Seminars

• Robyn van Heeswijck Lecture
• A. E. V. Richardson Lecture
• Bob Symons Lecture
• The Harold Woolhouse Lecture
• School Development Program
• Waite Seminar Series
• Roseworthy Seminar Series
• Science & Statistics Forum

• Tuesday 4th October, 2011, 4pm Plant Research Centre

Inaugural J.A. Prescott Lecture

Glyn Bengough
Principal Research Scientist
The James Hutton Institute

Dynamics of crop roots, water and soil strength

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with Glyn please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

• Monday 1st August, 2011, 4pm Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus

• Monday 1st August, 2011, 4pm Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus

4th Harold Woolhouse Lecture

José A. Feijó
Universidade de Lisboa, Dept. Biol. Vegetal, Fac. Ciências, P-1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
and
Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, P-2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal

Space and time coordination of cellular growth processes by free cytosolic ions in pollen tubes
 

• Monday 9th May 2011, 4pm, Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus

The 2nd A.R. Hickinbotham Lecture

Brian Loveys 
CSIRO Plant Industry & University of Adelaide

Understanding how grapevines control their water use.
 

• Monday 28th March 2011, 4pm Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus

The 2nd Robyn van Heeswijck Lecture

Dr Brendan Choat
University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

Water transport and water stress in grapevines: new insights using novel imaging techniques

• Monday 21st February 2011, 4pm McLeod Lecture Theatre, Charles Hawker Building, Waite Campus

The Inaugural Peter Waite Lecture

Professor Geoff Fincher
University of Adelaide

Polysaccharide Structure in Cell Walls of the Grasses: From Human Health to 
Renewable Transport Fuels.

• Tuesday 22nd February 2011, 3pm McLeod Lecture Theatre, Charles Hawker Building, Waite Campus

Distinguished Guest Lecture

Emeritus Professor Ulrich Zimmermann
Universität Würzburg and ZIM Plant Technology i.G., Henningsdorf at Berlin, Germany

How do plants take up water in a drying climate?

The inaugural Peter Waite Lecture, Geoff Fincher 
Monday 21st February 2011, 4pm McLeod Lecture Theatre, Charles Hawker Building, Waite Campus

Named in honour of the pastoralist and benefactor who donated Urrbrae estate to the University of Adelaide for the study of Agriculture (http://www.waite.adelaide.edu.au/urrbraehouse/pwaite/), the inaugural Peter Waite Lecture will be given by Professor Geoff Fincher of the University of Adelaide to celebrate Geoff's significant contributions to the Waite Campus and Australian Science.

Polysaccharide Structure in Cell Walls of the Grasses: From Human Health to Renewable Transport Fuels.

Higher plants resist the forces of gravity and powerful lateral forces through the cumulative strength of the walls that surround individual cells. These walls consist mainly of cellulose, non-cellulosic polysaccharides and lignin, the proportions of which depend upon specific functions of the cell and its stage of development.

Grasses, which include the common cereals, arguably represent the single most important group of plants for human societies worldwide. Foods prepared from cereals not only account for a high proportion of our daily caloric intake, but also contribute to human health through the provision of fibre in our diet. Thus, polysaccharides from the cell walls of cereal grains are becoming recognized for their potential to lower the risk of serious diet-related conditions such as type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, colorectal cancer and diverticular disease.

Residues of cereal crops and a broad range of perennial grasses are also showing considerable promise as future biomass energy crops and a number of groups in both the private and public sectors are attempting to manipulate the composition of cell walls to increase levels of extractable, easily degradable and ultimately fermentable wall polysaccharide in various grass species.

Here, the influence of the fine chemical structure of wall polysaccharides on properties such as molecular size, solubility and viscosity will be related to their beneficial effects in human diets, and manipulations of wall composition that might enhance conversion of plant biomass to bioethanol will be discussed.

Short Speaker Biography

Geoff Fincher is the Professor of Plant Science at the University of Adelaide and the Director of the newly established Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/plant-cell-walls/). Geoff is also the leader of a new CSIRO Food Futures Flagship Cluster on ‘High Fibre Grain, for work on the role of wall polysaccharides in human health and nutrition.

