam pasture and cropping
systems.
Scholarship - Jasmine Hart (UF) Interactions of
actinobacteria with rhizobia
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 27/02/2012
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10234
08 6488 4576
Email
Project Summary
Endophytic actinobacteria have been isolated
from crop plants and the laboratory I will join
has developed some of these to control fungal
root pathogens of cereal plants. We are
seeking to employ a similar strategy for
legumes, where there is a strong need to
control fungal diseases as well as to improve
germination and establishment. Actinobacterial
endophytes have been isolated from
leguminous plants such as peas, lucerne and
lupins and strains that can control pathogens
of legumes have been identified by a fellow
student.
196
In my project I will study the interaction of the
effective actinobacteria with the rhizobia
associated with the host plant.
The specific functions to be examined will be
the effect on nodule development, the
efficiency of nitrogen-fixation, and changes in
nodule and root architecture. Other factors will
be the method of addition of the actinobacteria
to the seed or roots, and the time of addition
vis-a-vis the introduction of the rhizobium.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
27/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Christopher Franco
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10235
Flinders University
08 72218554
Email
Chris.franco@flinders.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will examine the influence
compost has on soil microbial communities.
Soil processes such as phosphorus and iron
solubilising, sulphur mineralisation nitrogen
fixation as well as aiding in the uptake of
various other macro and micro nutrients.
Soil biology can influence plant physiology
through the excretion of hormones and
reduced incidence of disease. The compost
industry has gained momentum and is
marketed on the back of such claims.
This project will evaluate changes in the
microbial community following the addition of
compost. Subsequent community analysis will
be performed through DNA extracted from the
soil samples, prior to planting, 3 leaf stage, 5
leaf stage, booting , anthesis, grain fill, and
post harvest. This will, inturn determine the
resiliance of the compost induced changes on
bacteria, fungi, and archaea. A liquid compost
extract as well as solid compost and a control
will make up the experimental design.
The proposed crop, sorghum, is the dominant
summer crop grown throughout northern NSW
and southern Queensland. The trial will be
conducted on a both the red (dermosol) and
black (vertosol) soils of the Liverpool plains in
order to determine whether soil type imparts
an additional interaction effect.
As well as microbial analysis, other crop
parameters will be examined including
biomass and grain yield, leaf nitrogen
percentage, indicating an association between
soil biota and nutrient uptake efficiency. The
soils ability to govern and constrain crop
production is highly influenced by soil biota
therefore it is imperative that further research
be conducted in this emerging field.
197
Scholarship - Jeremy Brown (US) In crop
assessment of soil microbial communities
following compost application
Scholarship - Joanna Lang (UWA) A financial
analysis of on-farm grain storage and handling
in Western Australia
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Michael Kertesz
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2012
Project Code
UHS10236
02 8627 1022
Email
michael.kertesz@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
198
Increased marketing opportunities bought on
by deregulation of grain markets in 2004 have
led to a large interest by growers in on-farm
storage systems. On-farm storage improves
farmers? ability to exploit increased marketing
opportunities as well as better control their
grain quality. Applying grain management
procedures during storage allows farmers to
capture premium prices by being able to
supply quality assured grains direct to end
users. Sourcing high quality, traceable grain is
pivotal in a future driven by supply chain
integrity. A model will be used in this project to
show the costs and benefits available to
farmers if invested in on-farm storage
infrastructure.
The project will examine the current successful
on-farm storage facilities on the East coast
and investigate whether the development is a
viable option for Western Australian growers.
The range of costs and benefits considered in
the analysis will include: initial investment
costs, increased quality rewards, lower
warehousing and transport costs, increased
flexibility at time of harvest, increased
marketing opportunities, increased pest control
and opportunity costs. A comprehensive
sensitivity analysis will also be undertaken to
test how different factors directly and indirectly
impact its effectiveness.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
27/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact . Mugera
Organisation
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10237
Phone
Email
Project Summary
Most current commercial cultivars of bread
wheat are susceptible to Crown Rot, a
potentially virulent pathogen that can
significantly reduce yield through shrivelled
grain and senescense of tillers. The ability of
cultivars to maintain yield protential in the
presence of crown rot is determined both by
resistance/tolerance to the pathogen per se,
and to the level of post-anthesis mositure
stress experienced by the crop.
Therefore, we will seek to investigate
relationship between water-use efficiency in a
double haploid population (2-49 x W21MMT70,
n=208 - Refer Bovill et al. 2010, TAG 121:127136) that has been previously phenotyped for
crown rot resistance.
The population will be assessed using a novel
glasshouse assay that directly measures water
use and biomass accumulation, and in the field
at Gatton. Data will be collected on yield, grain
size, canopy temperature, stomatal
conductance, chlorophyll content and
StayGreen. Results will be gathered from a
field trial in Gatton and three temporal
replications in a glasshouse at St Lucia.
A relationship between QTL for water use
efficiencey and Crown Rot resistance of the
genotypes will be analysed. This project is
linked to GRDC project UQ00049 and the
Crown Rot Initiative.
199
Scholarship - Karen Shears (UQ) A quantitative
approach relating crown-rot resistance to
water-use efficiency and grain yield in wheat
(Triticum aestivum)
Scholarship - Kimberley Duver (UNE)
Application of mixed waste organic outputs to
cropping soils - potentialbenefits and pitfalls:
impacts on soil biology and function"
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Mark Dieters
Organisation
Phone
31/01/2013
Project Code
UHS10238
07 3365 7410
Email
m.dieters@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
In NSW, mixed waste organic outputs
(MWOO) are currently being generated from
the waste stream for application as a compostlike soil amendment. MWOO products are
being promoted as a soil conditioner, as a
means of adding carbon to soils and
enhancing soil biological activity.
200
Due to the large quantities of these waste
products being produced, broadacre
application to grains and cropping soils is
being encouraged. These claims however,
have not yet been adequately tested and
require rigorous assessment to ensure
maximum benefit to the grains industry whilst
minimising potential harm.
Using an established pot experiment at UNE,
and a range of analysis techniques (e.g.
microbial biomass, respiration) this project will
assess MWOO effects on soil biology, health,
function, focusing on the nature and change,
improvement or decline in microbial
populations in MWOO amended soils.
The project will examine a range of key NSW
grain-growing soils (predominantly from the
northern grains region) and will consider the
effect of application rate and application
methods on soils. The project forms part of a
larger research program (supported by NSW
State Government) to evaluate potential
contamination of soils and soil water and the
uptake of contaminants by plants where
MWOO is applied to land.
Scholarship - Marcela Cespedes (USA) Image
fusion for phenotypic analysis of plant images
Contract
Start 20/02/2012
Contract End
Contact . Susan Wilson
Organisation
Phone
19/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10241
(02) 6773 2789
Email
swilso24@une.edu.au
Project Summary
The aim of my honours project in the field of
Phenomics titled 'Image fusion for phenotypic
analysis of plant images' is to use
mathematical methods and image analysis to
develop ways to deduct vital plant statistics
and information such as; classification of plant
species, plant mass both wet and dry,
inclusive and exclusive of root system,
calculate its growth rate throughout the life
cycle of the plant, moisture content and many
other characteristics from photo images taken.
This new method of gathering plant
information will provide quick, efficient and
reliable information for biologists and
scientists. This will help develop new strains of
grain crops which will be able to better tolerate
some of Australia's current environmental
conditions such as drought and high salinity
content to name a few.
Currently a common method to gather plant
statistics and information is through destructive
experiments which is time consuming as each
plant in an experiment is individually handled,
this limits the capacity to conduct trials on new
grain species. Additionally in order to gain as
much information as possible, this method
requires the destruction of the plants and so
eliminates any possibility to further study the
growth stages of the plants in the trial.
Through analysis of photo imaging, this nonintrusive method will preserve plants in the trial
for future use while also enable us to gather
the required information.
GRDC
National
Region
201
Scholarship - Melissa Ann Coventry (UA) Can
rye genes be used to ‘supercharge’ aluminium
tolerance in wheat and barley? - A transgenic
approach to dissect biochemical and biological
properties of organic anion transporters from
rye a
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 27/02/2012
Contract End
Contact . Jinhai Cai
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10242
08 830 25533
Email
jinhai.cai@unisa.edu.au
Project Summary
Aluminium-toxicity tolerant varieties express
ALMT1 transporters to allow secretion of
organic acids from the root tip to detoxify
surrounding Al3+ cations.
202
While an ALMT1 locus in rye controls
secretion of malate and citrate, the
corresponding ALMT1 locus in wheat only
controls the secretion of malate. Does this
reflect wider substrate specificity of these rye
ALMT1s, or a higher concentration of citrate in
the rye root tip compared to wheat?
