Introducing the CRU

The CRU (previously known as 'the Horti field section') is a distinctive unit of the School at the Gatton Campus. It is located on the northern side of the campus and the Warrego Highway. The CRU comprises an area of 40 hectares stretching from the Lockyer Creek bank to the Warrego Highway on the rich alluvial valley soils varying from a very heavy self mulching black clay soil to a lighter and sandier creek bank loam. Water availability and the drought are the main issues for the unit as the supply is from the Lockyer valley aquifer which is now reaching the lowest ever recorded levels. Fortunately we still have water supply, albeit reduced and as with all things, this drought also brings opportunities which have opened new research opportunities for us and our clients.

New Rainout Shelters

Lettuce Variety Research

The area is divided into discreet sections where small and large plots are available for growing annual and perennial crops for undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and research. There is also an established small scale orchard of perennial tree crops which include citrus, pecan nuts, mangos, avocados, and others. In addition there is a valued external client base comprising private companies (e.g. seed and chemical companies) and the public sector (DPI&F, and CSIRO) who conduct extensive research in the unit.

The School manages the area along with all required equipment (e.g. tractors, implements, pesticide and herbicide application equipment) and infrastructure (e.g. office, commercial cool rooms, packing shed, machinery sheds and workshop) for the conduct of crop research in agriculture and horticulture. The unit has a dual rain-out shelter facility nearing completion where any two positions can be subjected to rain out conditions at any time. We have recently completed the first summer crop trial and it currently has a winter wheat variety trial being conducted by CSIRO. The unit also has three plant growing tunnels used for teaching and research.

Annual Crop Growing

Plant Growing Tunnel House

Sunflower Research

We maintain a close working relationship with the Queensland DPI&F and CSIRO who both have field stations adjacent to the CRU. Research completed in the unit recently includes sunflower breeding trials, vegetable seed variety trials, chemical efficacy trials, water efficiency in maize production, Sorghum variety trial and others.

A management committee from within LCAFS has been established to develop and oversee the implementation of policies on the development and use of the facilities and to initiate systems to ensure that potential users of the facility are served equitably and effectively. All enquiries regarding use of the unit should in the first instance be directed to the Unit Manager, Mr Tod Eadie on 5460 1421 or t.eadie@uq.edu.au.

Spotlight on LCAFS Postgraduate Students

Vivi Arief

Vivi Arief is conducting important research in association analysis to identify quantitative trail loci (QTL) in spring wheat using 25 Years of CIMMYT International Field Trial Data. Vivi will present her research results at a conference in San Diego in January 2008. She has recently been awarded an Endeavour International Postgraduate Scholarship and a UQ Graduate School Research Travel Award 2007. Vivi is supervised by Mark Dieters, Ian DeLacy and Jose Crossa.

Vivi with supervisor Ian DeLacy in field

Vivi with supervisor Mark Dieters

The advance of molecular marker technology has provided new opportunities for the characterization of QTL. To date, QTLs are usually detected using mapping populations developed especially for this purpose, but which are often not representative of breeding programs. Vivi's research investigates an alternative approach to identify QTL using a comprehensive set of phenotypic data which has been generated as part of the CIMMYT spring wheat breeding program. The data set is huge (420,000 observations on 1,445 trials in 400 locations on 686 lines for 7 traits [grain yield, days to heading, seed size, plant height, leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust] collected over 25 years [1980 - 2005] of CIMMYTs Elite Spring Wheat Yield Trials [ESWYTs]). Genotypic data will be generated for all lines represented in these field trials using high-throughput marker technology, namely Diversity Array Technology (DArT®), which is able to provide dense marker coverage at a relatively low cost per maker. It is anticipated that this will produce nearly 1.4 million data points (using 2000 DArT markers per line). The phenotypic and genotypic data are used in combination with pedigree information to perform an association analysis to produce high density QTL maps for these seven traits.

The aims of Vivi's research is to provide a better approach for QTLs mapping and to increase the usefulness of molecular markers in plant breeding programs. To date, Vivi's research has produced some interesting results. Prior to association analysis, it was important to determine whether the data would provide useful information and robust estimation of phenotypic data for the seven traits. Analysis of variances results showed that the data were good enough to be used for association analysis, since it provided a robust estimate of phenotypic value.

