Professor Rachel Burton, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, Adelaide University

Date: Thursday, 11 Jun; 10-11 am – SARDI PRC Auditorium

Title: The trials and tribulations of new crop establishment

Abstract: The Australian climate is changing across many fronts – the weather, economically, in the face of AI and global conflicts. And agriculture across Australia is caught in the cross hairs. Our interest in emerging crops lies in finding more sustainable, tougher and better suited plants that can cope with our growing conditions, make use of huge areas of marginal land and meet the needs of growers to make a living from farming. Today we will look at two potential new crops, agave and Plantago (psyllium), dipping into the history of why we chose them, what we have done over the past two decades to better understand them and lastly to outline what we still have to do to get them over the line so that they become a feature of our agricultural landscape in the years to come.

Bio: My expertise is in the areas of plant molecular biology and plant functional genomics, particularly as it relates to cell wall biosynthesis, re-modeling and degradation and the impact these biological processes have on end use quality of cereals and biomass. Research in this area is mainly focused on barley as we have access to an excellent genetic transformation system and extensive genetic resources but we are now developing resources in other cereals and Plantago species. The gene families I have a particular interest in include the cellulose synthases, the mixed link beta-glucan synthases and the xylan synthases. Cellulose content is likely to have an impact on plant strength and is of central importance in the use of plants as a feedstock for biofuel production, whilst mixed-link glucans and arabinoxylans have major human health benefits and also crucially impact digestibility of animal feed and steps in brewing and baking processes. I also have an interest in the development and application of novel experimental methods for transcript profiling and gene discovery in plants.

https://adelaide.zoom.us/j/88324941961?pwd=iBEvCU8wU2bKbEa3JaDzLIDGOZtEkj.1

Webinar ID: 883 2494 1961, Passcode:429141

Followed by morning tea