Past Honours Projects

• Molecular physiology of cell specific nutrient storage in leaves (6 projects)

• 1-MCP treatment of strawberries: effects on post-harvest grey mould development and quality of fruit.
• Functional analysis of defence genes associated with the modulation of reactive oxygen species in barley
• Identification and analysis of QTL associated with tolerance to oxidative stress in barley
• Physiological and molecular characterization of the effect of 1-MCP on banana-ripening processes
• Identification of a genetic basis for powdery mildew resistance or calcium efficiency in strawberries
• Identification and preliminary characterization of a genetic basis for tolerance to Pyrenophora teres toxins in barley
• Understanding the physiological & molecular basis of biotic stress, grain development & postharvest changes

• Genetic diversity in populations of one-leaf Cape tulip using molecular markers.
• Mechanism of herbicide resistance in weeds
• Inheritance of paraquat resistance in annual ryegrass
• Genetic Diversity and Spread of Giant Reed (Arundo donax L.)

• Developmental and nutritional influences on frost damage in wheat
• Increasing grain Zn content in wheat to enhance its nutritive value
• Understanding the limitations to growth in saline-sodic soils
• The importance of root characteristics to drought tolerance in winter cereals
• Understanding the importance of genetic differences in root growth in wheat to adaptation in SA

• Vector status of immune-induced mosquitoes

• Assessment of fatty acid intakes and status of toddlers and pre-schoolers

• The microflora and sensory analysis of San Francisco sourdough produced with two varieties of hard wheat flour.
• The microbial flora of a cooked manufactured meat product through processing and storage

• Transformation of lobster shell into a form suitable for inclusion in food.
• Application of grape seed extract as a preservative in food.

• Investigation of genetic, biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying traits that impact on the quality of wheat
• High lutein wheat for nutritionally enhanced foods

• Regulation of flavonoid synthesis in tissues of developing wheat grains
• Use of flour and germ from high xanthophyll bread wheat for nutritionally improved end-products.

• Linkage disequilibrium and population structure in self-pollinated crop species: a computer simulation study
• Genetic variation in wheat gluten proteins: does it affect human intolerance to gluten?
• Molecular markers in cereal genetics and breeding
• Novel protein alleles from synthetic wheats

• The project aimed to isolate genomic DNA fragments from the T-DNA integration sites of rice enhancer trap transgenic lines that exhibited cell-specific patterns of GFP expression.
• Characterisation of enhancer elements from enhancer trap lines of rice.
• Elements from enhancer trap lines giving cell-specific expression

• Chromosome pairing, recombination and DNA repair are essential processes during meiosis in sexually reproducing organisms.
• Expression analysis of a putative recombination gene in bread wheat: Ta SSRP1
• Functional chracterisation of cereal MSH7 mismatch repair genes
• Sex in the grasses (the cellular process of meiosis)
• Meiosis in wheat

• Preventing chalkbrood in blue-banded bees
• Latent infection of lentils by Botrytis species
• Ascochyta blight of faba beans: maturation and release of ascospores from stubble

• Genetic and chemical studies of muntries to improve fruit quality
• Identifying QTLs for sustainable agriculture using Medicago truncatula mapping populations
• Development of molecular markers for “bar-coding” selections of Kunzea pomifera for the muntries native food industry

• Investigations into the genetic variation in hydration capacity of faba beans and the route of water uptake in the seed
• Infection of Cercospora zonata on faba beans

• Behavioural ecology of Lycosid spiders as arthropod predators in Brassica crops
• An investigation of sex allocation in blue banded bees
• Biological control of insects with predators
• Biological control of wheel cactus: genetic diversity of Dactylopius opuntiae and Opuntia rubusta

• Engineering the rice plant for increased salinity tolerance using GAL4 technology

• Wheat grain tissues and signaling involved in the synthesis of late maturity a-amylase (LMA) compared with á-amylase synthesis in germinating grains
• Temperature during wheat grain development and its effect on induction of late maturity ?-amylase (LMA)

• Transfer of Alfalfa mosaic virus coat protein transgenes in Medicago species through artificial hybridization: relevance to resistance breeding.
• Species and strain specific reverse transcription PCR detection of pea seedborne mosaic and wheat streak mosaic viruses

• Can plant (Arabidopsis thaliana) G-proteins interact with G-Protein Coupled Receptors?

