Dr Mandy Walker: researching genes for fruit quality

Dr Mandy Walker is investigating how the compounds responsible for colour and mouthfeel are made in fruit.

• 8 March 2010 | Updated 24 November 2011

Overview

• Current activities 
• Background
• Academic qualifications

Current activities

Dr Walker heads a team investigating how flavonoids are made in fruit such as grapes and cherries.

By manipulating the genes responsible for forming the coloured anthocyanins and the astringent tannins found naturally in many types of fruit, Dr Walker and the team are developing tools for improved colour and mouthfeel of fruit crops and ultimately wine.

Background

After completing her doctorate at CSIRO Plant Industry, Dr Walker pursued postdoctoral research on the regulation of leaf hair development and flavonoid synthesis in Arabidopsis at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, for ten years. 

Dr Walker has now been in Adelaide for seven years leading a research team which has discovered the genes controlling colour in both apples and grapes.

Qualifications

Dr Walker was awarded a:

• Bachelor of Science with First Class Honours from the Australian National University (ANU), Canberra, Australia
• Doctor of Philosophy in Plant Molecular Genetics, also from ANU – awarded on the basis of research carried out at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra.

See a list of scientific papers published by Dr Walker on the next page.