These questions will be addressed by
1. comparing the spectrum of organic
acids secreted from hydroponicallygrown barley and wheat plants
transformed with wheat or rye
ALMT1s, and
2. Comparing the concentrations of
individual organic acids within the root
tips of wheat and rye. Transgenic lines
are available and confirmed to be
tolerant.
Among the cultivated Triticeae cereals rye is
one of the most aluminium tolerant. If this
corresponds to rye ALMT1s being able to
transport a wider range of organic acids than
those from wheat, then it should be
investigated if rye ALMT1s can be used to
bolster aluminium tolerance in wheat and
barley.
This will be investigated by comparing
tolerance levels of transgenic plants containing
either the wheat or rye ALMT1s, using
hydroponic root-length assays and pot-grown
plants.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
20/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. MONICA Ogierman
Organisation
Phone
19/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10244
883036725
Email
monica.ogierman@acpfg.com.au
Project Summary
glume blotch disease on wheat. A recent
survey of wheat diseases in Australia rated
glume blotch as the 3rd most important in
terms of economic losses. Groundbreaking
studies in this country by the labs of Dr. Peter
Solomon and Prof. Richard Oliver have made
in key breakthroughs in understanding the
molecular basis of this disease. What though
has yet to be established is the nutritional
basis of the pathogen during infection i.e. what
are the metabolic requirements of the
pathogen during infection?
Studies of the disease in Dr. Solomon?s lab
have shown that the abundance of the
compound gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
increase during infection of S. nodorum on
wheat. In my honours project, I intend to
determine whether or not S. nodorum GABA
metabolism is important for infection. This will
be done by inactivating the genes required for
GABA synthesis (glutamate decarboxylase)
and GABA breakdown (succinate
semialdehydedehydrogenase). The resulting
pathogen strains lacking these genes will then
be infected on susceptible wheat varieties to
determine whether or not GABA metabolism is
required for infection. This is a proven
approach in Dr. Solomon?s lab that has
uncovered multiple pathogen genes required
for infection.
203
Scholarship - Oliver Mead (ANU) An analysis of
gamma-aminobutyric acid metabolism in the
wheat pathogen Stagonospora nodorum
Scholarship - Nadine Nolan (QUT) Immigration
levels of C.ferrugineus
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 31/01/2012
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Peter Ssolomon
Organisation
Phone
30/01/2013
Project Code
UHS10338
02 6125 3952
Email
Project Summary
The flat grain beetle Cryptolestes ferrugineus
is a major pest of stored grains. The capacity
to detect C. ferrugineus in grain bulks has
becoming increasingly important since this
species has been shown to exhibit high levels
of resistance to Phosphine.
The abundance and spatial distribution of
insects through a grain bulk will influence the
sampling intensity needed to detect the those
insects (Elmouttie et al 2010). Clearly,
characterisation of the abundance and levels
of clustering of insect species in stored grain is
critical to the development of accurate
sampling strategies.
204
The abundance and spatial distribution of C.
ferrugineus in an infested grain bulk will
depend on two major factors: the rate of
immigration of the insect into the grain, and the
subsequent reproduction and clustering
behaviour of the insects once immigration has
occurred.
In this project, small quantities of grain will be
established for a brief period in grain fields and
near grain storages in order to estimate the
presence of, and any differences in,
immigration levels of C. ferrugineus into the
grain. After infestation, these small bulks will
be examined to characterise the fine
resolution, three dimensional spatial
distribution of insects in the bulk.
Scholarship - Michelle Low (UCS) PBA Health
Benefits of Australian Pulses
Contract
Start 27/02/2012
Contract End
Contact Dr. Grant Hamilton
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10356
Queensland University of Technology
+61 7 3138 2318
Email
g.hamilton@qut.edu.au
Project Summary
There have been a number of reports
confirming that some pulses may be good
sources of antioxidants. These antioxidants
have been demonstrated to prevent a range of
diseases including cancer, diabetes,
atherosclerosis and other cardiovascular
diseases. However a comprehensive study of
the level of antioxidants in pulses typically
grown in Australia and the impact of climate
and growing conditions on antioxidant levels
has not been undertaken. This project will
investigate antioxidant levels typically found in
Australian grown chickpeas, faba beans and
field peas. The site variation in sampes will be
investigated to determine the impact of
enviroment on antioxidant levels. In the case
of faba beans, a set of samples grown under a
range of UV levels will be studied to determine
the effect of UV on antioxidant levels.
GRDC
National
Region
205
Scholarship - Kyle Reynolds (UCS) PBA Health
Benefits of Australian Pulses
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 27/02/2012
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Chris Blanchard
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10360
02 69332364
Email
cblanchard@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
Project Plan:
The student will work on a project aimed at
better understanding the functional properties
of compounds contained in the various pulses.
This would build on the successful project,
which recently demonstrated the anti-cancer,
anti-diabetes and anti-obesity properties of
faba bean constituents. The project would also
206
look at the potential for pulse extracts to be
used in the pharmaceutical industry,
particularly in their use in the emerging field of
regenerative medicine as regulatory
compounds to promote the differentiation of
adult stem cells to functional tissue such as
bone and cartilage.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
27/02/2012
Start
Contract End
Contact A/Prof. Chris Blanchard
Organisation
Phone
26/02/2013
Project Code
UHS10403
02 69332364
Email
cblanchard@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will determine if there is an early
growth and potential yield benefit in using
superphosphate as a fertiliser in acidic soil
where aluminium toxicity is problem, compared
to ammonium based fertilisers. Wheat growth
in response to two types of fertilisers will be
compared.
207
Scholarship - Brenton Leske (UWA) Reducing
the impact of aluminium toxicity using
superposphate as a seeding fertiliser
Scholarship - Kimberley Adams (UWA)
Improving crop establishment in non-wetting
soils through stubble management
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
29/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Jason Able
28/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10410
Organisation
Phone
08 8303 7075
Email
jason.able@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
Along the south coast of Western Australia
non-wetting soils are a major limiting factor in
crop production. Due to the sandy soils of this
region the majority of the farmers are also zero
or minimum till with full or partial stubble
retention. Among the farming community in
this area there are conflicting thoughts about
the affect stubble retention has on the nonwetting nature of the soils. With this research
208
I will be looking at how different stubble
management practices affect non-wetting soils
in the south coast region. In particular I will
determine how burning stubble, full stubble
retention, extra think stubble and trampled
stubble affect the water repellence of soils and
the subsequent effects on crop germination
and establishment.
I will be measuring rainfall, soil water
repellence, soil moisture content, soil
infiltration and soil carbon before and
throughout the growing season.
All the plots will be seeded with a no-till seeder
to minimise soil and stubble disturbance and I
will have 4 replicates of each treatment. After
seeding I will do crop emergence counts and
towards the end of the growing season crop
biomass will be measured.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
25/02/2013
Start
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
24/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10411
08 6488 4576
Email
Project Summary
This project will make use of new magnetic
probes to monitor the effects of temperature
and drought on plant water status in wheat.
While rainfall is the predominant limitation in
Australian cropping systems, elevated
temperatures and more frequent droughts will
provide additional challenges for grain growers
as our climate changes. Much of the current
work on water relations in wheat has used
intrusive/destructive sampling methods or
temporal measurements, often providing an
incomplete picture of plant water relations.
Using leaf patch clamp pressure (LPCP)
probes it's possible to continuously monitor
leaf water status in real time to reveal shortterm and long-term dynamics in plant water
status. This has already been trialled on
wheat, but its potential has not yet been
evaluated.
By using the probes (in conjunction with other
measurements), I intend to determine the point
at which wheat plants make physiological
adjustments to conserve water during different
stages of drought and in response to high
temperatures.
This project will monitor water status in wheat
genotypes with contrasting water use
efficiency (WUE) and new breeding lines from
Intergrain to determine the relationship
between leaf temperature, transpiration and
plant water status during drought and high
temperatures.
209
Scholarship - Liam Ryan (UWA) Monitoring the
water status of wheat using novel magnetic
probes
Scholarship - Wesley Lefroy (UWA) Does
knowledge of the soil map improve the utility
of remotely sensed soil information?
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
25/02/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Helen Bramley
Organisation
Phone
24/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10416
University of Western Sydney
08 6488 1539
Email
helen.bramley@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Remotely sensed information is a relatively
new and exciting frontier for precision
agriculture. The use of gamma ray
spectrometry and electromagnetic induction
provides rapid, non-invasive and high
resolution soil mapping. Current issues with
the techniques surround the accuracy of
mapping subsoil. In the majority of soil types,
remote sensing methods cannot accurately
map subsoil, failing to identify constraints that
may inhibit root growth.
210
The aim of this study to find whether the added
knowledge of a direct soil survey can improve
the utility of remotely sensed soil information.
