About
Flinders University has established a strong research and teaching group in the area of plant molecular physiology. Our broad mission statement is to understand and enhance the tolerance of major crop plants to stresses, both abiotic (i.e. environmental) and biotic (i.e. disease), and improve the nutritional quality of cereals. We approach these challenges through the use of plant transgenesis and conventional plant breeding. Specifically we focus on the following topics;
- Carbon and nitrogen metabolism and their role in plant growth and stress response, with particular attention to biochemical pathways linked to oxidative stress
- Improving saline tolerance, managing oxidative stress tolerance and regulation of nitrogen fixation in chickpea and other legumes
- Identifying markers of oxidative stress for heat and drought resilience in wheat
- Characterisation of molecular markers for drought and dehydration tolerance, and seed quality
- Molecular physiology of metal transport to seeds and the development of molecular markers for improved seed nutrient composition
- Epigenetic control of salt tolerance in plants
- Structural and functional analysis of plant disease resistance proteins
- Improving micronutrient levels in cereal grain by manipulating sucrose transport
- The use of wastewater for crop irrigation
To achieve these goals we use a suite of facilities and infrastructure;
- Plant growth cabinets (controlled temperature/light /humidity) for whole plant and plant tissue culture
- Walk-in plant growth rooms
- Plant tissue culture laboratory (PC2; physical containment for plant transgenesis)
- 3x Greenhouses (1 PC2; physical containment for plant transgenesis)
- Plant transformation facilities (including BioRad PDS1000 biolistic gun)
We use analytical techniques for measuring;
- Photosynthesis/respiration rates
- Ions
- Carbohydrates
- Metabolites
- Enzyme activities
- Protein levels
- Gene transcript levels
- Stress response markers
- Molecular genetic markers
- Recombinant protein production/purification
