Soil alkalinisation is a constraint for crop production in Australia with about 30% of Australian soils classified as sodic and 86% of these classified as alkaline. To improve alkaline pH tolerance of crop plants, it is necessary to identify alkaline tolerance mechanisms and the genes underlying these mechanisms. A recent study involving researchers from the […] Read More...
News
The role of the HKT1 gene in sodium exclusion in Grapevine
September 10, 2020In 2017, scientists from PEB and CSIRO focused on the roles of the HKT1 gene family in grapevine that encodes for sodium-selective proteins. Initial research focused on the HKT1;1 allelic variant of the HKT1 gene family, to find if it could potentially have an integral role in sodium exclusion due to correlations found between the […] Read More...
Discoveries into the Strigolactone and Auxin Interactions Influencing Vein Formation
August 20, 2020A new discovery has revealed the effects of plant hormones on plant development and growth, as well as how these hormones interact together. The team of researchers, involving ARC Future Fellow, Dr Philip Brewer discovered that when strigolactones are applied to vascular plants, auxin is suppressed and transport of it is reduced. Strigolactone hormones are […] Read More...
Science is Alive! in South Australia
August 16, 2019
For 4 years, Plant Energy Biology has proudly supported Science Alive!, an interactive and thrilling science exhibition for South Australia’s curious kids, with this year being no exception. Science Alive! was an initiative launched in 2006 by the SA Coordinating Committee of National Science week, where 14 years on, it is only […] Read More...
Plant Energy Forum at Thredbo
June 5, 2019A number of staff and students are currently at Thredbo ski resort, New South Wales for the 2019 Plant Energy Biology Forum, 3rd-6th June. They are braving/enjoying the snowy and wintry conditions to listen to a number of presentations from members of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. There are also invited […] Read More...
Discovery of New Receptor Protein Involved in High Grain Yield
June 4, 2019Important new discoveries about the unusual receptor for strigolactones have been made by international researchers, including Dr Phil Brewer of the University of Adelaide. Strigolactones are plant hormones involved in reducing plant bushiness and increasing plant performance under sub-optimal growing conditions. A protein, D14, has been discovered as the receptor of strigolactones, but unusually it […] Read More...
Welcome Dr Phil Brewer, ARC Future Fellow, to the Group
February 26, 2019
Phil Brewer has joined the ARC Centre for Plant Energy Biology at the University of Adelaide Waite Campus as an ARC Future Fellow. He completed his PhD at Monash University and gained postdoctoral experience at Tübingen University and the University of Queensland. Phil’s research interest involves how plant hormones help plants to respond to changed […] Read More...
Caitlin Byrt awarded Future Fellowship and ASPS Goldacre Award
November 8, 2018We congratulate Dr Caitlin Byrt on being awarded The Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS) prestigious 2018 Peter Goldacre Award. Caitlin is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology at the Waite Research Precinct. Her research focuses […] Read More...
A New Discovery to Combat Salinity on Plant Growth
October 8, 2018We congratulate Dr Allison Pearson on achieving the South Australian Grains Industry Trust Fund (SAGIT) grant for her research on phenotypic evaluation of a wheat RIL population for salinity tolerance. This project involves the use of a Mocho de Espiga Branca (Mocho) x Gladius RIL population that was developed on a previously funded SAGIT project. […] Read More...
Regulating Root Aquaporin Function in Response to Changes in Salinity
September 24, 2018Soil salinity is one of the biggest stressors on plant growth and can limit the productivity of crops. Globally, this poses a problem as it reduces the yield of our fields which affects the stability of our food system, leading to shortages and wastage. With food crises evident across the globe, salinity is a problem […] Read More...