An analysis of the relationship between direct
soil survey data and radiometric data will form
the basis of this research. The soils being
examined are high and low yielding, illustrated
by over 10 years of yield mapping data as
provided by the farmer.
The research location is a 300ha piece of land
in Tammin, covering up to six different soil
units, representative of a wide area of soil
types across the Western Australian
wheatbelt.
It is hypothesized that the relationship between
survey data and radiometric data will vary,
dependent on the nature of the sub-soil. It is
expected that the most influential sub-soil
characteristics are pH, electrical conductivity,
texture, gravel percentage, and the presence
of a hardpan, which may limit root depth in
some soil types.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Professor. Robert Gilkes
Organisation
Phone
31/05/2013
Project Code
UHS10418
08 6488 2509
Email
bob.gilkes@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Sorghum is an important summer grain crop
due to its ability to tolerate heat and water
stress. However, effective use of sorghum as a
feed grain would be improved by larger/ less
variable grain size. Furthermore, grain-fill is
adversely affected by abiotic stresses that are
increasingly due to climate change.
Understanding the biochemical mechanisms
that regulate grain-fill and grain size is crucial
for developing molecular markers assisting
breeding programs to optimise grain size and
yield stability.
Work in Dr Nonhebel's laboratory at UNE has
been investigating sugar and plant hormone
signalling during grain-fill in rice. A cluster of
co-expressed genes encoding auxin
biosynthesis genes as well as other signalling
proteins have been identified as important for
optimal post-pollination grain-fill. I will be
investigating the sorghum orthologues of these
genes. Gene expression as well as biological
activity of the protein products will be
investigated during grain-fill and compared to
grain size.
The effect of heat stress on gene expression
will also be monitored. Bioinformatic tools will
be used to screen existing sequence data to
identify polymorphic genes. This work will
provide the foundation for future studies in
which the genetic polymorphisms in grain-fill
genes can be developed as molecular
markers.
211
Scholarship - Benjamin Schreiber (UNE)
Signalling and Nutrient Partitioning during
Sorghum Grain-fill Under Stress: Informing
Breeding Strategies
Scholarship - Adam Norman (UA) A genetic
dissection of physical grain quality in wheat
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Heather Nonhebel
Organisation
Phone
30/04/2014
Project Code
UHS10444
02 6773 2083
Email
hnonheb2@une.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will focus on how grain size
(screening levels) and hectolitre weight are
affected by genotype and environmental
interactions and will be carried out with AGT.
The variety Janz is notorious for having small
grain size, with this trait being carried through
to its descendants. In this project, two Janzbased populations (Kukri/Janz DHs and
Janz/Frame F2:5) will be used to identify the
key quantitative trait loci controlling small grain
size in Janz.
The Cre1 resistance allele present in varieties
such as Silverstar is considered to be very
effective in controlling cereal cyst nematode
numbers. However, the presence of this allele
212
is also associated with a reduction in grain
size. It is unknown whether this effect is
caused by the Cre1 locus itself (pleiotropy) or
by another nearby locus (linkage). This project
will aim to characterise the effect of the Cre1
allele on grain size and determine whether it is
due to pleiotropy or linkage.
When Grain Trade Australia tightens its APW
specification for hectolitre weight (HLW) from
74 to 76 kg/hl, varieties with HLW issues such
as Correll may fail to meet standards on a
regular basis. Correll’s HLW issues may be
due to genetic control, or to grain shape, and
this project will investigate this.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
29/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Haydn Kuchel
Organisation
Phone
28/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10446
08 8313 7708
Email
haydn.kuchel@ausgraintech.com
Project Summary
Ascochyta blight of lentils is a major yield
constraint. The characterisation of the specific
mechanisms involved in host specificity and
pathogenicity will aid in the development of
new resistant crop cultivars and methods of
control.
Like other related necrotrophs, the fungus is
believed to produce host-specific necrotic
effectors which interact with host receptors to
cause infection. In previous research
conducted by myself as a component of my
undergraduate degree I was able to narrow
down the laboratory procedures needed to
grow A. lentis to induce the secretion of
proteins and metabolites that induce necrosis
on the susceptible lentil cv Digger.
The proposed research project will involve
further characterisation and isolation of the
effector candidates, and determination of host
specificity of the compounds secreted in
culture filtrates. Characterisation of the
secreted products will involve methods of size
fractionation, heat and pronase treatments,
and subsequent protein sequencing to
determine the candidate’s nature and identity.
The level of host specifcity of effectors will be
tested both at the species (susceptibility of
other crops such as chickpea, field pea and
faba bean) and at the intra-specific level.
213
Scholarship - King Yin Lui (CUR) Dissection of
genetic factors affecting Ascochyta lentis
pathogenicity and its interaction with lentil
(Lens culinaris)
Scholarship - Benjamin Romeo (US) The effect
of slow release nitrogen fertilisers on biomass
production, crop nitrogen content, grain yield
and grain protein concentration
GRDC
Region National
Contract
04/03/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Judith Lichtenzveig
Organisation
Phone
03/03/2014
Project Code
UHS10454
08 9360 1311
Email
j.lichtenzveig@murdoch.edu.au
Project Summary
The project will be conducted in the Southern
Highland region of NSW, using the dualpurpose milling-quality wheat EGA Wedgetail.
The aim is to evaluate the effect of different
application rates of slow release nitrogen
fertilisers on crop biomass production, plant
nitrogen content, grain yield and grain protein
levels.
214
Slow release nitrogen fertilisers, which are
extensively used in the turf industry, are based
on a urea nutrient core with a sulphur polymer
membrane, releasing nitrogen for up to 6
months following application. My field
experiment will consist of four treatments (two
products with the Poly - S technology [Everris,
formerly known as Scotts], one product with
Entec Technology [an ammonia stabiliser by
Incitec Pivot Fertilisers] and one product
without any coating, e.g., urea) and an
unfertilised control.
A randomised block design will be used,
replicated three times. All treatments will be
sown with phosphorus (as superphosphate)
and potassium (as potassium sulphate) as
starter fertiliser with five different rates of
nitrogen applied after germination (0 kg/ha
[control], 50 kg/ha, 100 kg/ha, 150 kg/ha and
200 kg/ha). The wheat will be grazed three
times before being allowed to produce grain.
Measurements will include dry matter amount
after each grazing, leaf nitrogen content
(SPAD chlorophyll and Greenseeker meters),
grain yield, aboveground dry biomass at
maturity and grain protein percentage.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
01/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Daniel Turner
Organisation
Phone
15/12/2014
Project Code
UHS10456
02 8627 1052
Email
daniel.tan@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
Invasive snails and slugs are a constant and
intractable pest to Australian native fauna,
upsetting fragile ecosystems as well as
destroying beneficial crops. Combined, they
are estimated to be responsible for ~25-50%
of annual crop loss, leading to widespread
detrimental economic impacts to the grains
industry (~$5 billion annual crop or 17.4% of
total Australian exports).
While a variety of measures are currently
undertaken to control these pests (baiting,
bashing and burning), these methods have
proven to be overall ineffective. Our limited
understanding of key factors involved in
regulating reproductive success, where a
single snail can produce up to 400 offspring,
means that we are helpless to curb their
current and future population growth.
This project will take advantage of the USC's
snail gene database to provide the first
comprehensive molecular investigation into the
functioning of both genes and hormones used
by these invasive pests that trigger maturation,
courtship and mating.
The discovery of and testing of these
hormones from this study will provide
important information for the industry toward
the isolation of and chemical sythesis of
hormone based contraceptive control agents
that are specific for pest snails and slugs.
215
Scholarship - Bradley Harding (Uni Sunshine
Coast) Development of molluscan
contraceptives: Investigation into the
molecular basis of reproduction in invasive
crop snails and slugs
Scholarship - Clare Flakelar (CSU)
Components in Canola Oil
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 18/02/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Scott Cummins
Organisation
Phone
17/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10457
University of Sunshine Coast
07 5456 5501
Email
scummins@usc.edu.au
Project Summary
The project will be complementary to work
conducted this year involving quantitative
determination of tocopherols and carotenoids.
The results from this research and a lack of
literature have indicated research into levels of
lutein in canola oil has not been previously
entered in great depth. We have found lutein is
present in varying amounts of canola varieties.
Lutein is a compound responsible for aiding in
the prevention of macular degeneration.
This project will look into levels of components
of canola oil, namely lutein and how conditions
altered can affect these levels. The analyses
216
conducted will be aimed toward maximising
lutein levels (while not diminishing tocopherols
or other carotenoids) in canola in order to
obtain canola oil will enhanced health benefits.
Conditions including but not limited to; oil yield,
climate, Free Fatty Acid (FFA), soil type,
fertiliser type/additional chemicals and
Genetically-Modified (GM) will be investigated.
