Dr Darren Wong, Division of Ecology and Evolution, Australian National University
Thursday 10 April 2025, 10 am.
SARDI Plant Research Centre Auditorium
Plant adaptation through specialized metabolism: Insights from Australia’s plant biodiversity and major horticultural crops
Flowering plants have evolved extraordinarily diverse metabolites that underpin their survival and communication in a complex and dynamic ecological environment. While primary metabolites are shared by most flowering plants, specialized (secondary) metabolites have evolved in restricted lineages in response to the specific selection pressures encountered within different niches. In this talk, I will first present new insights into the molecular basis of the repeated evolution of highly specialized pollination strategies in iconic Australian orchids with many threatened species. I will specifically explore the chemical and genetic basis of specialized metabolism pathways (e.g. anthocyanins and terpenes) underpinning the evolution of floral colours and scent. The second part will focus on new insights into how transcription factors regulate specialized metabolite pathways, such as stilbene biosynthesis, during tissue-specific grapevine developmental programs in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. This research will contribute to key national priorities by delivering genomic insights for biodiversity conservation and environmental resilience, and by discovering novel pathway genes for biotechnology applications in food, floriculture, and agriculture.
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Dr Lydia Babcock-Adams, National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Thursday 22 May 2025, 10 am.
SARDI Plant Research Centre Auditorium
At the Frontier of Mass Spectrometry: Coupling Liquid Chromatography to the World’s Highest-Resolving 21 Tesla FT-ICR MS for Complex Organic Matter and Mixture Analysis
Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry is the gold standard for characterizing complex organic mixtures, from natural organic matter to environmental contaminants, proteomes, metabolomes, and beyond. The Ion Cyclotron Resonance (ICR) facility at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) houses three custom-built Fourier Transform (FT) ICR systems – at 21 tesla (T), 14.5 T, and 9.4 T. These instruments are all available, free of charge, to scientists worldwide. The World’s most powerful 21 T FT-ICR/Eclipse Tribrid Mass Spectrometer routinely achieves extraordinary dynamic range, resistance to peak coalescence, mass accuracy, and resolving power sufficient to distinguish between analytes that differ in m/z by less than the mass of an electron. These characteristics make this instrument ideal for complex mixture analysis. This talk will highlight three applications of first-ever liquid chromatography coupled to the 21 T FT-ICR MS, (1) the structural elucidation of a suite of copper-binding ligands produced by a marine diatom, (2) the effects of solid phase extraction resins on the measured chemical composition of marine dissolved organic matter, and (3) the development of a low-flow liquid chromatography method for the analysis of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
BIOSKETCH
Dr. Lydia Babcock-Adams is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Ion Cyclotron Resonance group at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) in Tallahassee, Florida, USA. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in 2022, where she utilized liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to identify and characterize copper ligand complexes in seawater at the molecular level.
At the NHMFL, her postdoctoral research focuses on coupling liquid chromatography (LC) with the ultrahigh-resolution 21 tesla Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometer to analyze environmental samples. Her work includes the characterization of natural organic matter and the detection of emerging contaminants.
