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News

Tuesday, 02 Mar 2021

An impressive body of evidence published this week reveals the answer to a mystery that has puzzled plant scientists for more than 30 years: the role of the molecule suberin in the leaves of some of our most productive crops.

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Friday, 12 Feb 2021

A team of scientists have measured the relative importance of the different obstacles that carbon dioxide (CO2) encounters in its voyage from the atmosphere to the interior of plant cells. This research leading method provides much needed information that will help to increase the yield of important food crops.

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Thursday, 28 Jan 2021

Threatened Australian animal and plant species have been given a major lifeline, thanks to new funding for a new database that contains 100-years of flora and fauna DNA.

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Sunday, 23 Aug 2020

Research into the self-destruction of cells in humans and plants could lead to treatments for brain diseases and the development of disease-resistant plants.

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Owen Atkin at the opening of CEAT. Image Sharyn Wragg
Saturday, 15 Aug 2020

Professor Owen Atkin is a Group Leader at RSB Plant Sciences, the Vice Chancellor's Entrepreneurial Professor at ANU, and the Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Agri-Technology (CEAT) - a collaboration between ANU and CSIRO, with investment from the ACT Government.

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Crop research
Tuesday, 14 Jul 2020

Research led by scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) could lead to major improvements in crop production.

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Events

22 Jul 2022 | 3:30pm

As sessile organisms, plants have evolved a multitude of mechanisms to acclimate to their environment enabling the plant to optimise development and reproduction, and fight off or resist both biotic and abiotic stresses they may encounter through their life cycle.

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3D molecular structure diagram showing binding sites for Malate/Aspartate and G6P, highlighted in green and blue respectively, with subtype-specific residues in yellow.
11 Jul 2022 | 9:30am

C4 photosynthesis, a carbon concentrating mechanism, evolved as an adaptation to improve photosynthetic CO2 assimilation in terrestrial plants under conditions of low CO2, increased temperatures and varying rainfall patterns.

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A smiling woman with glasses, wearing a black jacket, standing in a sunny park with green trees in the background.
8 Jul 2022 | 3:30pm

Cell-to-cell communication is essential for the co-ordination of responses in all multicellular organisms. One mechanism plants employ as defence against pathogens is restriction of cell-to-cell communication by plasmodesmata closure during infection.

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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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