The process of oil extraction may also be
investigated to ensure no detrimental effects
from this process.
Scholarship - David Zadow (UWA) Grain
Profitability maps for Western Australia
Contract
Start 04/02/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Paul Prenzler
Organisation
Phone
03/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10458
+61 2 6933 2978
Email
pprenzler@csu.edu.au
Project Summary
Wheat is the main crop grown by WA farmers.
Currently farmers have access to models
which give seasonal yield estimates for
different shires. However these models only
tell half of the picture when it comes to farm
planning and risk management. The other half
relates to the price risks associated with
producing wheat, along with the costs of
production. The expected yield can change
within a season, but so can the price of wheat
and their combination, net of the costs of
production, gives the profit from wheat
production.
My project aims to combine seasonal yield
predictions with seasonal price forecasts and
localised costs to create shire profitability
maps for Western Australia. Further, by
conducting historical analyses we will be able
to test how sensitive are wheat profits in
different shires to changes in wheat yields,
wheat prices and costs of production. We
intend to create maps which will show the
relative profit potential of each shire both as
the season progresses and when compared to
previous years.
The project will provide information to farmers
and investors who want to compare the
profitability of wheat production (and its
riskiness) in different shires in WA. Such
people will be able to use the model to
determine whether the price of land in a
particular shire reflects its profit potential.
GRDC
National
Region
217
Scholarship - James Hughes (UW) Improved
methods for the analysis of disease ratings,
with application to the GRDC funded Crown
Rot project
GRDC
Region National
Contract
25/02/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Ross Kingwell
Organisation
Phone
24/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10469
08 9368 3225
Email
ross.kingwell@agric.wa.gov.au
Project Summary
Crown rot is a major disease of winter cereal
crops (bread wheats, barley, durum) in
Australia, particularly in north-eastern and
parts of southern Australia. Disease can be
particularly severe in field situations where
there is a high load of infected crop residue
from the previous season, moist conditions
early in the season which favour infection and
then a dry finish that stresses already infected
plants.
218
Current methodologies for screening crown rot
susceptibility/resistance have been developed
at various sites across Australia with these
methods embedding the framework of
generalised linear models (GLMs). However,
Collins (2008) compared the performance of
estimation methods for generalised linear
mixed models (GLMMs) and concluded that
the approximate methods such as PQL
performed well when compared to Bayesian
methods for the analysis of ordinal data.
The aim of the project will be to examine these
findings in more detail using real and
simulated data-sets. We will be particularly
focused on the bias and accuracy of estimates
of variance parameters as well as examining
the behaviour of tools of inference involving
fixed effects.
Scholarship - Deborah Bud (UW) Improved
Canola Variety Information for Farmers
Contract
Start 04/03/2013
Contract End
Contact Prof. Brian Cullis
Organisation
Phone
03/03/2014
Project Code
UHS10479
02 4221 5475
Email
bcullis@uow.edu.au
Project Summary
The aim of this project is to think of new and
innovative designs in comparing the varieties
of Canola. The information gathered from this
project will be used as part of the National
Variety Trials that will aide farmers in choosing
between Canola varients.
that are currently in use do not offer a valid
comparison between varieties of different
chemistry groups so this project will address
that issue in developing designs that can
validly compare Canola varieties from the
same or different chemistry groups.
For this project the varieties of Canola that will
be compared include convential, roundupready, triazine-tolerant and imidazolinone
tolerant varieties. The Chemistry block designs
These designs will be easy to sow, and allow
for efficient and error-free trial management.
GRDC
National
Region
219
Scholarship - Stefan Schmitt (UA) Genetic
Control of Heat Tolerance in Wheat
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 29/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Prof. Brian Cullis
Organisation
Phone
28/07/2014
Project Code
UHS10480
02 4221 5475
Email
bcullis@uow.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will characterise reproductive heat
stress tolerance in exotic wheat germplasm
which has previously been shown to convey
adaptation to high temperature stress, greater
than many existing wheat varieties.
Mapping populations which have been
developed from crosses between adapted
Australian varieties, and land races with
putative heat stress tolerance, will be used as
the basis of this study. Lines will be grown
under controlled environment conditions,
subjected to heat stress during reproductive
growth, and then evaluated for their
physiological responses.
220
In addition, these lines will be grown in the
field and their basic agronomic performance
(plant height, grain size, maturity etc)
evaluated.
A genetic map will be constructed, and the
phenotypic data used to identify QTL (genes)
which control heat stress tolerance. It is hoped
that the results from this project will lead to the
development of heat tolerant germplasm able
to be introgresed into current breeding lines,
and the breeding tools required to achieve
high rates of genetic gain.
Scholarship - Daniel Ahfock (UQ) Quantifying
uncertainty in genetic map construction
Contract
Start 29/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Haydn Kuchel
Organisation
Phone
28/07/2014
Project Code
UHS10485
08 8313 7708
Email
haydn.kuchel@ausgraintech.com
Project Summary
Genetic studies are a key element of modern
crop breeding, facilitating more rapid and
economical plant improvement than traditional
schemes. Through these studies, associations
detected between genetic markers and traits
such as quality and yield can be incorporated
into the breeding process.
Constructing a genetic map is the starting
point in finding marker-trait associations, and
as such, errors in this stage can complicate
further analysis and lead to spurious results.
Many map construction approaches have been
developed which focus on estimating the order
and positioning of a set of genetic markers.
However, little work has been done on
quantifying map uncertainty, and map
verification is often an ill-defined labour-
intensive task. Methods to objectively
characterise the uncertainty in a genetic map
will improve existing map construction
techniques and streamline further analysis.
This project will develop statistical techniques
to evaluate the quality of a genetic map and
investigate methods for refining maps while
accounting for uncertainty in estimation. In
particular, I will consider high-density map
construction, where the large number of
closely spaced markers increases both the
computational complexity and uncertainty in
estimation. The methods developed will be
tested on simulated data and data from a large
wheat mapping population.
GRDC
National
Region
221
Scholarship - Huw Ogilvie (ANU) Optimising
root architecture for yield and environmental
benefits: identifying genetic and epigenetic
targets by manipulating peptide relayed
signals
GRDC
Region National
Contract
25/02/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Emma Huang
Organisation
Phone
24/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10488
07 3833 5542
Email
emma.huan@csiro.au
Project Summary
The Djordjevic Lab has discovered a novel
family of peptides, regulators of root
architecture (RAR), that appear to modify root
architecture as part of stress response,
including in relaying communication of stress
conditions with phytohormones. Altering root
architecture has been found to increase water
use efficiency, nutrient uptake and plant
biomass.
222
My project will begin with measuring changes
in root architecture in response to RAR and
hormone treatment across a combination of
RAR- and hormone-defective lines. The
molecular biology of these changes will be
analysed using RNA-seq technology, where
the expression levels of all genes are analysed
at once. Genes which change expression
levels in response to hormone or RAR
treatment, but not in RAR- or hormonedefective lines, will be identified using
bioinformatics tools. I intend to begin this work
in Arabidopsis, but quickly adapt it to
commercially important crops.
Furthermore, adaption to stress can be
maintained across generations of plants
through epigenetic processes including DNA
methylation. After collecting and analysing
RNA-seq data, I will combine it with previous
data on DNA methylation to identify RAR and
root architecture related genes which may be
regulated through DNA methylation. I will
confirm this activity by using bisulfite
conversion technology.
Scholarship - Mark Turner (UQ) RNA signalling
and plant disease resistance
Contract
Start 29/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Michael Djordjevic
Organisation
Phone
28/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10504
02 6125 3088
Email
michael.djordjevic@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
Gene silencing is a highly conserved process
in plants and animals. It is fundamentally
important to gene regulation, disease
resistance, adaptive response to the
environment, and evolution. Gene silencing in
plants and animals, can spread throughout the
organism. Research in the applicant’s
laboratory established micro-grafting in the
model plant Arabidopsisas an approach to
investigate the mechanisms, and to discover
genes involved in intercellular spreading of
gene silencing. This led to the discovery of
small regulatory RNAs as intercellular, grafttransmissible gene silencing signals. More
recent research in the applicant’s laboratory
has identified that a gene called Pleiotropic
Regulatory Locus 1 (PRL1)is required for
intercellular spreading of gene silencing. PRL1
is highly conserved between plants and
animals. Importantly, PRL1 had already been
reported to be required for general plant
defence, including resistance to bacterial and
fungal pathogens in plants. These results
suggest that intercellular RNA signalling plays
a crucial in role general plant defence.
The aim of this project is to identify additional
genes involved in both intercellular RNA
signalling and plant disease resistance. This
will confirm our hypothesis that intercellular
RNA signalling does indeed play a crucial
mechanistic role in general plant defense.
