Dr Alan Richardson
Principal Research Scientist
CSIRO Plant Industry
PO Box 1600 , Canberra , ACT, 2601
Personal Website Address: none
Email: alan.richardson@csiro.au
The Big Question
Understanding acquisition of soil P by plants with particular emphasis on the role of phosphatases and availability of soil organic phosphorus. Can it be manipulated for the benefit of agriculture?
The Short-term goals
Investigating the efficacy of enzyme-substrate interactions in the rhizosphere using phytase and soil phytate as a model.
| Group (lab) Members and areas of research
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- Dr Manny Delhaize: Molecular biology & physiology of Al tolerance in plants
- Dr Peter Ryan: Molecular biology of Al tolerance in plants, membrane physiology
- Dr Richard Simpson: Nutrient cycling in agricultural systems
- Dr Petra Schunmann: Phosphate transport & P efficiency genes in plants
- Dr Tim George: Soil plant nutrient interactions & rhizosphere biology
Current
Australian Wool Innovations
Applications submitted or planned
Marie Curie Foundation
GRDC
| Techniques in the Laboratory
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Currently active
Plant molecular biology, soil enzyme assays, rhizosphere sampling and analysis, agronomic evaluation of transgenic plants
In development
Interaction of enzymes with soil
Top three areas of knowledge
- Plant molecular biology
- Soil microbiology
- Phosphorus nutrition of plants
Top three technical skills
- Gene manipulation and development of transgenic plants
- Analysis of soil and plant phosphatases
- Soil and rhizosphere microbiology
| A statement on your most significant contributions to this research field
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An understanding of the relative significance of microbial and root phosphatases in the utilization of phosphorus by plants from organic sources. In particular the role of phytase (a phosphatase specific for the dephosphorylation of phytate) has been investigated by the use of transgenic plants that express and secrete a fungal phytase as an extracellular enzyme from their roots (Richardson et al. , 2001, Plant J . 25; 641). This work has provided one of the first examples of where a microbial phosphatase gene has been used to directly improve the P nutrition of plants and allows important questions concerning the contribution of phytate (the major form of organic P in soil) to plant P nutrition to be determined.
| Publications - Last 5 years
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Journals
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Turner B.L and Richardson A.E . (2004) Identification of scyllo -inositol phosphates in soils by solution phosphorus-31 nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Soil Science Society of America , Journal ( in press ).
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Schünmann P.H.D., Richardson A.E ., Smith F.W., and Delhaize E. (2004) Characterisation of promoter expression patterns derived from the Pht1 phosphate transporter genes of barley ( Hordeum vulgare L.). Journal of Experimental Botany ( in press )
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Mudge S.R., Smith F.W. and Richardson A.E . (2003) Root-specific and phosphate regulated expression of phytase under the control of a phosphate transporter promoter enables Arabidopsis to grow on phytate as a sole P source. Plant Science 165, 871-878.
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Delhaize E., Ryan P.R., Hocking P.J. and Richardson A.E . (2003) Effects of altered citrate synthase and isocitrate dehydrogenase expression on internal citrate concentrations of tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum L.) Plant and Soil 248, 137-144.
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Richardson A.E . (2002). Management of soil nutrients: Biological approaches to improve the phosphorus nutrition of plants. Australian Biologist 15, 76-82.
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Richardson A.E ., Hadobas P.A., Hayes J.E., O'Hara C.P. and Simpson R.J. (2001). Utilization of phosphorus by pasture plants supplied with myo -inositol hexaphosphate is enhanced by the presence of soil microorganisms . Plant and Soil 229, 47-56.
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Richardson A.E ., Hadobas P.A. and Hayes J.E. (2001). Extracellular secretion of Aspergillus phytase from Arabidopsis roots enables plants to obtain phosphorus from phytate. The Plant Journal 25, 641-649.
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Richardson A.E . (2001). Prospects for using soil microorganisms to improve the acquisition of phosphorus by plants. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 28, 897-906.
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Richardson A.E ., Hadobas P.A., and Hayes J.E. (2000). Phosphomonoesterase and phytase activities of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) roots and utilisation of organic phosphorus substrates by seedlings grown in sterile culture. Plants Cell & Environment 23, 397-405
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Hayes J.E., Simpson R.J., and Richardson A.E . (2000). The growth and utilisation of plants in sterile media when supplied with inositol hexaphosphate, glucose 1-phosphate or inorganic phosphate. Plant and Soil 220, 165-174.
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Hayes J.E., Richardson A.E ., and Simpson R.J. (2000). Components of organic phosphorus in soil extracts that are hydrolysed by phytase and acid phosphatase. Biology and Fertility of Soils 32, 279-286.
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Hayes J.E., Richardson A. E., and Simpson R.J. (1999). Phytase and acid phosphatase activities in extracts from roots of temperate pasture grass and legume seedlings. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 26, 801-809.
Book Chapters
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Richardson A.E ., George T.S., Hens M. and Simpson R.J. (2004) Utilisation of soil organic phosphorus by higher plants. In: Organic Phosphorus in the Environment (eds., B.L. Turner, E. Frossard, and D. Baldwin) CABI Publishing, Wallingford ( in press ).
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Richardson A.E . (2004) Making microorganisms mobilize soil phosphate. In: Microbial Phosphate Solublization (eds. E. Velazquez-Perez et al. ) Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (in press) .
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Jakobsen I. , Leggett M.E. and Richardson A.E . (2004) Rhizosphere microorganisms and plant phosphorus uptake. In: Phosphorus, Agriculture and the Environment (eds., J.T. Sims and A.N. Sharpley). American Society for Agronomy. Madison ( in press ).
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Randall P.J., Hayes J.E., Hocking P.J. and Richardson A.E . (2001). Root exudates in phosphorus acquisition by plants. In Plant Nutrient Acquisition: New Perspectives (eds., N. Ae, J. Arihara, K. Okada, and A. Srinivasan), Springer-Verlag, Tokyo Japan, pp. 71-100.
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