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News

Tuesday, 25 May 2021

A plant biologist and geochemist from The Australian National University have both been recognised for their outstanding contributions to their fields of science.

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Jeremy Pickett-Heaps
Wednesday, 21 Apr 2021

One of the illustrious founder members of RSBS passed away on 11 April 2021. Jeremy David Pickett-Heaps FAA, FRS worked in the (then) Department of Developmental Biology from 1968-70. His surveys of ultrastructural aspects of cell division in green algae (many collected from Lake Burley Griffin and Sullivan’s Creek) led him to a new formulation of the evolution of the Plant Kingdom, a landmark contribution in the plant sciences, now confirmed and fleshed out by sequencing data.

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Thursday, 15 Apr 2021

Florence Danila of Australian National University’s ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis has discovered how plants improve photosynthesis by trapping carbon dioxide inside cell layers.

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Tuesday, 16 Mar 2021

A new study shows that long-term drought in biodiverse Amazonian tropical rainforest can fundamentally change the soil, increasing the abundance of an unusual group of fungal species that may help the trees resist drought, and by altering the underlying biogeochemistry.

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Tuesday, 16 Mar 2021

ANU experts have found a way to precisely measure a crop’s water loss through its skin, not just the pores on their leaves.

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Thursday, 11 Mar 2021

Three researchers from ANU who've changed the way we see the world have been recognised for their ground-breaking work with prestigious awards from The Australian Academy of Science.

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Events

Circular infographic displaying the Arabidopsis targetome, with sections labeled for conserved and species-specific microRNAs grouped by color.
1 Jul 2022 | 3:30pm

In plants, microRNAs (miRNAs) are short non-coding RNAs of approximately 20-24 nt in length which are involved in post-transcriptional regulation of genes controlling many fundamental biological pathways.

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An artistic image blending a natural watery scene with pebbles and metallic overlays of chemical structures and mushroom-like organisms.
24 Jun 2022 | 3:30pm

Specialised metabolites are one of the major means of how microbes and sessile organisms express extended phenotype for the selective advantage of the organisms —or, more fundamentally, their genes.

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A woman smiling at the camera while crouching in a tomato garden.
17 Jun 2022 | 3:30pm

Natural capital describes the stocks of renewable and non-renewable resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, water, soils and minerals) that produce flows of benefits to people.

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10 Jun 2022 | 3:30pm

Source-to-sink allocation of, and sink-to-sink competition for, photoassimilates, mainly in the form of sucrose, play a key role in determining energy and resource distribution in plants for growth and reproduction.

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A person wearing a cap and glasses stands at a viewpoint, with a scenic view of a canyon and a cloudy sky in the background.
27 May 2022 | 3:30pm

Rhynchosporium commune is a pathogenic fungus causing barley scald disease. Although scald disease has become a significant issue for commercial barley growers, the molecular mechanisms underpinning the disease are poorly understood.

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25 May 2022 | 4pm

Seeds provide 70% of global food resources, being the most valuable output from plant production. They also play a critical role in agriculture because the lifecycle of most crops begins from seed germination.

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