GRDC
National
Region
223
Scholarship - Sandra Whitmarsh (UA) Analysis
and performance of key perennial forage shrub
to improve production and sustainability in the
mixed farming systems of the SA and Victorian
Mallee
GRDC
Region National
Contract
29/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Assoc Prof. Bernie Carroll
Organisation
Phone
28/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10509
07 3365 2013
Email
b.carroll@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
224
Forage shrubs are increasingly recognised for
their importance as complementary fodder
reserves in marginal cropping environments.
The ability of woody perennials to bring value
to previously unproductive land, utilise out of
season rainfall, and provide green feed during
the autumn feed gap has been well
established (Bulman 2004). Environmental
services such as soil stabilisation,
rehabilitation of chemically constrained areas,
and reduction of recharge have also been welldocumented (de Koning & Milthorpe 2008).
Around 85 percent of SA Mallee grain
producers have a livestock component as part
of their farm enterprise (Llewellyn et al 2010).
Whilst grain production is the primary focus,
add-ins such as forage shrubs can stabilise
livestock production, with flow-on effects to the
whole farm. The ability of shrubs to reduce
supplementary feeding costs and provide
protection and shelter to livestock has the
potential to bring significant benefits to
integrated crop/livestock farm enterprises
(CRC Future Farm Industries Evercrop
program). There are currently gaps in
understanding the contribution of shrub
plantations to farm profitability and the
environmental services they are providing
within the cropping areas of the Mallee.
The proposed work will involve a regional
survey of representative stands of forage
shrubs within the Mallee regions of South
Australia and Western Victoria. Assessments
of forage growth and soils will be determined
using soil surveys, dry matter estimations with
a modified 'Adelaide' technique (reference)
and photographic scoring tools and compiling
site management history from farmer survey
and interviews. The importance of forage
grazing shrubs to these systems will be
assessed using a suitable economic modelling
program.
Scholarship - Alexander Pocock (UQ)
Discovery of small RNA in the wheat
transcriptome
225
Contract
01/03/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Matthew Denton
Organisation
Phone
28/02/2014
Project Code
UHS10527
08 8313 1098
Email
matthew.denton@adelaide.edu.au
Project Summary
I will investigate the diversity and roles
microRNA play in wheat gene regulation.
MicroRNA are important regulators of gene
activity, acting through RNAi mechanisms, as
has been shown in model plant organisms.
However, the extent of microRNA diversity and
their roles in adaptive processes in wheat is
not known.
I will address this by studying small RNA
populations from bread and einkorn wheat
seedlings under temperature and nutrient
stress using next generation DNA sequencing
and bioinformatics analyses. This will enable
me to discover novel microRNA in wheat and
investigate how microRNA expression patterns
and abundance differ in shoots and roots.
Furthermore, next generation sequencing will
allow for in-depth quantitative comparison of
microRNA abundance in wheat subjected to
temperature or nutrient stress. This will
uncover molecular pathways responsive to
abiotic stress which rely on microRNA
regulatory mechanisms.
GRDC
National
Region
Scholarship - Bonnie Hargreaves (UWA)
Heritability of resistance to black spot disease
in a field pea recurrent enrichment and
association population (Pea-REAP)
GRDC
Region National
Contract
22/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Milos Tanurdzic
Organisation
Phone
23/07/2014
Project Code
UHS10548
07 3365 2045
Email
m.tanurdzic@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
The proposed project will investigate the
heritability of resistance to black spot disease
in field peas. The peas will be sourced from
the very diverse experimental population PeaREAP (Pea Recurrent Enrichment and
Association Population) which has been
developed at UWA over the past 5 years.
Diverse germplasm has been integrated into
this population from Germany, Australia, China
and wild/landrace peas with blackspot
resistance; many of which originated in GRDC
project UWA356.
226
This population has very broad diversity for
blackspot disease resistance, stem strength
and flowering time. Peas will be planted in a
field trial at the UWA Shenton Park Research
Station where they will be grown with pea
straw that has been infected with black spot.
The degree of susceptibility to black spot will
then be measured in the peas and resistant
individuals will be identified. Peas will also be
tested for heritability of stem compressed
thickness and flowering time.
Molecular genetic markers based on candidate
genes for disease resistance, stem
fibre/architecture and flowering time control will
be tested for genetic association with field
scores.
GRDC
Region National
Contract
25/03/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Wallace Cowling
Organisation
Phone
24/03/2014
Project Code
UHS10549
08 6488 7979
Email
wallace.cowling@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
A growing need for increased production of
food to match the growing human population is
affected by abiotic stresses on crops. Increase
in soil salinity is an abiotic stress that impacts
plant growth and ultimately crop yield. Osmotic
regulation is also an important factor that
impacts on plant growth. Mechanisms of
salinity tolerance have been studied greatly;
however gaps still remain in some areas like
the long distance signalling of stress response
factors in plants.
Phloem is a transport system and is involved
in long distance signalling in plants. New
advances in molecular technology allow
powerful and sensitive analysis to be
conducted on phloem sap in order to identify
micro RNAs (a new candidate of signal
molecule), metabolites and proteins.
This study will use aphid stylectomy to obtain
pure phloem sap from two different cultivars of
wheat; a salt sensitive control and a salt
tolerant cultivar. Analysis of phloem sap will be
conducted coupled with specific physiological
assays; such as plant growth, reducing sugar
concentrations and osmotic potential of root
and shoot.
The ability to use the novel technique of micro
RNAs detection in phloem provides a new way
of looking how a wheat plant responds to a
saline environment.
227
Scholarship - Jai Strempel (UF) Micro RNAs
and other phloem molecules coupled with
physiological recordings of differing wheat
cultivars under salinity stress.
UHS10659: UHS - Candy Taylor (UWA)
Understanding the role of floral integrator
locus FT in controlling phenology in narrowleafed lupin for future breeding
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
17/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Sue Dodimead
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10659
08 6488 1973
Email
sue.dodimead@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
228
Narrow-leafed lupin is an important grain
legume for farming systems on acidic soils in
the northern grainbelt of Western Australia.
However, the region where this crop may be
grown is restricted due to the very narrow
phenological diversity of currently available
commercial varieties, and is expected to
continue contracting given the projected
climate change for the South West. Therefore,
it is important to increase diversity of current
varieties through breeding with wild narrowleafed lupin to extend the range for profitable
production of this legume. However, this will
require knowledge on the phenology of
narrow-leafed lupin and identification of the
genes and mechanisms retained in wild
populations that allow for successful adaption
in a range of climates.
The early flowering locus Ku has been strongly
selected for in current varieties for drought
escape. Previous research indicated that the
floral integrator gene FT is the gene underlying
the Ku locus. This new research will focus on
the gene expression of FT including its timing,
tissue-specificity and response to
environmental cues including day length, cold
treatment (vernalisation) and ambient growing
temperature. It will also provide insight into
how contrasting wild and domesticated lines
respond differently to these environmental
cues at the molecular level.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mrs. Robyn Turner
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2014
Project Code
UHS10662
+61 2 8627 1003
Email
robyn.turner@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will investigate the effects of a
preceding rotation crop of wheat, mustard or
chickpea on the incidence of crown rot in
wheat. The project will test the hypothesis that
preceding mustard and chickpea rotation crops
will reduce the incidence of crown rot in wheat.
This research project will include both
glasshouse and field experiments.
Pot experiments will be grown in a glasshouse
in Cobbitty and a field experiment at the
Narrabri Plant Breeding Institute. The tests will
also be independently validated with replicated
field experiments on growers' properties
around Warren, and farmers will be consulted
once the final research proposal has been
approved. The incidence and presistance of
crown rot throughout the season will be
assessed in wheat, Indian mustard and
chickpea following inoculation with crown rot at
sowing.
The crown rot infection levels will be monitored
and scored throughout the season. This
includes monitoring fungal populations in the
soil and scoring the crown rot infection within
the wheat treatment (including white heads),
until the crop reaches maturation at the end of
the growing season in 2014.
229
UHS10662: UHS - Eleanor Readford (US) The
effect of preceding rotation crop (wheat,
mustard and chickpea) on the incidence of
crown rot in wheat
UHS10663: UHS - Ashley Jacobs (UWA)
Economic Analysis of the Harrington Seed
Destructor
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 22/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Dr. Thea Linke
Organisation
Phone
25/05/2014
Project Code
UHS10663
6488 1166
Email
projectadmin-science@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
A new component of Integrated Weed
Management (IWM) is the emerging
availability of the Harrington Seed Destructor
(HSD). Towed behind a harvester, the HSD is
a trailer-mounted system that incorporates a
high capacity cage mill to process chaff
residue and destroy weed seeds.