Until recently Geoff was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics. He was involved, with other colleagues, in setting up the ACPFG in 2003 and he was chair of the Executive Management Group from 2003-2010. He has also developed collaborative projects between the ACPFG and the DuPont-Pioneer company, and with ABB Grain Ltd.

From 2007-2010, Geoff and Mark Tester, together with colleagues at the ANU and the CSIRO Division of Plant Industry established the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility. As part of this Facility an automated, high throughput phenotyping glasshouse has been constructed on the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide. This component of the APPF is known as the ‘Plant Accelerator'.

Geoff was the Director of the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide from 2003-2010 and has been the Director of a GRDC-funded program on the functional genomics of growth and end-use quality in cereals for seven years. He serves as an editor for the Journal of Cereal Science and is also a long-serving member of the editorial board of Planta. He chairs the Scientific Advisory Committee of Biomime, the Swedish centre for wood functional genomics. For a more detailed CV see here.

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with Geoff please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

Distinguished visitor Seminar
Emeritus Professor Ulrich Zimmermann 
Tuesday 22nd February, 3pm McLeod Lecture Theatre, Charles Hawker Building, Waite Campus

How do plants take up water in a drying climate?

The traditional paradigm of how plants take up water from the soil and transport it to the leaves is that water is pulled exclusively by transpiration-induced negative pressure gradients through continuous water columns. Water under negative pressure is in a metastable state. Cavitation is therefore a frequent event and can be catastrophic to water transport during drought. I will show how plants use other forces (such as gel-supported and interfacial forces) in order to overcome drought-induced interruption of the water columns. Evidence for this comes from non-invasive and minimally invasive techniques, such as NMR imaging, xylem probe and cell turgor probe, applied to crop and (fruit) trees. NMR imaging and non-invasive probes have also provided evidence that moisture uptake from the atmosphere by mucilage-containing epistomatal plugs plays an important role in the water supply of leaves of crop (such as grapevine and tomato), but also of 60-m tall trees. The results challenge our current view about the mechanism of water transport in plants and have paved the way for the development of new tools for online monitoring the water supply of crop under field conditions.

Short Speaker Biography
Currently, Emeritus Professor Ulrich Zimmermann is Senior Professor at the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg and chair of the scientific advisory board of ZIM Plant Technology (http://www.zim-probe.com/?Scientific_Advisory_Board:Prof._Dr._Ulrich_Zimmermann). He was Head of the Membrane Research Group at the Research Center Jülich, Germany (1969-1984), and from 1984 - 2009 led the Department of Biotechnology at the University of Würzburg, Germany. The main focus of his research includes water transport and salt tolerance of plants and development of irrigation systems, biophysics of membrane transport, electromanipulation of cells and organelles, and turgor-mediated processes in algae and higher plants. He has authored c. 500 publications and more than 120 patents. Some of his most important inventions, which are used worldwide, include the plant cell turgor probe, xylem pressure probe and the magnetic, non-invasive probe for measuring turgor in leafy plants.

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with Ulrich please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

The 2nd Robyn Van Heeswijck Lecture

Monday 28th March, 2011
4 pm, Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus, University of Adelaide

Water transport and water stress in grapevines: new insights using novel imaging techniques.

Dr Brendan Choat, University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment

Plants are capable of transporting water to heights in excess of 100 m, and can extract water from drying and saline soils. To achieve this, they have evolved a transport system that relies on water sustaining a tensile force, such that the xylem sap is at negative absolute pressures. However, this transport mechanism comes with its own set of problems; most notably that water under tension is prone to the formation of emboli, gas bubbles that block xylem conduits and reduced the ability of the plant to move water to the canopy. Water stress is the principal cause of embolism, which can lead to declines in productivity and ultimately, plant death.

Grapevines are commonly exposed to water stress in the field and are therefore vulnerable to embolism during the growing season. Given predictions of more prolonged and severe droughts associated with climate change, a proper understanding of how water stress induced embolism may limit productivity in grapevines is of great importance to the Australian grape and wine industry. My research addresses two unresolved questions related to plant water transport. First, how resistance to water stress induced embolism differs between plant species and cultivars and second, how plants are able to repair embolised xylem conduits and thus restore lost transport capacity. Recent advances in imaging technology such as micro computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging provide an opportunity to observe plant water transport at unparalleled resolution and in real time. These results show that grapevines are capable of repairing embolism on diurnal timescales and give insights into the physiological mechanism by which repair is achieved.

