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A MAGIC approach to improved wheat quality

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +1100

The development of superior high quality wheat varieties is a main focus of scientists from CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship. Wheat is not only Australia’s most important grain crop but one of the most important sources of food in the world.

Mum and dad's genes

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +1100

Do you listen more to mum or dad? Each parent contributes a different version (allele) of every gene to their offspring. Usually both alleles are active in the offspring, but for a small subset of genes, called imprinted genes, an allele will only be switched on if it comes from either the mother or the father.

Science in the kitchen

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +1100

In this short video Dr Rhonda Foley takes you on a journey from breeding lupin to eating lupin! Dr Foley investigates the protein content of lupin grain in the hope of developing a healthier lupin for human consumption. (2:36)

Vigorous wheats beating weeds for water and nutrients

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 19:20:00 +1100

Vigorous new wheat germplasm developed by CSIRO researchers that can beat weeds to precious nutrients and water could save Australian wheat growers millions of dollars per year.

New CSIRO-UWA lab taking crop genomics forward in leaps and bounds

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +1000

The new CSIRO-The University of Western Australia (UWA) Laboratory for Molecular Plant Pathology and Crop Genomics, located at the CSIRO Centre for Environment and Life Sciences in Floreat, Western Australia, is already producing some fantastic results for plant science.

PlantScan ready for business

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 00:00:00 +1000

The newest addition to the phenomics technologies is up and running. After almost two years of design and development PlantScan will soon be generating a massive two terabytes of data per day.

Using science to feed the future: Australia and China join forces

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO is partnering with China's leading research agency to develop solutions and partnerships that will bring benefits to millions of people in China and around the world.

That's M for Magnificent! CSIRO at the core of new table grape release

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO has released its new table grape variety M 44-14 in conjunction with the Australian grape industry. Bred over twenty years, this important variety offers growers a high quality, late season option that is suitable for many grape-growing regions of Australia.

CSIRO Plant Industry newsletter archives

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO Plant Industry produces a newsletter four times a year covering our plant, agricultural, forestry, horticultural and environment research. Read past editions here.

Sweetness and flies: insects help in the search for new sugars

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO scientist Dr Anne Rae and her team went on the search for new types of sugars to act as healthy sweetening agents, using a novel testing approach with fruit flies as the test subject.

Computer identification tool for Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100

The web version of Australian Tropical Rainforest Plants Edition 6 launched at Australian Tropical Herbarium, Cairns on 9 December 2010.

Observing the effects of climate change

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO Plant Industry scientists have developed a new tool to help them investigate the future impact of climate change on both native and introduced plant communities.

Plant Industry scientists win awards

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100

Scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry continue to receive well-deserved recognition throughout the industry.

CSIRO intensifies search for wood trait markers

Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +1100

Expanding upon the success of the Hottest 100 project, Dr Simon Southerton and his team are set to undertake an extensive search for genetic markers to improve the productivity and sustainability of plantation forestry.

Identifying markers for a sustainable plantation industry

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +1000

In a discovery that will substantially improve the productivity and sustainability of plantation forestry, CSIRO scientists have identified a method to increase pulp yield and growth rate in eucalypts.

New home for native orchids

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000

Scientists have been studying three rare and endangered orchids on Alum Mountain, Bulahdelah, New South Wales, Australia, for a relocation project to allow construction of a road bypass.

Modelling disease resistance

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000

Biologists are one step closer to understanding precisely how plants respond to and resist disease infection with the recent production of a three-dimensional model of an important component of a plant disease resistance protein.

Where does a tree's strength hide?

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:00:00 +1000

A group of proteins crucial to plant stem biomechanics have recently been identified by CSIRO scientists and their collaborators.

Brachypodium: the small plant making a big impact on root research

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

Brachypodium distachyon may be a tiny plant but it is having a big impact on cereal productivity research at CSIRO and around the world.

Closing in on aphid resistance

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

In the search for effective, broad-spectrum resistance to aphids in a range of legume crops, CSIRO researchers are trying to isolate major aphid resistance genes and identify the key genes that are activated when the plant recognises an aphid attack.

Time ticking on the need for phosphorus use efficiency

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

Water and oil are often depicted as the two limiting resources on which our future depends. However a less well-known resource, phosphorus, is just as important to ensuring our agricultural productivity. According to scientists, we are quickly running out of the 'cheap' sources of phosphorus that we use presently to make fertilisers.

The fastest Omega-3 in science

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +1100

CSIRO Plant Industry researchers through the Food Futures National Research Flagship have developed a faster, cheaper way to assemble complex gene groups to make better food crops.

Use them twice

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100

A new CSIRO Plant Industry project takes dual-purpose crops to a new whole-farm level, increasing flexibility for farmers as climate conditions become more challenging and offering potential extra earnings of A$150m per year in New South Wales alone.

Lantana: the importance of knowing your enemy

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100

Detective-like research has revealed that Australian weedy lantana is likely to have originated from the Caribbean and Venezuela and not, as it was believed, from Brazil and Mexico where many of its bio-control agents have been sourced from, raising the prospect of finding more effective agents than those that have been released in the past.

Phenonet: big brother in the back paddock

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100

Researchers at the High Resolution Plant Phenomics Centre are using the CSIRO-developed FLECK™ technology to remotely monitor and record environmental conditions and plant performance in field trials.

Seedless gold

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +1100

Two new CSIRO bred easy peel mandarin varieties are now available to farmers, who will grow the trees and release the fruit onto the market in the next few years.

CottASSIST: new and easier tools for cotton production

Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:00:00 +1100

Cotton managers now have free web access to a new generation of computer extension tools called CottASSIST.