Dr Manny Delhaize: unravelling acid soil tolerance

Dr Manny Delhaize is working to improve the acid soil tolerance of crops and pastures.

• 9 May 2006 | Updated 24 November 2011

Overview

• Current activities
• Background
• Academic qualifications

Current activities

Dr Manny Delhaize’s research focuses on plant tolerance to acid soils.

The major factors that limit plant production on acid soils are the metals aluminium and manganese that are dissolved into the soil solution.

Along with long time colleagues, Dr Peter Ryan and Ms Diane Hebb, the researchers have provided an understanding of the mechanisms of aluminium and manganese tolerances in plants.

More recently they characterised the genes that confer tolerance to these metals and shown their value as molecular markers and in transgenic approaches for enhancing the acid soil tolerance of crops and pastures.

Background

Over the years, Dr Delhaize’s research interests have been in plant physiology of mineral nutrition with an emphasis on understanding molecular mechanisms of metal tolerances and nutrient efficiencies.

Academic qualifications

Dr Delhaize completed a Bachelor of Science from University of Western Australia, Perth, in 1983.

He was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy from Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, in 1987.

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