Association analysis showed that the data can detect association between markers and traits. There were two large groups of markers that showed association with stem rust, grain yield and seed size. The first group showed positive association with stem rust and grain yield and negative association with seed size. The second group showed negative association with stem rust and grain yield and positive association with seed size. These two groups belong to different groups in the dendogram produced from markers classification (Figure 1).

Fig. 1. Heatmap for markers-traits association for seven traits (LR=leaf rust; SR=stem rust; YR=stripe rust; YLD=grain yield; PH=plant height; SS=seed size; and DH=days to heading). Red indicates positive association; dark yellow indicates negative association; and light yellow indicates un-associated markers

This information can be used for selection. The present and absent of those markers would indicate the phenotypic performance of lines. By evaluating the pattern of those markers, breeder can pick lines with desirable phenotypic traits. This information can also be used to select markers and undertake more thorough study, such as sequencing and gene discovery.

Vivi's future research focus will be in the area of integrated population structure: genotypic and environment structure, and to produce QTL maps for the seven traits.

Jitka Kochanek

Preparing seed samples for controlled ageing experiments in the laboratory

.... It is hard to define what you do when you are a seed scientist. When you answer, most people think that you are a 'sea scientist' (marine biologist) and are thoroughly confused when you tell them that the field work you do is "in the desert"... After repeatedly engaging in such conversations for the first year of her PhD, Jitka Kochanek now defines herself as a 'conservation ecologist'.

Jitka's PhD journey began in 2004 with a trip to the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), Kew Gardens, in the United Kingdom, which is home to a bomb-proof underground seed storage facility and to the MSB Project, an international project which aims to collect 10% of the world's indigenous flora as seeds for conservation purposes and funds native plant and seed research. The task she was given was to identify whether environmental effects can influence seed longevity of wild species. Characteristic seed longevities exist for many crop species, but the degree to which this varies between populations of wild species was previously unknown.

Jitka examines some of her Plantago debilis (Plantaginaceae family) plants in the glasshouse

Jitka's results have revealed that characteristic seed longevities do exist for wild species, but in some of these species environment plays a major role in modifying the mean seed longevity of the population and thus longevities can change between populations. The seed longevities of different species are sensitive to different environmental stresses and the data has shown, when contrasting both temperature and drought sensitive species, that it is the environment in which the parent has grown that is modifying the seed longevity of its offspring. Other exciting data has shown that individual plants within a population appear to have a genetically defined seed longevity that may be linked to parental plant survival under stressful conditions. The work has focussed on nine species from the Campanulaceae, Asteraceae and Plantaginaceae families.

These research findings have taken Jitka to conferences around the world and she has won two prizes for best oral presentations during 2007. In May she won the best oral presentation for two talks she gave at the International Seed Testing Association's conference in Brazil. In September, she again was awarded the best oral presentation at the International Seed Ecology conference held in Perth. Jitka's work is particularly relevant in the context of climate change, as ecologists grapple with understanding how individual species and populations will be affected by the novel environments and extremes that are predicted or have already begun.

Jitka is currently in the writing-up phase of her PhD and aims to finish in early 2008. She is now comfortable with being termed a 'conservation ecologist' and hopes to continue down the path of ecological scientific discovery. Her PhD research and scholarship have been funded by the University of Queensland and the MSBP. She is under the supervision of Associate Professor Steve Adkins (SLCFS, UQ), Dr Kathryn Steadman (School of Pharmacy, UQ) and Dr Robin Probert (MSB, UK). Jitka completed a degree in Agricultural Science at UQ, St Lucia in 2002 with first class Honours and worked for a year at the Centre for Native Floriculture in Gatton (2003-2004).

One of the native Australian species which Jitka used for seed longevity research. The tufted bluebell, Wahlenbergia communis from the Campanulaceae family, flowers in full glory in the field

Priyanka Wickramasinghe

Priyanka Wickramasinghe's research interests lie in horticulture, in particular floriculture and plant propagation.