• Investigation of interactions between grape and wine pigments and red grape marc constituents

• Management of lateral shoot development in a cool climate

• Over-mature Shiraz and its effects on wine quality.
• Latent infection of lentils by Botrytis species
• Investigation of residual lactose in wine

• Sensory quality of different almond cultivars
• Breeding better almonds

• How do plant growth regulators affect the grapevine flowering process?

• Proteomic analysis of grapevine tissue.
• Consequences of extended maceration in red wine making
• Investigating substrate selectivity of a glucosyltransferase for secondary metabolite synthesis in grapevines
• Glucosyltransferases in the developing grape berry
• A proteomics approach to understanding grape berry development
• Mapping "bitter" genes in almonds
• Isolation and functional comparison of related glucosyltransferases from almonds

• Gross lees treatment and time on lees on a Grenache wine

• Characterisation of nitrate transport in grapevines.
• Influence of root development and abiotic soil stress on molybdenum nutrition in Merlot
• Molecular and physiological characterisation of ammonium transport in plants
• Functional analysis of the ammonium efflux transporter AtAMT1;4
• RNAi silencing of PBM transport proteins in nitrogen fixing soybean nodules
• Grapevine Nitrogen Uptake and Metabolism
• Improving Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Plants

• Biosynthesis of inositol and its derivatives by a genetically engineered opi1 mutant of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
• Maximum YAN requirement as a predictor of fermentative performance in low nitrogen media.
• Expression and characterisation of beta-glucosidase gene from Oenococcus oeni for oenological use
• Validation of a new automated 64 vessel high-throughput yeast fermentation system

• Characterisation of commercial yeast strains for their ability to release and convert volatile thiols in Sauvignon Blanc
• Grapevine petioles: hydraulic fuses controlled by aquaporins?
• Novel techniques to measure vine water stress
• Berry cell death: an important phase in ripening and flavour development?

• Suspension cultures as a system to study tartaric acid biosynthesis and flavanol glucosylation in Vitis vinifera.

• Qualitative Infrared Spectroscopy to Determine the Effect of Routine Winery Operations on Wine

• Microbial modulation of green characters in Sauvignon Blanc grapes and wine

• Enhancing the flavour and aroma of wine

• Barriers to entry in terms of finding sustainable sales channels in China's wine market
• Importance of region of origin in wine-buying decision making
• Consumer risk-reduction strategies (RRS) in the Australian wine market
• Winery cellar door visitation's multiplier effect on buying behaviour in wine retail outlets

• Examination of attitudes, perceptions and behavioural characteristics of ethnic Chinese wine consumers in the Adelaide wine market.
• University students' perceptions and misconceptions of "Natural Foods": A qualitative and quantitative exploration
• The importance of Singaporean teenager's purchase decisions on food products
• The relationship between consumers' wine knowledge and their acceptance of more complex wines

• The use of zein as a feed additive to create a weak point in wool - an alternative to mulesing in sheep.
• The effect of polyamine metabolism on pelage hair follicle initiation during murine foetal development
• Impact of nutrition on the bare breech phenotype
• Physiological and nutritional basis of low staple strength
• Skin Stem Cells- wound repair and hair growth

• Value-adding South Australian lamb
• A novel method to remove the effect of boar taint

• Effect of Vitamin A on beef marbling from a 3D perspective.
• The role of a candidate gene in cattle net feed intake with the aim of potentially selecting for that gene.
• Meat Quality in Beef Cattle
• Optimising bone grafts: characterisation of osteoblasts from different skeletal sites