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with Dr Choat please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

Biography

Brendan Choat obtained his BSc (Hons) in 1997 (JCU) and his PhD in 2003 (JCU). From 2003-2005 he worked as a Post Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He held a second Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis from 2005-2008. In 2008 he returned to Australia to take up a Research Fellowship at ANU before moving to a Senior Research Lectureship at the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (UWS). He is an editor for the PrometheusWiki Project and on the editorial review board of Tree Physiology. In 2010 he was awarded a Humboldt Fellowship for Experienced Researchers.

Research Interests

The growth and survival of plants is strongly tied to the effective balance of water loss and carbon gain. In vascular plants, the xylem tissue constitutes a hydraulic system that must supply water to the transpiring leaf surface at a rate that allows for a net positive carbon balance. The efficiency of this system is therefore of paramount importance to plant productivity and survival. However, water transported in the xylem is under tension and is therefore subject to cavitation. The resultant gas void (embolism) blocks conduits and leads to a reduction in hydraulic conductivity, which in turn can impact on leaf gas exchange and ultimately cause die back and death of the plant. I am studying how the structure of the xylem achieves a compromise between features that promote efficiency of transport to the leaves while preserving safety from cavitation. The questions are of great importance in both natural and agricultural systems.

Recent Articles

Choat B, Drayton WM, Brodersen C, Matthews MA, Shackel KA, Wada H, McElrone AJ. (2010) Measurement of vulnerability to water-stress induced cavitation in grapevine: a comparison of four techniques applied to a long-vesseled species. Plant Cell and Environment 33: 1502-1512

Choat B, Gambetta GA, Shackel KA, Matthews MA (2009). Vascular function in grape berries across development and its relevance to apparent hydraulic isolation. Plant Physiology 151: 1677-1687

Choat B, Cobb AR, Jansen S (2008) Tansley Review: Structure and function of bordered pits: new discoveries and impacts on whole plant hydraulic function. New Phytologist 177: 608-625.

Choat B, Jansen S, Zwieniecki MA, Smets E, Holbrook NM. (2004). Changes in pit membrane porosity due to deflection and stretching: the role of vestured pits. Journal of Experimental Botany 55: 1569 - 1575

Choat B, Ball M, Luly J, Holtum J. (2003). Pit membrane porosity and water stress-induced cavitation in four co-existing dry rainforest tree species. Plant Physiology 131: 41-48

Robyn van Heeswijck

The Robyn van Heeswijck Lecture is named in honour of the former Senior Lecturer whose life and world class research was cut short after a courageous battle with cancer. This Lecture recognises early career researchers that share her passion and commitment to the improvement of the grape and wine industry. While at the University of Adelaide (1995-2002), Robyn van Heeswijck researched various aspects of grapevine and molecular biology, with a particularly strong contribution to the area of nitrogen metabolism and phylloxera research. Dr Heeswijck graduated top of her B.Sc. (Hons) degree at the University of New South Wales to be awarded their University Medal. She briefly worked as a research assistant before pursuing her PhD at the famous Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen (1980-1986). Following her return to Australia in 1987, Robyn worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. In the Department of Agriculture, Victoria (1990-1994), she played a key role in establishing the Victorian government’s plant biotechnology unit which has become the most powerful and well-funded government plant biotechnology centre in Australia, a true legacy of Robyn’s vision, skill and determination. Robyn van Heeswijck (1956-2003) is survived by her husband, Peter Høj, and two children, Stine and Torbjørn.

The 2nd A.R. Hickinbotham Lecture

Date/Time: Monday 9th May, 4pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Speaker: Brian Loveys, CSIRO Plant Industry & University of Adelaide

Understanding how grapevines control their water use.

Brief biographical details:

Based in Adelaide, Dr Loveys' research has focused on describing the role played by plant hormones in the control of the growth and development of woody perennial horticultural crops. He is particularly interested in the involvement of the plant hormone abscisic acid in regulating grapevine water use. Dr Loveys aims to provide the Australian winegrape industry with management tools to improve the efficiency of water use.

Dr Loveys studied plant science at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth and joined CSIRO in 1972 after a period of postdoctoral study in the United States of America. Until his retirement from CSIRO in 2010 he was a Chief Research Scientist and is currently continuing his studies as an Honorary Research Fellow.