Priyanka's research is focused on investigating breeding incompatibility mechanisms of Calandrinia species as potential Australian native floriculture species. It involves chromosome work, molecular based genetic diversity studies, and investigation of pre-zygotic and post-zygotic incompatibilities. Floral biology studies, chromosome analysis and molecular phylogenetic analysis of some selected Calandrinia and Protulaca species have been completed and Priyanka plans to use flowcytometry to complete characterization of autopolyploids of Calandrinia polyandra and Calandrinia balonensis. At present, he is investigating the incompatibility mechanisms of some crosses between Calandrinia and Portulaca selected based on the compatible chromosome numbers of the species. It includes seed set, in vitro and in vivo pollen germination and growth and embryo development studies.

Priyanka (middle) is reviewing his research progress with his advisors, Dion Harrison (left) and Margaret Johnston (right) in the Birkdale greenhouse at Gatton

Priyanka has an honours degree from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka where he completed his master's thesis on In vitro Propagation of Cashew. He is a Senior Lecturer in Horticulture at the Wayamba University of Sri Lanka (WUSL). Priyanka has authored 14 papers in the Proceedings of Agricultural Research Symposium, WUSL, and was a member of the Editorial Board of the Proceeding in 2003 and 2005. He was a contributor to two books: Cashew Cultivation: Principles and Techniques and Botany of Crops. Other roles at WUSL included being a senate member, student counsellor, consultant of the Tissue Culture Projects as well as being a SEDA Certified Teacher in Higher Education by the Staff and Educational Development Association United Kingdom. Priyanka is really enjoying his life at CNF with his 6 year old daughter Dilshika and wife Vishu. His research is supervised by Dion Harrison and Margaret Johnston.

Staff and Student News

Kaye Basford, Ian Godwin, Ian DeLacy, and Chris Lambrides recently met with other scientists at CIMMYT in El Batán to discuss the wheat phenome pilot project.

From Left to Right: Ian Godwin, Chris Lambrides (back), Ian Delacy and Kaye Basford

CIMMYT and UQ have been working together to develop a "wheat phenome atlas" (WPA) since 2006. The WPA will be a freely-available online tool for wheat scientists. It will describe which parts of the genome influence the inheritance of all economically-important traits. Breeders will be able to go online for detailed information on a small piece of DNA sequence that affects resistance to leaf rust, for example. This technology could also be applied to other crops such as maize and rice. Information for the WPA is obtained through advanced statistical analyses of decades of yield trials and recent data from molecular markers. CIMMYT has 40 years of data from field experiments, and has stored the seeds from these trials in the germplasm bank. Scientists can thus link data from yield trials with genetic analysis of seeds from the trials. The WPA will be accessible to anyone in the international wheat community, making the process of developing cultivars faster, cheaper, and more efficient. A basic version of the WPA should be up and running by late 2008.

Steve Adkins and Lee Hickey recently attended the 11th International Symposium on Pre-harvest Sprouting in Cereals. The conference was held in Mendoza, Argentina.

Insert at convenient place (1) Lee Hickey Presentation.jpg (Caption is Lee Hickey's presentation to a range of international molecular plant breeders and researchers, plant physiologists, plant breeders and biochemists) (2) 11th Int Symp PHSC.JPG (Caption is From left to right Professor Derek Bewley (President of the International Society for Seed Science) relaxing with Steve Adkins and Lee Hickey)

On the first day of the symposium, Steve gave a presentation on the seed dormancy mechanism in native grass species and how they may be applied to grain dormancy in cereals. Lee presented research findings from his 4th year project conducted this year as part of the degree requirement for a Bachelor of Agricultural Science. His presentation was entitled 'Rapid screening for pre-harvest sprouting resistance in wheat' and reported the opportunity available for wheat breeding programs to utilise controlled environmental conditions to grow wheat populations and screen for grain dormancy, which would contribute towards the development of pre-harvest sprouting resistant cultivars.