This study intends to conduct an economic
assessment of the economic worth of using
the HSD as part of IWM strategies for different
230
weedy farm environments, size of cropping
area and average crop yields. Various ways of
utilising a HSD and sharing its ownership cost
in these different weedy environments will be
investigated.
This study will involve updating and applying
RIM (Ryegrass Integrated Management), a
weed management simulation model to
determine results.
UHS10665: UHS - David Brunton (UT)
Determining the residual effect of Roundup
(glyphosate) on successful crop establishment
Contract
Start 01/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Associate Professor. Peter Lane
Organisation
Phone
11/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10665
+61 3 6226 7180
Email
Peter.Lane@utas.edu.au
Project Summary
Recent observations in certain crops,
particularly poppies, throughout Tasmania
have shown symptoms that many believe
could potentially be residual glyphosate
damage. Roundup (glyphosate as the active
ingredient) is used commonly as a pre-sowing,
non-residual, non-selective knockdown
herbicide. Observed damage has been closely
associated with lighter soil types, short plant
back periods and high application rates of
glyphosate, particularly evident when 1500
g.a.i or 2.7 - 3L/ha is applied.
The damage witnessed is seen early on in the
establishment phase and places the crop at a
disadvantage with regard to achieving
particular growth stages at certain time periods
after planting. Subsequent chemical
applications within the season are delayed and
the crop is more prone to environmental
factors such as waterlogging, frost and
herbicide damage from other products. These
factors not only push back the available
growing period but also place a higher
requirement upon irrigation to finish crops off
when summer rainfall ceases, potentially
reducing profit margins.
For this research project it is hoped that by
gaining a greater understanding of the way
glyphosate interacts within the soil, field
agronomists may be in a position to better
understand the factors (if proven to be
applicable) when applying glyphosate based
products, pre-sowing when planting potentially
susceptible crops in some soil types.
GRDC
National
Region
231
UHS10668: UHS - Belinda Worland (UQ) Gene
expression of nitrate transporters in Sorghum
bicolor (BTx623) under variable conditions of
nitrate supply
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
01/01/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Leanne Pooley
Organisation
Phone
22/11/2014
Project Code
UHS10668
0754601342
Email
l.pooley@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Nitrate is the dominant form of nitrogen in most
agricultural soils but it is also easily lost to the
environment causing serious pollution
problems. Nitrate transporters are responsible
for the capture of nitrate from the soil and
moving it throughout the plant for growth and
grain production. The presence, abundance
and type of nitrate transporters can determine
how effectively a plant can capture and
mobilise nitrogen from the soil.
This project will analyse the nitrate transporter
232
genes expressed by Sorghum plants that have
been grown under different soil nitrate
conditions. Advanced genetic analysis (qRTPCR) will be employed to characterise the
nitrate transporter genes that are differentially
active in the roots, stem and leaf tissues.
This project is highly novel because Sorghum
has not been characterised in this respect and
existing knowledge is limited to assumptions
made from work with model plants.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
24/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Mr. Calum Wilson
Organisation
Phone
17/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10669
03 6233 6841
Email
Calum,Wilson@utas.edu.au
Project Summary
This project will provide farmers in areas to be
serviced by new irrigation infrastructure in
Tasmania’s midlands with quantitative data on
the economic viability of irrigated wheat
production.
Cost-benefit analysis will be used to compare
the economic returns of conventional irrigated
agriculture in which wheat is a secondary crop,
to irrigated farming systems in which wheat
plays a more dominant role. Sensitivity
analysis around production, price and input
cost variables will provide insights to farmers
into the threshold factors that determine the
economic viability of irrigated wheat
production.
Leading grain producers who work closely with
TIA’s Extensive Agriculture Centre will design
the farming systems to be assessed, and
provide relevant production, price and cost
data through structured interviews and small
group workshops. Where possible, the
analysis will draw on existing farming systems
modelling using APSIM to provide data on the
productivity interactions between wheat and
other crops. The analysis will focus on the
economic interactions between crops in
Tasmania’s diverse irrigated farming systems
that are critical to the economic viability of
irrigated wheat production. This knowledge will
be used to draw insights into the agronomic
and value chain preconditions necessary for
large scale expansion of the wheat industry in
Tasmania.
233
UHS10669: UHS - Danielle Button (UT)
Thresholds of success - the on-farm
economics of expanding irrigated grain
production in Tasmania's midlands
UHS10670: UHS - Emily Lamberton (US) Effect
of windrow burning on water efficiency during
the fallow
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 03/03/2014
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10670
02 8627 1003
Email
Project Summary
The aim of this project is to determine whether
the fallow moisture efficiency is affected by the
practice of windrow burning.
This project will be conducted in the Central
West Plains of NSW under multiple treatment
levels.
The first will compare the affect that windrow
burning has in areas of higher rainfall
(Wellington) compared to areas of lower
rainfall (Nyngan).
The second treatment level will be to compare
the affect that windrow burning has on fields
with light stubble compared to those with high
stubble loads.
234
The measurements that will be taken at each
site include: gravimetric soil water content,
hydraulic conductivity, soil carbon, soil
nitrogen and pedological stability of soil
aggregates. All measurements will be taken
before burning (for a base level) and after
burning (at the end of the fallow). If a
significant rainfall event occurs mid-fallow it is
likely a mid-fallow measurement will also be
taken. Control strips will be set up for each trial
that have not been burned to serve as a point
of comparison.
From these results, agronomists and farmers
will be able to more accurately determine
whether there is a greater cost or benefit of
windrow burning, relating to their particular
circumstances. It will promote informed farm
descisions and precise practices.
UHS10671: UHS - James Walter (UA)
Interactions between phosphorus nutrition and
plant development
Contract
Start 29/07/2013
Contract End
Contact Miss. Chelsea Du Bois
Organisation
Phone
23/06/2014
Project Code
UHS10671
08 8313 3716
Email
Project Summary
The aim of this research is to identify if a
phenologic relationship exists between
phosphorus nutrition and developmental genes
in wheat.
The main point of interest of this project will be
the relationship between differing phosphorus
rates and different combinations of the
VERNALIZATION1 (VRN1) gene set (the
primary gene controlling vernalization), when
exposed or unexposed to a vernalization
treatment.
This will be investigated through a series of
growth room and glasshouse experiments,
using near isogenic lines (in a Sunstate
background) which differ in their VRN1
genotype. Early apical development,
shoot/root phenes and spikelet number of
these plants will be assessed in relation to
varying rates of phosphorus treatment, to
determine the interactions between
phosphorus nutrition and the VRN1 gene.
Genetic mapping of wheat has shown an
association between the VRN1 gene of wheat
and phosphorus use efficiency, however no
research has been conducted into their
relationship; allowing this project to fill a
current knowledge gap in the grains industry,
as well as contributing to the broader
understanding of the genetic control behind
phosphorus use efficiency.
GRDC
National
Region
235
UHS10672: UHS - Jared Murray (UWA) The
biochemical mode of action for members of a
new stream of potential herbicides
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Associate Professor. Joshua Mylne
Organisation
Phone
18/11/2014
Project Code
UHS10672
08 64884415
Email
joshua.mylne@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Herbicide resistance is threatening global food
supply. The recent Global Herbicide
Resistance Challenge conference noted that
"no new herbicide mode of action discoveries
had been made" and that there are "no new
ones coming in the foreseeable future".
We have made an exciting discovery that
many drugs and drug leads developed against
the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum
are also herbicidal. This is perhaps not all that
surprising as for decades scientists have
known that herbicides can kill malarial
parasites.
236
We propose to use plant natural variation to
screen for resistance and, in this way, attempt
to find the biochemical targets of these drugs
in plants. We will use the model plant
Arabidopsis thaliana, which has rapid cycling
times, a well annotated genome and a wealth
of genetic resources, to screen for and dissect
resistance. We have recently acquired 260
genetically diverse varieties of Arabidopsis
thaliana collected from around the world as
well as 400 inbred lines derived from
intercrossing 19 parents that permit rapid
localisation of genes underlying quantitative
traits. To dissect modes of action, we also
have Arabidopsis mutants resistant to
herbicides isoxaben, paraquat and the
imidazolinone/sulfonylurea classes of
herbicides.
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
29/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Ms. Barbara Jamieson
Organisation
Phone
30/05/2014
Project Code
UHS10673
08 64881782
Email
barbara.jamieson@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Drought has the most significant influence in
limiting wheat production in Australian dry-land
agriculture. To combat climate change
pressures of predicted decreasing annual
rainfalls and increasing seasonal
temperatures, investment into development of
drought tolerant wheat cultivars needs to be
conducted.
The key problem in innovation of new drought
tolerant cultivars is the ability to efficiently
select a number of genotypes to identify
genetic variation for specific traits and
therefore, recognize appropriate parent
material for breeding programs. The crucial
elements for breeders to be able to select for
desirable traits requires easily identifiable and
measurable characteristics. Physiological
mechanisms associated with plant drought
tolerance may potentially be utilised as a
screening method to identify cultivars tolerant
to water-limiting environments.