More details about Dr Loveys can be found at http://www.csiro.au/people/Brian.Loveys.html

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

If you would like to make an appointment with Dr Loveys or would like more information, please contactmatthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au, +61 8 8303 8145  

A.R. Hickinbotham

The A.R. Hickinbotham Lecture is named in honour of the former Roseworthy Lecturer who is regarded as the father of Australian oenology (wine-making) education. This Lecture recognises individuals that have had an impact on the wine industry and are world leaders in the field of oenology. Alan Robb Hickinbotham (1898-1959) joined the staff at Roseworthy College in 1929 as a Lecturer in Physical and Chemical Sciences. In 1936, he established the nation's first wine-making course which evolved into the University of Adelaide's world-renowned Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology which is now run at the Waite Campus. Alan R. Hickinbotham remained at Roseworthy College until 1948. His research and writing on wine-making under Australian conditions laid the foundation for a technically advanced Australian wine industry. The Hickinbotham family continued their father's passion for wine through their ongoing interests in viticulture and wine production. The National Wine Centre has recognised the Hickinbotham family by naming its major function hall after the family while the Hickinbotham Roseworthy Wine Science Laboratory was established at the University's Waite Campus in 1998 with the family's support.

The 4th Harold Woolhouse Lecture

Date/Time: Monday 1st August 2011, 4pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Speaker: José A. Feijó, Universidade de Lisboa, Dept. Biol. Vegetal, Fac. Ciências, P-1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal & Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência, P-2780-156 Oeiras, Portugal

Space and time coordination of cellular growth processes by free cytosolic ions in pollen tubes

Pollen is the male gametophyte of plants, and carries the sperm cells necessary for sexual reproduction of plants. Sperm is delivered to the ovules by pollen tubes, a fast growing cytoplasmic extension of the vegetative cell of the pollen grain. Being amongst the fastest growing cells in Nature, and never dividing, pollen tubes are favourable models for the fundamental understanding of cellular growth and morphogenesis in apically growing cells. Transcriptomics reveals the expression of of about 7.000 genes, but theoretical modeling suggests that the cooperation of all of these into the processes of wall surface and cytoplasmic volume production is a minimal condition to explain most of the morphogenic events that characterize these cells. Spatial and temporal integration of extended biochemical and biophysical processes is mandatory, and in the past we have proposed and demonstrated that ion dynamics can be a common regulator of fundamental growth processes. In order to test this hypothesis we are developing a number of genetic, imaging and electrophysiological approaches to define the set of membrane transporters that could underly the transduction necessary for spatial and temporal coordination. We have uncovered original data in terms of proton pumping, and recently described members of the Glutamate-Receptor Like familly as the first plasma membrane Ca2+-channels in plant cells, defining a new putative signaling mechanism in plants based on the rare aminoacid D-serine. We will provide data suggestive that the feed-back mechanisms by which different ions cooperatively affect fundamental cell biology mechanisms is centered on membrane recycling mechanisms. Advanced imaging methods and Monte-Carlo simulations suggest that sorting of exocytic vesicles might be achieved by direct electric interaction with ion fluxes. We developed stringent 3-D theoretical modeling of ion fluxes and cytosolic diffusion based on the current knowledge of the system. These models are instrumental to define the minimal needs for channels to explain all the available evidence. Hopefully they will allow us to expand these conclusions to a broader understanding of the fundamental basis that govern cellular growth and morphogenesis by directed exocytosis. These findings may have very fundamental implications in our understading of the coordination of complex processes in living cells.

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with José please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

Biography and recent selected publications

José Feijó is Professor Catedratico at the Universidade de Lisboa and Director of the cell imaging unit at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência. He is also the curator of the 'Darwin's Evolution' exhibit developed at the Gulbenkian Foundation (http://expodarwin.up.pt/).

For more information see short cv here or visit his laboratory webpage. 