From left to right Professor Derek Bewley (President of the International Society for Seed Science) relaxing with Steve Adkins and Lee Hickey

Lee Hickey's presentation to a range of international molecular plant breeders and researchers, plant physiologists, plant breeders and biochemists

Spectacular scenery was a highlight of the conference with the Andes as a backdrop. The conference also included a day tour of the city, including a visit to a local winery positioned in a valley amongst the mountains.

Madan Gupta recently received a UQ Award for Teaching and Learning Excellence. Madan is a conscientious and committed academic who excels at teaching over a wide range of topics from first year to postgraduate level. His teaching practices are a reflection of his educational philosophy based on the principles of 3 Ps - Passion, Participation and Patience.

Madan (centre) receiving his award from Chancellor Sir Llew Edwards AC (left) and Vice-Chancellor Professor John Hay [right]

Madan's ability to develop and implement successful strategies for teaching physical sciences/engineering courses to agriculture students has resulted in a significant improvement in student performance and course rating. He is a dedicated educator and a role model who sets a high standard for others to emulate. Madan believes support for all his students to be at the heart of his profession. He is a quiet achiever whose outstanding contribution to his discipline is valued by his students and peers.

Gordon Robertson was recently made a Fellow of the American Institute for Food Technologists in honour of his research on the environmental impacts of packaging and his contributions to the field of food packaging, including authoring a definitive textbook on the subject.

EGA Stampede. Collaborative research conducted by Mark Dieters and officers of the Leslie Research Centre (QDPI & F) Toowoomba and GRDC, to assist growers in filling the industry demand for the shortage in feed wheat throughout Queensland and New South Wales, has resulted in the release of EGA Stampede. EGA Stampede is an early/main season variety that has consistently out-yielded other varieties over the five years of field trials in the northern region, and has very good resistances to leaf, stem and stripe rusts. This variety is being commercialised by Crop Care - Seed Technologies.

Donna Bird has recently joined LCAFS in the role of Finance Trainee. Please take the time to introduce yourself to Donna and welcome her to LCAFS. Donna is located in room S327 in the Hartley Teakle Building at St Lucia.

Congratulations to the following students who have been awarded their doctorate:

Fengduo Hu, Improving Selection in Sugarcane Breeding Programs with an application in the Burdekin Region, Australia

Sapna Kamath, Foaming of Milk

Rowena Long, Predicting weed seed persistence: towards a technique for rapid and reliable assessment

or received UQ Grants:

Pratibala Pandt, Graduate School Research Travel Grant

Sarah Vaughan, UQ Research Scholarship

YunYun Xu, Australian Postgraduate Award

New Grants

Madan Gupta, $29,425, Promoting first-year student engagement and learning through innovative approaches to feedback and group work in an Agricultural Mathematics course.

Mark Turner, $25,141, Investigations into genes involved in flavour and aroma compound production in the cheese bacterium lactococcus

Changrong Ye, $1,720, UQ Travel Award.

Virtual Discovery
23-24 January 2008
California, USA
URL: http://www.selectbiosciences.com/conferences/VD2008/index.aspx

Agenda Topics:

• Structural Informatics and Protein Modeling
• Advances in Docking and Virtual Screening
• Biomolecular Modeling using Molecular Dynamics
• Target-related Applications of First Principals - Quantum Chemical Methods to Drug Discovery

Polymer Synthesis 2008
17 to 20 March 2008
Mexico
URL: http://www.zingconferences.com/polymersynthesis

Chairs: Dave Haddleton & Tom Davis

Confirmed Speakers:
Richard Schrock (MIT, 2005 Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry)
Christopher Barner-Kowollik (U. New South Wales)
Maurice Brookhart (UNC Chapel Hill)
Eva Hath (Vanderbilt)
Ian Manners (U. of Bristol)
Heather Maynard (UCLA)
Virgil Percec (U. of Pennsylvania)
Sebastien Perrier (U. of Leeds)
Kelly Velonia (U. of Geneva)

In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding
24 to 28 August 2008
Brisbane, Queensland
URL: http://www.une.edu.au/campus/confco/ivchb2008/index.htm

