Plant Genomics

Modern approach in genome engineering (GE) has made it possible to accurately alter DNA sequences in plant cells, providing specifically engineered plants with traits of interest. Gene targeting efficiency turns on the delivery-method of both sequence-specific nucleases and repair templates, to plant cells.

• Plant Genome Engineering and Plant genetic diversity
• Improving gene editing technology, enzymes, and methods
• Genome editing applications using new techniques
• Genome editing and the latest EU policies
• Genome / DNA assembly for editing
• Plant Genetic Engineering and GM crops
• Plant Gene Editing for the Consumer
• Plant Genome its Applications in Cereals
• Plant metabolism/Pathway manipulation/System biology

Functional Genomics has been established to study the structure and function of nuclear genome in higher plants.

• Drought Tolerance and Frost Tolerance
• Heat Tolerance
• Hybrid wheat and Phenotyping
• Plant Transformation
• Salinity Tolerance
• Structural Biology
• Phenomics
• Plant Genomic Case Studies

Plants developed gradually experienced genetic and epigenetic controlling systems to respond rapidly to unfavourable environmental conditions such as heat, cold, drought, and pathogen infections. In particular, heat greatly affects plant growth and development, immunity and circadian rhythm, and poses a serious threat to the global food supply. Transgenes appear to be particularly sensitive to epigenetic variation which can lead to transgene silencing, i.e. the complete or partial inactivation of transgene expression. Plants are ideal model systems to study the influence of changing environmental conditions on epigenetic patterns. We are especially interested to understand how certain genomic regions become targets for epigenetic modification and how environmental stress affects epigenetic gene regulation. Our applied work investigates how transgene silencing can be prevented and how epigenetic variation can be exploited for novel breeding strategies

• Epigenetics and DNA methylation studies
• Disease and stress resistance
• miRNA and RNA analysis
• Plant breeding methods
• Pathogen detection and analysis

The plant co-expression is a new internet-based database for plant gene analysis ... A typical co-expressed gene can generate many lists of co-expression data that contain hundreds of genes of interest for enrichment analysis. Also, co-expressed genes can be identified and cataloged in terms of comparative genomics by using the ‘Co-expression gene compare’ feature. This analysis will help interpret experimental data and determine whether there is a common term to those genes.

• Bioinformatics analysis and challenges
• Use of genomic data for candidate genes
• Identifying novel functional genes
• Application of bioinformatics software for DNA / RNA analysis
• Computational systems for modelling and visualisation of information
• Cloud computing and storage solutions
• Industry applications of the latest genomic technologies
• Collaborations and how they can drive plant research
• Insight into regulatory challenges

Plant Science is focused on the genetic and cellular control of plant growth and development in model species, crops and their wild relatives using genomics, proteomics, systems biology and advanced light microscopy. Plant Science specialisation is designed to give students an understanding of how plants function, scaling from the molecule to the ecosystem and how this function underpins the performance of plants in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Plant Science is a major focus of scientific research activity at ANU, spanning everything from the function, energy, interactions, genetics and modeling of plants and their environments. In this specialisation students are exposed to cutting edge disciplinary research and researchers, which builds engagement, understanding and analysis of current issues in plant biology. The specialisation will assist students seeking to pursue professional and graduate degrees in plant sciences, and will provide a solid background for students pursuing career goals in plant laboratory science, and public and environmental policy.

• Plant Morphology and Plant Metabolism
• Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences
• Soil Science and Soil-Plant Nutrition
• Agricultural Science
• Plant Physiology and Biochemistry

Plant breeding is the science of maximizing positive genetic traits in plants that people grow. It consists of analytical frameworks that allow researchers to create and select plants that are consistently outstanding in desired traits. The central objective in plant breeding is to improve the genetic basis of commercial crop species to comply with changing demands on yield and quality. Statistics plays a key role in modern plant breeding. A classical quantitative genetic model writes the phenotype as an outcome of genetic, environmental and genotype by environment interaction effects. In the genomic era, this classical model has been extended and generalized. Linear mixed models played an important role in classical quantitative genetics and still do so in modern.  

 Proteomics is the branch of science that deals with the study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions. Proteins are important parts of living organisms, as they are the vital components of the physiological metabolic pathways of cells.  Proteomics is the next step in the study of biological systems. It is more complicated than genomics because an organism's genome is more or less constant, whereas the proteome differs from cell to cell and from time to time. Distinct genes are expressed in different cell types, which mean that even the basic set of proteins that are produced in a cell needs to be identified. Proteomics has been defined as “the systematic analysis of the protein population in a tissue, cell, or subcellular compartment”.

The science that deals with the study of diseases of plants, their development and control is called Plant Pathology. Plant diseases are caused by biotic agents like fungi, bacteria, actinomycets, Mycoplasma, viruses, nematodes, and flowering parasites or by abiotic like unfavourable environmental conditions or nutritional deficiencies. Study of plant pathology includes the study of sciences viz, Microbiology, Bacteriology, Virology, Mycology, Nematology, protozoology, phycology, unfavourable, environmental factors, nutritional deficiencies and flowering plant parasites.

   A GMO, or genetically modified organism, is a plant, animal, microorganism or other organism whose genetic makeup has been modified using recombinant DNA methods (also called gene splicing), gene modification or transgenic technology. This relatively new science creates unstable combinations of plant, animal, bacterial and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

   Plant Genomics researchers have readily clinged to new algorithms, technologies and approaches to generate genome, transcriptome and epigenome datasets for model and crop species that have permitted deep inferences into plant biology. When a species’ reference genome is available, whole-genome sequencing is an efficient approach for discovering genes, SNPs, and structural variants, while simultaneously determining genotypes. Information from these studies will fill in the gaps that exist in the genetic maps of many plant species, improving plant breeding and selection, and enabling definitive comparative genomic analyses within and across species and few associations includes 

   Molecular breeding is the application of molecular biology tools, often in plant breeding and animal breeding. The areas of molecular breeding include: QTL mapping or gene discovery. Marker assisted selection and genomic selection. Genetic engineering.

  Plant synthetic biology is an emerging field that combines engineering principles with plant biology toward the design and production of new devices. This emerging field should play an important role in future agriculture for traditional crop improvement, but also in enabling novel bio production in plants.

Plant protection is the science and practice of managing pests, diseases and weeds that damage crops and other plants, and which can have a devastating effect on farmer livelihoods.