Tavares B, PN Dias, TF Moura, JA Feijó and A Bicho (2011). Calcium Regulated Anion Channels from Pollen of Lilium longiflorum. New Phytologist (in press)

Michard, E., Lima, P.T., Portes, M.T., Borges, F.S., Silva, A.C., Carvalho, J.E., Liu, L.H., Gilliham, M, Obermeyer, G. and Feijó, J.A. (2011). Glutamate Receptors and D-serine modulate the Ca2+ signature and growth of pollen tubes.Science 332 :434-437, DOI:10.1126/science.1201101 Link

Boavida, L, Borges, FS, Becker, JD, Feijó, JA (2011). A spatial and temporal profile of gene expression during pollen-pistil interactions in Arabidopsis Plant Physiology 155 :2066-2080, DOI:10.1104/pp.110.169813 

McCue AD, Cresti M, Feijó JA and Slotkin RK (2011). Cytoplasmic connection of sperm cells to the pollen vegetative cell nucleus: potential roles of the male germ unit revisited J Exp Bot 62 :1621-1631, doi:10.1093/jxb/err032 

Tavares B, Domingos P, Dias PN, Feijó JA and Bicho A (2011). The Essential Role of Anionic Transport in Plant Cells: The Pollen Tube as a case study J Exp Bot  62 :2273-2298 

Zhao Y, Yan A, Feijo JA, Furutani M, Takenawa T, Hwang I, Fu Y, Yang Z (2010). Phosphoinositides regulate clathrin-dependent endocytosis by at the tip of pollen tubes in Arabidopsis and Tobacco Plant Cell 22 :4031-4044, 10.1105/tpc.110.076760 

Feijó JA (2010). The mathematics of sexual attraction Journal of Biology 9 :18

Cheung, AY, Boavida L, Aggarwal M, Wu HM, Feijo JA (2010). The Pollen Tube Journey and Guidance to the Female Gametophyte J Exp Bot 61 :1907-1915,doi:10.1093/jxb/erq062 

Slotkin, RK, Vaughn, M, Tanurdžić, M, Borges, FS, Becker, JD and Feijó, JA, Martienssen, RA (2008). Reactivation of transposable elements in the vegetative nucleus of pollen. Cell 136 :461-472

Harold Woolhouse

The 2nd Harold Woolhouse Lecture is named in honour of the former Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Professor Woolhouse finished his PhD at the University of Adelaide before spending much of his early career (during the 1960s and 1970s) researching heavy metals and senescence. Between 1980 and 1989, Professor Woolhouse developed and directed the world class plant biology research facility, the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich, United Kingdom. In 1990, he became Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and was responsible for the co-location of the South Australian Research and Development Institute and Primary Industries and Resources South Australia on the Waite Campus. He also masterminded the merging of Roseworthy Agricultural College with the University of Adelaide. He left Adelaide in August 1995 due to ill health and passed away in June 1996.

The Inaugural A.J. Prescott Lecture

Date/Time: Tuesday 4th October 2011, 4pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Speaker: Glyn Bengough, James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland

Details on Glyn's interests and current work can be seen here: http://www.hutton.ac.uk/staff/glyn-bengough

The audience is invited to stay and talk with the speaker and colleagues over refreshments.

For more information or to make an appointment with Glyn please contact matthew.gilliham@adelaide.edu.au

J.A. Prescott

Professor J.A. Prescott was the first Professor of Agricultural Chemistry appointed at the Waite Research Institute, University of Adelaide, in 1924 in its formative years. He was later appointed as Chief of the Division of Soils CSIR in 1929, and from 1938 to 1955 he was the Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, South Australia. His research in soil science and climatology saw him elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1951 and a foundation fellow of the Australian Academy of Sciences in 1954. For a detailed biograpy see here.

The Inaugural Robyn van Heeswijck Lecture

Date/Time: Monday, 15 February 2010, 4:00 pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Cost: FREE

Speaker: Dr Leanne Webb, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Melbourne/CSIRO

Climate change: Current status and future strategies for the Australian wine industry

“Research indicating that greenhouse gases produced by humans are very likely to have contributed to the recent warming of the climate, and that concentrations of these gases are projected to increase in the future, is to me compelling and, of course, central to my work. I do not think any person working in the wine industry can deny how important climate is to their product……so I believe an understanding of the changing climate, and potential implications of this, is essential to the future of this industry”.

