Jungle Fever – measuring chlorophyll in the rainforests of Borneo
A chlorophyll meter courtesy of APPF found its way to Sabah in Malaysian Borneo where Hannah Carle, a PhD student at ANU, used it to measure chlorophyll content - among [...]
Exciting new technology for CT scanning of wheat grains for stress tolerance to arrive at APPF in late 2020
Scientists have developed a computed tomography (CT) scanning method for screening large samples of wheat for drought and heat tolerance. They believe the new system will allow more accurate and [...]
Optimal design for adaptive smoothing splines
A research team from CSIRO Data61 and the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) have derived a method for obtaining D-optimal designs for temporal data by proposing incorporating the curvature (or [...]
How phenomics can help accelerate the discovery of drought and heat tolerant traits in Australian Canola
Canola (Oilseed Brassica napus) is ranked second amongst the major oilseeds behind soy, which dominates global production. It is an important crop in most grain growing regions of Australia, [...]
Why fungi isn’t always the good guy
Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) partnerships are mutualisms between an estimated two-thirds of plants species and microscopic fungi that are ubiquitous in soils. Since the 1950s there have been many studies into [...]
Variable water cycles have a greater impact on wheat growth and soil nitrogen response than constant watering
A study featuring research by Adelaide-Nottingham PhD student Olivia Cousins, has found cycling water availability from wet to dry reduced plant growth in wheat more than maintaining a constant [...]
Wild barley reveals drought tolerant traits that could improve elite cultivars
A team of scientists from the University of Adelaide, Australian Plant Phenomics Facility and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg have identified beneficial alleles from wild barley that can be used for [...]
‘Depressed’ plants
Research in a new paper shows that the interaction of plants and soil fungi – mycorrhiza – does not always benefit the plant. Beneficial soil microbes such as mycorrhizal fungi [...]
A salt-tough Aussie rice shares some of its secrets
A team of scientists from the University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF) have identified a novel source of salt tolerance in an endemic Australian [...]
High-throughput 3D modelling to dissect the genetic control of leaf elongation in barley
Counting and measuring the length of leaves on a barley plant sounds simple enough. But try doing it on hundreds of plants on a daily basis, something you would need [...]
Novel salt-tolerant genetic loci detected in glasshouse show increased wheat grain yield in the Australian environment
A team of scientists, including the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility's Dr Bettina Berger, have identified a number of novel beneficial genetic loci (so-called quantitative trait loci or QTL) that associated [...]
Shared knowledge helps accelerate research results for global benefit in C4 rice project
High-throughput 'Setraia virids' mutant populations at IRRI - (Image source: C4 Rice Centre IRRI) Setaria viridis successfully screened for mutants with altered CO2 compensation points using high-throughput [...]
The hunt for combined drought and heat tolerant crops
New review paper discusses what is known, and where research is turning next, in the pursuit of physiological traits for combined stress tolerance in crops Unique new combined drought/heat/humidity/light research [...]
Graphene promise for more efficient fertilisers
Fertilisers with lower environmental impacts and reduced costs for farmers are being developed by University of Adelaide researchers in the world-first use of the new advanced material graphene as a [...]
Designing a field trial with the big picture in mind
How many plants? How many replicates? Fully randomised, randomised blocks or Latin square? These are standard and time-honoured questions when designing a field trial or greenhouse experiment according to the Australian Plant [...]
New discovery to accelerate development of salt-tolerant grapevines
A recent discovery by Australian scientists is likely to improve the sustainability of the Australian wine sector and significantly accelerate the breeding of more robust salt-tolerant grapevines. With funding from [...]
Small group scoops international effort to sequence huge wheat genome
The wheat genome is finally complete. A giant international consortium of academics and companies has been trying to finish the challenging DNA sequence for more than a decade, but in [...]
The hunt for high salt tolerant barley crops gets closer
Soil salinity severely impacts crop growth and yield. Within minutes of exposure to salt, cell expansion, leaf expansion, photosynthesis, transpiration and tillering are reduced. When salts accumulate to toxic concentrations [...]
Growing rice faster – uncovering the triggers behind early canopy closure
By combining high-resolution image-based phenotyping with functional mapping and genome prediction, a new study has provided insights into the complex genetic architecture and molecular mechanisms underlying early shoot growth dynamics [...]
A step closer to salt tolerant chickpea crops
A recent study has collected phenotypic data of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) which can now be linked with the genotypic data of these lines. This will enable genome-wide association mapping [...]