• Atriplex species as vineyard cover crops
• Native grasses for vineyards and revegetation

• Land use efficiency in novel intercrop mixtures

• Survey of ovine nematodes in hares
• The limits to the global distribution of reptiles
• Diet quality: do hares eat a higher quality diet than rabbits?
• Resource guarding: do older hares exclude younger hares from point sources of food?
• Resource guarding: do rabbits exclude hares from food resources?
• Responses of surviving wallabies to culling
• Freshwater tortoises - nest predation, homing, longevity, and other possibilities

• Epigenetic regulation of development in bovine foetus

• Investigation of Gli1 transcription factor as a negative regulator of intestinal stem cell division

• Osteogenic properties of cells from osteoporotic bone
• An investigation of cases of dog bite attacks presented to veterinary practices in Adelaide

• A novel mutant probiotic & the potential to alleviate colonic inflammation in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• A novel mutant probiotic and the potential to alleviate bowel injury in a rat model of chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis
• Effects of apparent high amylose wheat grain on large bowel function and composition in rats with experimentally-induced colitis
• Effects of apparent high amylose wheat grain on large bowel function and composition in rats
• Development & characterization of a chemically-induced model of enteritis in broiler chickens
• A novel mutant probiotic & the potential to alleviate colonic inflammation in a rat model of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)
• A novel mutant probiotic and the potential to alleviate bowel injury in a rat model of chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucositis
• Development & characterization of a chemically-induced model of enteritis in broiler chickens

• Can prophylactic dietary zinc supplementation reduce the susceptibility of H. pylori infection in mice lacking metallothionein-I and II expression?

• Insulin-like growth factor-2 and placental efficiency: genetic determinants of the intrauterine supply line
• Can maternal dietary arginine supplementation increase placental function and fetal survival at birth?
• Do imprinted small RNAs mediate early life programming of diabetes and obesity?
• How does the oxygen concentration used during embryo culture influence development of the sheep embryo?
• Developmental programming of metabolic and cardiovascular health – transgenerational effects of prenatal nutrition?

• How does growth hormone increase fetal growth in the pig?
• Developing new approaches to increasing maternal GH during pregnancy
• What are the effects of growth hormone on placental development and function?

• Response to selection method on visual traits in South Australian merino sheep

• Seasonal increases in early pregnancy failure in domestic sows: association with impaired ovarian development, oocyte quality and embryo development

• Identification of gut microflora shifts in poultry associated with dietary medium chain fatty acid supplementation

• The Role of Flightless I (FliI) during Pre-Natal Hair Follicle Development - Therapeutic Means of Creating Functional Skin for Burns Victims.
• Does a sweet diet make more hair follicles-The influence of high glucose diets on hair follicle development.

• Simple solid waste digestion
• Comparison of continuous flow stirred tanks and plug flow anaerobic digesters

• Effects of lactoferrin on selected immune system parameters and gastrointestinal morphology of chickens  (pdf 18kB)
• The influence of diet-induced changes on the secretion of mucus by goblet cells in chicken intestines (pdf 18kB)

Dr Jason Eglinton (Barley Group)

Projects in collaboration with Joe White Maltings

• Malt Heat Load
• Malthouse Germination – A Critical Parameter
• Oxalic Acid Production in Pale Malt

• Matrix Biology Unit

• Characterisation of a ‘super dwarf’ rice line as a model species for cereals

• Structure and behaviour of wheat and barley genomes: a fine study of the Ph2 locus (multiple projects)

• Isolation and characterization of E2Fe transcription factor from wheat grain
• Analysis of drought inducible and tissue specific promoters in transgenic wheat

• Osteogenic properties of cells from osteoporotic bone

• Effects of ABA expression of cell specific ion channels in Arabidopsis
• Identification and characterisation of novel genes for sodium exclusion in Arabidopsis

• Forward genetics of sodium exclusion from shoot in cereals

• Identification of gut microflora shifts in poultry associated with dietary medium chain fatty acid supplementation