2020 Vision for in vitro horticultural breeding

Proposed Topics

• Recent advances in plant tissue culture
• Recent advances in plant molecular breeding
• Recent advances in in vitro breeding systems
• Commercial micropropagation including automation
• Transgenics and crop improvement
• GM impact and future demands
• Emerging technologies- Future food
• Industry related issues
• International issues and directions
• Germplasm development and exchange

Diversifying crop protection
13 to 15 October 2008
France
URL: http://www.endure-network.eu/meetings_events/international_conference_2008

The most recent advances will be presented in lectures by scientists and guest speakers and in posters. Plenary sessions will present the global challenges and the concurrent perspectives of different stakeholders. The scientific programme will include specific sessions devoted to all aspects of the durable exploitation of crop protection strategies for sustainable agriculture:

1. Basic understanding of crop-pest systems (New approaches to reduce pesticide inputs; Pesticide resistance; Plant genetic resistance; Biocontrol agents; Semiochemicals [push-pull strategies]; Invasive and emerging pests; Weed biology and management).
2. Designing innovative crop protection strategies (Mapping of pest damage; Modelling of pest incidence; Pest prevention strategies; Diagnostic tools; Innovative technologies [robotics, nanotechnologies, precision agriculture]; Community ecology; Landscape ecology; Decision Support Systems.
3. Multicriterion assessment of crop protection strategies (Surveillance of pest incidence; Historical evolutions; Ecotoxicology; Environmental assessment; Life-cycle assessment; Economic driving forces [public policies, regulations, long-term economics]; Societal assessment [public, farmers, governance...].

International Conference on Biotechnology and Bioinformatics
18 to 20 September 2009
Mauritius
URL: http://www.cenfoundindia.org

Research and development in biotechnology requires the collaboration of scientists and engineers in fields such as biology, chemistry, computer science, chemical engineering, and bio engineering. This conference brings together scientists, engineers and scholars from relevant fields with practitioners from industry in order to help each group to understand progress made in the area as a whole.

The conference will focus on the recent developments in the field of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics and related fields. The following areas of basic and applied biotechnology will be covered in the form of plenary lectures, invited talks, oral and poster presentations.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Agricultural Biotechnology; Food Biotechnology; Environmental Biotechnology; Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; Industrial Biotechnology; Medical Biotechnology; Nano Biotechnology; Marine Biotechnology; Animal biotechnology; Plant biotechnology; Bioinformatics; Enzyme Engineering; RNA and DNA structure and sequencing; Gene regulation; Gene expression databases; Biomedical Computational drug discovery; Application of computational intelligence in medicine and biological sciences (artificial neural networks, fuzzy logic, and evolutionary computing).

General Interest

Intercampus bus schedule published… Due to an increase in patronage for the intercampus bus service, it has been possible to organise a continued, albeit reduced, service during the non-teaching/vacation period. The reduced service will operation from Monday 19 November to Friday 21 December 2007, and then again from Monday 14 January to Friday 15 Februay 2008. The standard service will resume in First Semester 2008 - details of 1st semester timetable will be posted in February 2008. The timetables are available from the buses web page.

Goinglobal… UQ has subscribed to Goinglobal, a leading worldwide careers and employment resource. More…

University teaching career - enrol for graduate certificate… Applications are being sought for 2008 in the Graduate Certificate in Higher Education. This program offers professional development in university teaching. An application form and additional details can be found online. Details: phone ext. 56550 or email education@uq.edu.au.

Are you graduating in 2007?... Staff and students who are graduating this year are encouraged to help the University by taking a few minutes to fill out the Australian Graduate Survey. The survey allows you to report on your experience at UQ, and what you have been doing since you graduated. The AGS is a national survey conducted each year by all Australian universities. Your completed AGS will help by:

• Letting other students in your program know what career options are open to them;
• Giving UQ feedback on the quality and relevance of its programs and courses.

Don't miss book sale at UQ Art Museum… Selected UQ Art Museum publications will be on sale with up to 50 percent off the retail price from November 16 to December 23. Gallery hours: 10am - 4pm, Tuesday to Sunday. UQ Art Museum publications are listed at: www.maynecentre.uq.edu.au. Enquiries: artmuseum@uq.edu.au or ext. 53046.