Prior to working as a research scientist Leanne Webb spent 3 years employed as a viticulturist for T’Gallant winemakers on the Mornington Peninsula. It was in 2002 that she started working on her PhD project (with Snow Barlow and Penny Whetton) exploring the potential impact of greenhouse gas-induced climate change on the Australian wine industry. Leanne is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Melbourne and the CSIRO in the field of climate change adaptation. This lecture will discuss her research aimed at improving the resilience of the Australian wine sector in adapting to climate change, ensuring that the wine regions have the best biophysical, viticultural and economic information to fully explore any opportunities and threats that may arise from climatic shifts.

The inaugural Robyn van Heeswijck Lecture is named in honour of the former Senior Lecturer whose life and world class research was cut short after a courageous battle with cancer. This Lecture recognises early career researchers that share her passion and commitment to the improvement of the grape and wine industry. While at the University of Adelaide (1995-2002), Robyn van Heeswijck researched various aspects of grapevine and molecular biology, with a particularly strong contribution to the area of nitrogen metabolism and phylloxera research. Dr Heeswijck graduated top of her B.Sc. (Hons) degree at the University of New South Wales to be awarded their University Medal. She briefly worked as a research assistant before pursuing her PhD at the famous Carlsberg Laboratory in Copenhagen (1980-1986). Following her return to Australia in 1987, Robyn worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Melbourne and La Trobe University. In the Department of Agriculture, Victoria (1990-1994), she played a key role in establishing the Victorian government’s plant biotechnology unit which has become the most powerful and well-funded government plant biotechnology centre in Australia, a true legacy of Robyn’s vision, skill and determination. Robyn van Heeswijck (1956-2003) is survived by her husband, Peter Høj, and two children, Stine and Torbjørn.

Contact: Dr Amanda Able, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Business: +61 8 8303 7245

Bob Symons Lecture

Date/Time: Monday 24th May, 4pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Cost: FREE

Speaker: Professor Dieter Söll, Yale University

'The evolution of the genetic code: a work in progress'
At the time of its elucidation the genetic code was suggested to be universal in all organisms, and the result of a ‘frozen accident’ unable to evolve further even if the current state were suboptimal. How do we see the genetic code today – 40 years after the familiar ‘alphabet’ with 20 amino acids was established? Of course, the ‘genetic code’ is the product of its interpretation by the translational machinery and it is only static as long as the components of this machinery do not evolve or are strictly conserved between organisms. Professor Soll, with over 470 scientific publications, has led the team which discovered selenocysteine and pyrrolysine, the 21st and 22nd amino acids which are directly inserted into growing polypeptides during translation. Based on the realization that protein plasticity is a feature of living cells, man-made expansion of the genetic code has begun by adding non-standard amino acids to the repertoire of the cell. Professor Soll will discuss these present evolutionary developments and how they underpin the creation of new organisms in the realm of synthetic biology.

The 3rd Bob Symons lecture is named in honour of the former Emeritus Professor in Plant Science at the Waite. Professor Symons had a long and distinguished career with the University of Adelaide, joining the University in 1962. The main research by Professor Symons between 1962 and 1990 in the Department of Biochemistry focused upon understanding the structure and function of viral nucleic acids in relation to infectivity and the development of plant disease. However, he also contributed significantly to the understanding of protein synthesis and ribozyme activity. Professor Symons was also responsible for commercial applications of his research leading to the establishment of the first Australian company to produce and market molecular biological for research. In 1991, Professor Symons moved his research to the Waite Campus where he focused upon viral diseases of grapevine and established Waite Diagnostics which still provides a service to grape growers in the diagnosis and control of grapevine pathogens. He retired in 2002 due to ill health and passed away in October 2006.

Contact: Dr Amanda Able, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Business: +61 8 8303 7245

The Inaugural A. E. V. Richardson Lecture

Date/Time: Thursday, 15 October 2009, 4:00 pm
Location: Plant Genomics Centre, Waite Campus
Cost: FREE

Speaker: Dr R.A. (Tony) Fischer FAIAST FTSE AM, Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO

Tony Fischer is a distinguished crop scientist who has been recognised previously for his contribution to wheat agronomy, crop physiology and genetic improvement through awards such as the C.M. Donald medal, the William Farrer memorial medal and membership to the Order of Australia. He has travelled widely in the developing world and has a particular interest in agricultural development. The title of the inaugural A.E.V. Richardson Lecture will be ‘What's happening to cereal yields globally?’. Cereal yield progress has been and will remain vital for moderating cereal price increases and feeding the world's poor adequately. The lecture will present recent progress in cereal yields (wheat, rice, maize) across a number of key growing locations in the world, seeking lessons particularly from the perspectives of breeding, agronomy and crop physiology. It will then discuss prospects for further yield growth, under the headings of yield gap closing and of yield potential increase. The roles of crop physiology, molecular biology and genetic engineering will be considered, as well as implications for natural resource use efficiency.

