SomeappearancecharactersoflupinmightbeveryusefulasvisualmarkersforaGMlupincrop,toallowsegregationofthecropfromotherconventionalcultivars.Twosuchcharacters are petalcoloration and seedhilummarking.F1seedisavailablefromcrossesbetweenparentlinesthatdifferinthesecharacteristics.Theprojectinvolvesdeterminingthegeneticsofinheritanceofeachtrait,toestablishitsgeneticbasis.Ifsinglegenesareinvolvedineachtrait,thentheutility ofthesefortaggingGMlineswillbeassessedfurtherbycrossingand segregationanalysis.
Genetic characterisation ofbacterialspeckdisease resistance in curranttomato
Awellstudieddiseaseresistancesystemisthatofthegene-for-geneinteractionbetweenbacterialspeck andthePtolocusoftomato.Inthenearrelative,curranttomato,insteadofasinglegene,itappearsthattwodifferentgenessegregateindependentlythatbotharerequiredforresistancetobacterialspeck.Thisprojectwillfollowupthatobservation,usingmaterialthathasbeenselectedbysingleseeddescent,toidentifyandcharacterisethetwogenes,includingdeterminationofwhetheroneofthesegenesisthePtogeneandifso,whatis the othergene?
Role ofmycorrhizalsymbiosis in Pnutrition ofnative plants
Room1.127 Agriculture CentralWing;Ph 6488 1993;Emailtimothy.colmer@uwa.edu.au;edward.barrett-lennard@uwa.edu.au SALINITYAND WATERLOGGINGTOLERANCE INCROPS AND PASTURES Crops and pastures with greatersaltand waterloggingtolerance than currentoptions are required to makesaline land moreproductive. There are manyopportunities available forresearch in this field and we wouldbe happyto have discussions with anystudentinterested in workingin this generalarea. The followingareexamples ofprojects ofcurrentinterestto us:
Salinity and submergencetolerance in halophytes.Halophytesgrow naturallyin saline soils – butmanyofthese soils are also prone to waterloggingand plants can even experience completesubmergence duringfloods. Mechanisms ofsalinitytolerance in halophyteshavepreviouslybeenstudied, butphysiologicalresponses ofhalophytes to completesubmergence in combination withsalinityneed to be furtherelucidated. The scope forprojects is large, as variousphysiologicalaspects need to be studied.
Variationfor salttolerance withinMedicago polymorpha. Recentexperimentshave foundvariation in salttolerance within a commercialcultivarofburrmedic (Medicago polymorpha).Furtherexperiments are needed to determine the source ofthis variation and utilise itfordevelopinga more salttolerantburrmedic cultivar.
Waterlogging/salinity tolerance inclones ofpuccinellia. Puccinellia is a halophytic grass used forpasture on saltland. Itis a cross-pollinatingplantand seed lines are therefore geneticallydiverse.This species can be exceptionallytolerantto waterloggingundersaline conditions, with increasedgrowth underwaterlogged/salinecompared with drained/saline conditions (mostrare amongsthigherplants). However,we suspectthatdifferentaccessions/seed sources varyin tolerance. This projectwillscreen a range ofvegetativelypropagated clones ofpuccinellia fortolerance towaterlogging/salinity. The bestselections willbe furthertested forK+/Na+ regulation and traitsassociated with betterrootaeration.
Screeningbarley cultivars for tolerance to salinity atgermination. Barleyis wellknown as arelativelysalt-tolerantcereal. However, this reputation is based mainlyon its tolerance to saltafterestablishment. Saltland in Western Australia is generallymostsaltyatthe startofthe growingseason as seeds germinate.However, little is known abouthowthis saltimpacts on the germinationofdifferentbarleycultivars. This projectwillassess the salttolerance atgermination fora range ofbarleycultivars. There are two criticalresearch questions:(a)Do cultivars differin theirabilitytowithstand saltbefore germination occurs? (b)Do cultivars differin theirabilityto tolerate saltduringgermination?