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Understanding the function of GIPCs in barley root adaptation to salinity

Honours project
The honours student will profile barley GIPCs using sphingolipidomics. They will also use CRIPSR/Cas9 gene editing to develop a barley line with an altered GIPC glycan headgroup, for comparison to the Arabidopsis mutant.

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Comparison of root traits in old and new wheat genotypes

Mariano Cossani

Plant physiologists have studied the single plant, and agronomists have looked at the whole crop, but the plant within the community has scarcely been investigated. Whilst evolution favours competitive phenotypes, agriculture selects for phenotypes with lower competitive ability or a communal behaviour. 

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Is there a link between embryo size, root architecture and drought stress in barley?

Developing crops that can withstand hot and dry climates is becoming increasingly important worldwide.

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Alternative crops for dryland farming systems

Crop-growing regions experience increasingly dryer and warmer climates, and more lands are becoming hostile to any crop currently cultivated.

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Stomatal traits for water-use efficient crops

Water is the cost of our food. Understanding how plants use available water and convert it to food even in harsh environments is essential to develop resilient crops.

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Could Covid-style PCR tests be used to screen for herbicide resistance?

Could Covid-style PCR tests be used to screen for herbicide resistance?

Honours project: This project will involve the design of PCR assays to aid in rapid, field based screening for herbicide resistance in weeds.

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Seed size variation in chickpea and lentil

Seed size is highly variable in most agricultural crops and affects crop productivity and quality.

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High sodium wheat for disease resistance?

In the course of ongoing salinity tolerance research, we observed variation for leaf and stem rust resistance that seemed to be related to a novel trait for sodium accumulation in bread wheat. 

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Release of PFAS from selected consumer products and building materials waste

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are manmade chemicals with unique properties.

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Cost-effective remediation strategies to reduce release of PFAS from contaminated soil

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS are synthetic organofluorine compounds with unique properties and widespread applications in different industries.

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