Wheat and barley are two of Australia's most important cereal crops.
Here at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) we're looking at how we can improve wheat and barley's tolerance to environmental stresses such as temperature, drought, salinity and mineral deficiencies or toxicities.
Such stresses known as abiotic stresses, are a major cause of yield and quality loss throughout the world and cause significant problems for cereal growers.
We're also about research
At ACPFG we have a number of research programs focussed on these environmental stresses. We aim to improve wheat and barley's responses to these stresses using biotechnology. By researching the genetics involved in the tolerance mechanisms in these crops we are helping to improve these functions. To do this, we use both GM and non-GM techniques.
And we're about generating knowledge
Yes knowledge. We're about building it, discovering it, improving it and spreading it. Specifically, we're interested in knowledge about wheat and barley, and the many different ways that we can help these crops to grow in increasingly difficult environmental conditions.
The ACPFG University base also helps us to generate this knowledge through extensive
Research Programs. ACPFG offers various
Scholarship Programs and has a strong commitment to training and development of students.
ACPFG has research nodes at:
We use many different kinds of technology and techniques
By using new technology and breeding techniques we aim to provide innovative and environmentally attractive solutions to the problems faced by cereal growers. We do this by developing varieties that allow more sustainable farming while generating economic, social and environmental benefits.
Our research will also help to ensure Australia maintains its competitiveness in cereal cropping industries globally.
ACPFG Objectives
The more specific objectives of the ACPFG are to:
Identify the genetic mechanisms that control
tolerance to specific stresses and compare these with those controlling broad range tolerance to abiotic
stresses
Use genome-wide analyses to define key cellular
processes that enable adapted plants to withstand abiotic stress, and to apply that understanding
to the genetic improvement of crops such as wheat and barley
Unravel regulatory networks that control plant growth
under abiotic stress
Identify ways of manipulating these networks,
through existing genetic diversity or through functional genomics technologies, to deliver tangible
industry outcomes, namely cereal varieties better tailored to hostile environments