The aim of this project is to establish the
relationship between physiological
mechanisms that influence plant water status
and gas exchange parameters in leaves of
numerous genotypes of wheat exposed to
drought conditions, and evaluate if this
relationship can be utilised as a reliable
indicator to screen for drought tolerance.
237
UHS10673: UHS - Kyle Mart (UWA) Screening
for drought tolerance in wheat: Examining leaf
osmotic potential as a predictor of turgor loss
point
UHS10674: UHS - Lachlan Rainer (RMI) Effect
of cultivar, growth region and malting
conditions on the limit dextrinase activity and
inhibition in Australian malting barley
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
24/02/2014
Start
Contract End
Contact Dr. Lisa Dias
Organisation
Phone
15/11/2014
Project Code
UHS10674
03 9925 1751
Email
lisa.dias@rmit.edu.au
Project Summary
I have shown in my current research project
that cultivar and growing conditions both
appear to have an effect upon the limit
dextrinase activity. As part of this work, I have
measured both the bound and free forms of
the enzyme.
On this basis there is now strong case to
extend this work to include an assessment of
the effects of inhibitors of the enzyme which
have been reported to be present in barley
grains. The extent to which limit dextrinase is
active in a brewery mash is highly dependant
on the rate and extent to which the enzyme is
released from its inhibitor.
238
Due to the significant economic importance of
this enzyme, it is important to understand this
process with the goal of optimising limit
dextrinase activity.
A further extension of the work will be to
evaluate the effects of varying malting
conditions on limit dextrinase activity and
inhibition. Recent study has shown how new
malting techniques can speed up the process.
I would like to evaluate the effect of these new
methods on limit dextrinase.
UHS10675: UHS - Matthew Blanc (UQ) TALENs
as a novel Sorghum bicolour transformation
method
Contract
Start 01/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Mr. Blake Chapman
Organisation
Phone
10/01/2014
Project Code
UHS10675
0733469966
Email
sciencegrants2@research.uq.edu.au
Project Summary
TALENs (Transcription activator-like effector
nucleases) are artificial restriction enzymes
that can be used to alter DNA at a gene
specific level. TALENs can be engineered to
have a binding domain that can specifically
target one or multiple sequences within a
genome. This can then be used to either
create a point mutation to knock out a gene,
change expression or allow insertion of a
desired DNA sequence. This allows nonrandom insertion of genes, not possible with
other methods widely used. TALENs are a
new technology but have been shown to work
in many different plants species, but as yet noone has tried in Sorghum.
Sorghum is a crop grown mainly in Africa as a
subsistence food due to its environmental
tolerance. The problem with Sorghum is that of
all major grain crops, it is the least digestible
due to tightly bound starch:protein matrix. Any
work that can be done to improve the
digestibility will be invaluable to those who
grow it.
To test the effectiveness of TALENs in
Sorghum, they will be used to separately upand down-regulate the expression of starchbranching enzymes in the grain of plants to
assess the effect on the digestibility of the end
product.
GRDC
National
Region
239
UHS10676: To characterise a subset of genes
in Stagonospora nodorum and determine their
role in causing disease
GRDC
Region
Contract
Start 01/01/2014
Contract End
Contact Ms. Amelia Irby
31/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10676
Organisation
Phone
02 6125 9394
Email
amelia.irby@anu.edu.au or
jag.rm.banks@anu.edu.au
Project Summary
glume blotch disease on wheat. A recent
survey of wheat diseases in Australia rated
glume blotch as the 3rd most important in
terms of economic losses. It has now been
well established that the pathogen causes
infection through the secretion of pathogenicity
proteins known as effectors. However there
are also many other aspects to the pathogen
which are critical in determining a successful
infection.
Through a previous GRDC investment in the
laboratory of Assoc. Prof. Peter Solomon, the
infection of Stagonospora nodorum on
susceptible and resistant wheat lines was
240
studied with the aim of identifying mechanisms
of pathogenicity. In this approach, the
Solomon laboratory identified up to 50
pathogen genes that were expressed only
during infection on a susceptible host,
suggesting that they are required for infection.
The aim of this project is to characterise a
subset of these genes and determine their role
in causing disease. This will be acheicved
using established techniques in the Solomon
laboratory of selectively removing the genes
from the Stagonospora nodorum and
assessing the ability of the mutant strains to
cause disease.
UHS10677: UHS - Olivia Agar (US) Discovering
genetic variation in pollen heat tolerance in
wheat
Contract
Start 03/03/2014
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
31/12/2014
Project Code
UHS10677
+61 2 8627 1003
Email
Project Summary
This research project investigates whether
there is genetic variability in wheat hightemperature tolerance due to pollen traits and
the mechanisms for pollen heat tolerance. This
study will improve understanding of sensitivity
to abiotic stress in wheat crops which will
enable farmers to consider different
management options such as better varietal
selection.
chambers at the Centre for Carbon Water and
Food (CCWF) at the pollen development
(meiosis) and anthesis stages and there will
also be non-heated controls. A subset of four
varieties (from the set of 20) with known heat
tolerance and sensitivity will be grown in the
greenhouse for detailed microscopy work to
determine the mechanisms of pollen sensitivity
and tolerance.
This project will test the hypothesis that heat
stress during pollen development and anthesis
will reduce pollen viability and yield in wheat.
This investigation will include both greenhouse
and field experiments. Twenty breeding lines
and varieties (with four replicates) will be
grown outdoors in pots at Cobbitty and heated
(35/22 deg Celcius, day/night) in heating
The same set of twenty lines will also be
heated in field chambers at the Narrabri Plant
Breeding Institute to validate the methodology
in the field. Viability of the pollen will be
determined using tetrazolium viability tests,
and kernel weight, kernel number and 1000kernal weight will be measured.
GRDC
National
Region
241
UHS10678: UHS - Scott Thompson (UWA) Does
the reflectance of visible and near infrared light
differentiate between frosted and non-frosted
wheat?
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
29/07/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Miss. Natalie Jaqals
Organisation
Phone
30/05/2014
Project Code
UHS10678
64882203
Email
admin.plants@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
Frost damage to cereal crops is a problem
affecting the productivity of the grains industry
every year. Currently there is no method to
accurately quantify the extent of damage at the
time of the event, except manually checking
individual plants for damage.
Operational efficiency requires a tool to identify
frost damage for in season management.
Remote sensing provides an opportunity to
detect plant stress on a broad acre scale, with
the use of satellite imagery and appropriate
vegetation indices.
242
To be successful, it must first be identified the
reflectance response of frosted wheat plants
and the index that will best display the
reflectance response specific to frost damage.
To achieve this wheat plants will be exposed
to frost stress with the use of a frost cabinet at
2C, 0C and -2C. The treatment groups will be
imaged hyperspectrally 1 day before exposure
and 1, 2, 4, 8 and 16 following exposure. The
reflectance data will be analysed using
repeated measures ANOVA for multiple
vegetation indicies.
This aims to determine the point where
reflectance of frost affected plants becomes
statistically significant from unfrosted controls
and which index is best suited to interpreting
this data.
UHS10679: UHS - Shona Wood (UQ) Field
assessment of highly digestible sorghum
starch biosynthetic pathway variants
Contract
Start 18/02/2014
Contract End
Contact Dr. Blake Chapman
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10679
(07) 3346 9966
Email
b.chapman@research.uq.edu.au
Project Summary
Sorghum is a drought- and heat-adapted
cereal, capable of consistent production under
environmental conditions where other cereals
may fail. However, in comparison to other
cereals sorghum has a lower digestibility,
starch being the major component of calories
in grains.
Pullulanase is a starch metabolic gene that is
widely conserved across plants, and
preferentially removes short chain
carbohydrates. Previous work in the Godwin
lab has identified two allele types associated
with the pullulanase: PUL-RA occurs at low
frequency and has been shown to improve
digestibility, with no associated to deleterious
pleiotropic effects. In contrast the PUL-GD
occurs at high frequency and is associated
with lower digestibility and pullulanase activity
(Gilding et al, 2013 Nature Comm.).
The effects of the allele type were shown to be
heritable and occur regardless of genotypic
background. This project aims to conduct a
replicated field trial, containing replicates of
homozygous PUL-GD, PUL-heterozygous, and
homozygous PUL-RA Near Isogenic Lines
(NILs).
I will measure yield, yield components (seed
size, seed number, seed specific density) and
overall biomass of genotypes. The digestibility
of each will also be measured and compared.
Other important traits such as phenology,
maturity, leaf number and height will also be
recorded.
