Fit for purpose seeds
Domain Leader: Professor Mathew Lewsey
There are complex constraints and threats to on-farm production and profitability that can be addressed through the development of seeds with optimised and desirable traits. Past breeding strategies had a narrow focus solely on yield traits, such as seed size, mass and number. However, this focus has resulted in decreased nutritional quality.
How is our research addressing this challenge?
Our mission is to use plant biology to engineer ‘fit-for-purpose’, hardier seeds and plants that deliver higher yields to best serve human nutritional needs and processing attributes.
ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space
Plants for Space (P4S) is an international research consortium building novel solutions for long term space habitation and on Earth sustainability. With the goal of enabling humans to survive and thrive in space, four missions guide the P4S research efforts:
- complete nutrition pant-based foods
- zero-waste plants optimised for controlled environments
- on-demand bioresource production
- future-ready workforce and society
Engineering Nutrient Symbiosis for Agriculture (ENSA)
Involving multiple international partners, the ENSA project aims to use naturally occurring biological nitrogen fixation to provide nitrogen to crop plants in small-holder farms in sub-Saharan Africa. The project comprises two stages, one completed and another one in progress. The first one focused on the early recognition steps that allow rhizobial perception. The focus of the second phase is on engineering nodule organogenesis in cereals and establishing a framework of understanding to tackle the challenge of engineering bacterial infection.
Legume innovation for future agri-food systems: N2CROP
N2CROP is an international hub focus on legume research and innovation funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The aim of the project is to use legume symbiotic nitrogen fixation as a basis for producing high-quality and nutritious plant protein in sustainable agri-food systems.
The project will help to develop future agri-food systems powered by legume intercropping.