The inaugural A.E.V. Richardson Lecture is named in honour of the former foundation Professor of Agriculture and first Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Before joining the University of Adelaide in 1924, Professor Richardson was the Superintendent of Agriculture for Victoria and played a large role in establishing the School of Agriculture at the University of Melbourne. His direction of agricultural education and research continued during his time as Director of the Waite (1924 to 1938). He preached and practised a constant theme: advances in agricultural practice and increased productivity depended on scientifically based experimentation. Richardson's main fields of personal research were cereal agronomy, pasture research and wheat-breeding. From 1934 to 1946, Richardson was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CSIR and then Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in 1949. Richardson directed research and development in Australian primary production over the period of its most rapid growth. A.E.V. Richardson died in December 1949.

Contact: Dr Amanda Able, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Business: +61 8 8303 7245

The Harold Woolhouse Lecture 2009

Date/Time: Monday, 3 August 2009, 4:00 pm
Location: Plant Research Centre Auditorium, Waite Campus
Cost: FREE

Speaker: Professor John Bowman, ARC Federation Fellow, Monash University/UC Davis

As more plant genome sequences become available, researchers are increasingly using comparative genomics to address some of the major questions in plant biology. Professor John Bowman leads a team of researchers who are interested in answering the question of how a single plant cell develops into a multicellular embryo with specific tissue and organ patterns. The title of the 2009 Harold Woolhouse lecture will be ‘Evolution of patterning genes in land plants’. In particular, Professor Bowman has investigated the history of genes involved in establishing leaf polarity in the model plant Arabidopsis. Expression and functional studies in early diverging lineages of land plants provide clues as to ancestral functions, and thus to the evolution of land plant morphology. Professor Bowman will discuss how the ancestral roles of patterning genes may lie in interactions with environmental parameters critical in the transition from an aquatic algal ancestor to a land plant.

The 2nd Harold Woolhouse Lecture is named in honour of the former Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Professor Woolhouse finished his PhD at the University of Adelaide before spending much of his early career (during the 1960s and 1970s) researching heavy metals and senescence. Between 1980 and 1989, Professor Woolhouse developed and directed the world class plant biology research facility, the John Innes Centre (JIC) in Norwich, United Kingdom. In 1990, he became Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute and was responsible for the co-location of the South Australian Research and Development Institute and Primary Industries and Resources South Australia on the Waite Campus. He also masterminded the merging of Roseworthy Agricultural College with the University of Adelaide. He left Adelaide in August 1995 due to ill health and passed away in June 1996.

Contact: Dr Amanda Able, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Business: +61 8 8303 7245

School Development Program

Part of the Development Program in the School, and is brought to you by the School's Research Committee.

The School is introducing a new series of talks to help us all with our research activities.

The next seminar topic is: To be Announced

If you have any questions in regards to the development program, please contact Helen Oliver on 8303 7179 or email helen.oliver@adelaide.edu.au

We hope to see you all there.

Waite Seminar Series: Call for Speakers

A new series of School Seminars is being organised within the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine. The aim is to present topics attractive to colleagues across the different disciplines of the School, with talks being given by people who are internationally recognised in their area of expertise.

The seminars will held in the Charles Hawker Conference Centre on Mondays from 1-2pm.

• Waite Seminar Series Timetable
  • Download Semester 1 2009 Timetable

For further questions regarding the Series contact Chris Ford or Otto Schmidt.

These seminars will be advertised in the AFW Bulletin.

Roseworthy Seminar Series

The discipline of Agricultural & Animal Science holds regular seminars at the Roseworthy Campus in the Stefanson Lecture Theatre, Williams Building.

• Roseworthy Seminar Series Timetable

Science and Statistics Forum

To be advised

• Past Science & Statistics Forum