GRDC
National
Region
243
UHS10681: UHS - William Nak (UQ)
Pseudomonas infection response in NSP
mutants
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 28/01/2014
Contract End
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2014
Project Code
UHS10681
(+61 7) 3365 3458
Email
k.hunt@uq.edu.au
Project Summary
During the course of my honours project in the
Batley lab I intend to utilise Arabidopsis plants
that have mutations in the putative microbe
signalling genes, NSP1 and NSP2. In
legumes, the NSP genes encode transcription
factors that are required to initiate symbiosis
with rhizobia bacteria in the soil.
these genes in microbe-response in the
Brassicaceae family of plants, to which
Arabidopsis belongs. This will involve bacterial
response assays to quantify changes in
disease physiology and the expression of
known microbe-responsive genes in these
mutants.
Previously it has been shown that the loss of a
receptor gene which acts upstream of the
Arabidopsis NSP genes causes the plants to
have increased susceptibility to various
bacterial infections.
This project will be the first to examine the role
of NSP1 and NSP2 in microbe signalling in
Brassicas, which includes important oilseed
and vegetable crop species
Specifically I aim to confirm the involvement of
244
UHS10782: UHS - Bethany Radford (RMI) The
effects of pre-processing on starch
characteristics in cereal grain foods
Contract
Start 03/03/2014
Contract End
Contact Dr. Lisa Dias
Organisation
Phone
15/11/2014
Project Code
UHS10782
03 9925 1751
Project Summary
Starch is a major component of grains and it is
known that various changes occur at a
molecular level during processing. As a result
foods can become less appealing so that
staling and firming occur. As instant products
including rice and noodles become
increasingly popular there is a need to be able
to measure these changes reliably. This will
lead to an enhanced understanding of what is
happening and the development of strategies
that can be used in breeding as well as
processing operations. This project will utilise
enzymatic analysis, X-ray diffraction and other
advanced instrumental techniques to evaluate
the effects of heating, various drying
procedures and storage on starch
systems. These studies will be extended and
applied by investigation of rice and wheat and
products prepared from these. This will allow a
comparison of two types of starches having
distinct characteristics in relation to the
changes during heating, cooling and storage.
These will be compared to the sensory
changes as well as the nutritional effects as
the starch becomes less digestible during
storage.
Email
lisa.dias@rmit.edu.au
GRDC
National
Region
245
US00069: Enhancing human capacity for soil
knowledge transfer and decision making for a
sustainable grains industry
GRDC
National
Region
Contract
Start 11/01/2013
Contract End
Contact Prof. Alex McBratney
Organisation
Phone
31/10/2015
Project Code
US00069
2 8627 1130
Email
alex.mcbratney@sydney.edu.au
Project Summary
In the 2010-11 stocktake of Australia’s current
investment in soil research development &
extension it was found that soil science
education of new graduates and those working
in industry is a major priority.
In particular there is a need for a national
approach to building future skills and capacity
and this is an important goal because;


246

it is likely the new skills and new
information will be required to meet
future challenges, for example
manipulation of soil biology to improve
nutrient supply to crops,
there has been a significant loss of
skills and capacity in recent years,
especially from government agencies,
and this has not been replaced by
other organizations, and
the demographics of Australian soil
science suggests that a significant
proportion of scientists are likely to
retire in coming years.
Simultaneously, the main needs identified by
soil scientists and those needing to use soil
science knowledge are;



having a strong grounding in soil
knowledge and skills to tackle diverse
problems by integrating their
knowledge of pedology, soil chemistry,
soil physics and soil biology,
be able to integrate this with other
discipline knowledge relevant to
agriculture and use this to apply
relevant solutions,
this should involve developed critical
thinking and problem-solving skills,

and
have the communication and report
writing skills to report the solutions
they have found.
This project will find out what are the core
body of knowledge and skills needed by soil
scientist and advisors who give advice to
growers in the grains industry. This soil
science core body of knowledge (CBoK) will
be based on feedback from community
surveys and industry workshops, which include
academics, consultants, industry advisors and
growers. This CBoK will be taught as part of
the undergraduate curriculum in the
Universities that are members of the Australian
Council of Deans of Agriculture to ensure a
lasting legacy for the training of soil scientists,
agronomists and advisors needing core soil
skills.
In addition to the incorporation of the CBoK
into an undergraduate curriculum the need for
in-service postgraduate training will also be
investigated. This will involve making sure that
the soil CBoK is relevant for industry advisors
after they have some in-field experience and if
needed, supplementing this with any missing
knowledge or skills, and developing a
customizable teaching framework. It is
expected that both graduates and those with
in-field experience from both the curriculums
will be able to use their new found soil science
knowledge and skills for accreditation as a
Certified Practicing Soil Scientist.
The outcomes of this project will be a
customizable teaching framework for the
delivery in both an undergraduate, as well as,
in-service training postgraduate curriculums.
This will be delivering a soil science core body
of knowledge (CBoK) essential for graduates
and is relevant for the ongoing training of
advisors in the grains industry.
247
UT00029: Primary Industry Centre for Science
Education (PICSE) - Phase 3 Extension
GRDC
Region National
Contract
07/01/2013
Start
Contract End
Contact Mr. Gordon Stone
Organisation
Phone
30/06/2014
Project Code
UT00029
0408 063 229
Email
gordon@cdi.net.au
Project Summary
The Primary Industry Centre for Science
Education (PICSE) is a proven national
collaboration between universities, regional
primary industries, national R&D Corporations,
national agribusiness, regional research
institutes, local community organisations,
schools and State Government Departments.
248
The programs run by PICSE attract an
increased supply of high-quality, young people
into science-based primary industries and their
supporting businesses through engagement
with students during school years and early
university. PICSE delivers science class
activities, teachers’ professional development,
teaching resources, student camps and
student industry placement programs, all
building strong and sustainable relationships
between students and with local scientists and
employers in primary industries, hence
attracting students into tertiary science and
increasing the number of skilled professionals
in science-based primary industries. A
National Office staff coordinates delivery of
PICSE programs through a formal Senior
Management Team (SMT). The SMT manages
quality assurance, delivery on-ground &
innovation, as well as stakeholder engagement
and future planning.
In 2012 PICSE supports and manages 9
Activity Centres across Australia (UTAS,
Curtin University, USQ, GrowSmart Training
(SA), Cotton, University of Adelaide and the
pilot Science for Growth awards, which is an
on-line version of the Science Investigation
Awards. This has significantly extended our
reach to cover metropolitan, regional and
remote communities, along with expansion
during 2013 to Charles Darwin University,
Ballarat University & the Unversity of Western
Sydney.
The Outcomes of the PICSE programs to date
have shown significant stakeholder
involvement. In 2012 alone, over 6000
students, 130 teachers and members of the
community and agribusinesses participated;
this has led to 211 PICSE graduates going on
to undertake science undergraduate degrees
(2012 QualDATA evaluation). Independent
evaluation has also shown that the PICSE
program has provided collaborators and
investors with a high rate of return on their
investment. In particular, evaluation of PICSE
programs has shown an evidence-based
impact on raising the profile, capacity, interest
and study choice by students with respect to
study options for science courses and careers
in the biosciences. Not only do the programs
increase the understanding by students of the
importance of science in Primary Industry but
they also increased positive ongoing
relationships with potential future employers
and the University sector.
During 2012/13 a PICSE MK II was developed
to create efficiencies whilst building on
successes to date. This proposal continues
GRDCs support of capacity building and
workforce development initiatives that secures
the pipeline of future scientific personnel,
crucial to the future of the Australian Grains
Industry.
GRDC
Region
Western
Contract
01/04/2008
Start
Contract End
Contact Prof. Lorenzo Faraone
Organisation
Phone
30/08/2013
Project Code
UWA00114
+61-8-6488 3104
Email
lorenzo.faraone@uwa.edu.au,
dilusha.silva@uwa.edu.au
Project Summary
We seek support from GRDC for 50% funding
for 4.5 years for a Lectureship (Level B) in
production agronomy and farming system.
The expected outcomes (benefits) from the
project include:
1. Capacity building in production
agronomy and farming systems in WA
and Australia
2. Improved production technologies for
the benefit of WA grain growers and
the industry
3. Impreove collaboration between
ARWA partners
Comprehensive annual progress report of the
project will be provided to GRDC. In addition to
this, we suggest that GRDC conduct a formal
mid-term review of the project.
Provided the position achieves the academic
goals, delivers the outcomes for the industry,
and generates the required income to sustain
itself, the School of Plant Biology will fully fund
the position beyond 4.5 years.
249
UWA00114: Capacity building in Production
Agronomy and Farming System (teaching,
research and postgraduate training) at UWA in
partnership with GRDC

Roots Agronomy for Women in Farm Business

Transcription

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