Projects
This project aims to develop an innovative rapid detection assay for pathogen molecules in wheat cells containing specific resistance genes. This assay will enable us to harness the full impact of the genomic revolution on plant pathology.
Theme
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Benjamin Schwessinger , Supervisor
Projects are availble aimed at discovering fundamental issues relating to the biogenesis and catalytic function of the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco.
Theme
- Photosynthesis and plant energy biology
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Spencer Whitney, Supervisor
This project will screen, design and fine-tune synthetic compounds which target evolutionarily conserved stress response pathways in plants. These "drugs" will then be used to enhance stress tolerance in diverse crops, and for spatiotemporal control of these pathways to enable deeper fundamental insights in the lab.
Theme
- Photosynthesis and plant energy biology
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Kai Chan, Supervisor
- Nay Chi Khin, Researcher
- Su Yin Phua , Support officer
Most Restorer-of-fertility genes in crops encode RNA-binding pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins. Plants have hundreds of PPR proteins but only a few act as restorers of fertility and these define a clade referred to as ‘Restorer‑of‑fertility‑like’ PPRs (RFL-PPRs).
Theme
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Joanna Melonek, Supervisor
Temperature determines species distributions and affects functions, reproduction, and survival. This project will assess the thermal sensitivity of different life stages and plant tissues to heat stress and will develop models to assess how Australian plant species will respond to a warmer and more extreme climate.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Photosynthesis and plant energy biology
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
Student intake
Open for Summer scholar, Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Adrienne Nicotra, Principal investigator
- Danielle Way, Principal investigator
- Pieter Arnold, Principal investigator
- Sabrina De Zen, Scholar
This project uses next-generation and third-gen sequencing to characterize the genomes of wheat stripe rust, a severe fungal pathogen on wheat crops worldwide. We use these data to identify rust effector proteins to describe their roles in the pathogenesis and host resistance. New projects in this area include the use of epigenomics to understand the rapid evolution of these devastating fungal pathogens. You should have a strong background in molecular biology, and experience or interest in coding using languages such as Python or R.
Theme
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
- Host-microbe biology
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Benjamin Schwessinger , Researcher
- John Rathjen, Supervisor
This project will use and develop chemically caged forms of plant hormones for cell specific activation using multiphoton confocal microscopy. The main application is to test the role of cell type specificity in the control of root development by symbiotic and parasitic microbes.
Theme
- Host-microbe biology
- Plant-microbe interactions
A primary biosecurity threat to the Australian wheat industry is Zymoseptoria tritici, a fungal pathogen. Research is currently underway to understand how the pathogen interacts with wheat and causes disease. Opportunities exist for students at all levels to become involved in this project.
Theme
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Phylogenetics, population genetics and biodiversity
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Megan McDonald, Researcher
- Peter Solomon, Supervisor
RNA binding proteins (RBPs) constitute a diverse group of proteins that control the fate and expression of the transcriptome.
Theme
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
We are studying interspecific differences in thermal tolerance of Antarctic mosses in relation to climate warming.
Theme
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
This project examines drivers of dieback impact between species, within species, between habitats, within habitats, across the landscape, as well as interactions between these components at Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park.
Theme
- Behavioural, evolutionary and physiological ecology
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
Student intake
Open for Honours students
Status
Current
People
- Adrienne Nicotra, Principal investigator
- Jaylen Nicholson, Principal investigator
Sustainable food security is of utmost importance to the future of the planet. Understanding the complex regulatory networks controlling root architecture has the potential to address major issues threatening agricultural and ecological sustainability and human health.
Theme
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Michael Djordjevic, Supervisor
Plant cells respond to environmental perturbations using a wide array of signalling molecules, many of which are established secondary messengers in animal and microbial cells. However, plant cells also use chloroplasts as environment sensors. How are chloroplast signals coordinated with the secondary messengers?
Theme
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
- Photosynthesis and plant energy biology
We are combining field and laboratory studies to determine how hydraulic traits of evergreen leaves affect their tolerance of temperature extremes with change in atmospheric CO2 concentrations.
Theme
- Plant environmental biology and functional ecology
This project will identify cellular communication networks that are necessary for the fine-tuning of chloroplast functions in specialised leaf cell types of plants performing heat-tolerant C4 photosynthesis.
Theme
- Photosynthesis and plant energy biology
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Kai Chan, Supervisor
- Su Yin Phua , Support officer
- Suyan Yee, Researcher
We are using molecular biology tools and confocal microscopy to study secretion machinery of virulent proteins from plant rust pathogen.
Theme
- Host-microbe biology
- Plant-microbe interactions
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- John Rathjen, Supervisor
Fungal pathogens are a major threat to human health, food production in agriculture, and biodiversity. In this project we aim to investigate the phyllosphere microbiome of wheat infected with different fungal pathogens. Your involvement in the project could be many fold from field sampling to bioinformatic analysis.
Theme
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
- Bioinformatics and bio-mathematical modelling
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master students
Status
Current
People
- Benjamin Schwessinger , Supervisor
MicroRNAs are non-coding RNAs that control key traits in animals and plants. This project aims to develop and utilize molecular tools for understanding their function.
Theme
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
Hybrid wheat varieties yield 10-15% more than conventional lines but a cost-effective system to produce hybrid seeds on a commercial scale is missing.
Theme
- Plant genetics and gene regulation
- Evolutionary genetics and genomics
Student intake
Open for Bachelor, Honours, Master, PhD students
Status
Current
People
- Joanna Melonek, Supervisor
The soil-borne vascular-wilt fungus Fusarium oxysporum is one of the world’s most notorious fungal pathogens of crop plants because it is a species complex that combines the ability to cause severe yield losses with a wide host range overall, affecting diverse crops.
Theme
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Host-microbe biology