Centre News - 2006

Director of KRIBB visits the Centre in Perth

Dr Rhee Sang-Ki, President and CEO of the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) in Daejeon, together with Dr Kwak Sang-Soo, Director of the KRIBB Environmental Biotechnology Research Centre, visited the Centre on 6th December 2006. This was a reciprocal visit to that made by Professors Small and Smith to KRIBB in October. Dr Rhee also signed an MOU with UWA, further helping to build the bridges between our institutions, facilitating joint research and training activities in the future.

Photo: Left to right; Dr Sang-Soo Kwak, Professor Ian Small and Dr Sang Ki Rhee

Humboldt Fellowship to Center Researcher

Dr Joshua Heazlewood has been awarded a Humboldt Research Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for a 6 month research project in Germany in 2007. The research project will be hosted by Dr Weckwerth's group (Integrative Proteomics and Metabolomics) at the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm (just outside Berlin). The project will continue an ongoing project investigating protein phosphorylation in Arabidopsis mitochondria using new approaches and technologies at the host institution.

Photo: Dr Heazlewood in training for his stay in Germany....

Centre Research Strategy Meeting

The Centre met for 3 days of scientific discussion and strategic planning at Murramarang Resort, New South Wales, 28-30 November 2006.

Photo: Centre Members Photo at Murramarang Resort

Centre researchers secure funding for phenomics and metabolomics research

Ms , Federal Minister for Education Science and Training, announced on 27th November 2006, investments in biotechnology infrastructure through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). Centre Chief Investigators Murray Badger and Barry Pogson played key roles in securing $15M for a National Plant Phenomics Facility, while Steve Smith and Harvey Millar were key proponents of the $9.5M investment in Metabolomics Australia. Cutting edge plant imaging and phenotyping facilities will be based in Adelaide and Canberra while UWA and Murdoch University will co-host the WA node of Metabolomics Australia. CIs Badger, Pogson, Smith and Millar will play key management roles in the respective Facilities.

http://www.ncris.dest.gov.au/

New Agilent 6510 QToF LC/MS for proteomics

On November 20th the Center took delivery of a brand new Agilent Quadrupole Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer for proteomic analyses. This state of the art mass spectrometer is only the third system installed in the world and with it fast scanning capabilities and mass acuracy will enable researchers at the Center to undertake more challenging proteomic studies. The system also comes with the powerful HPLC-Chip Cube interface which provides a simple and reproducible interface for nanospray analysis of samples.

New ARC Fellowships for the Centre in 2007

In the 2006 ARC Discovery Grant Round announced in early November four research fellowships were awarded to Centre-based researchers. Professor Harvey Millar was awarded an ARC Australian Professorial Fellowship, Dr Holger Eubel and Dr Nicolas Taylor were both awarded ARC Australian Post-doctoral Fellowships and Dr Boris Baer was awarded a QEII Research Fellowship (jointly with CPEB and Animal Biology at UWA)

Professor Millar is working on the impact of oxidative stress on mitochondrial function

Dr Eubel is studying protein complexes and supercomplexes in plant organelles

Dr Taylor is analysing the response of Arabidopsis mitochondrial function to cold temperature

Dr Baer is studying bee proteomics and energy biology in sperm survival and storage

Championing the Centre in China

The Centre has already established a joint laboratory at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, representing part of a strategic program to build strong links with Chinese students, scientists and research institutions. In October 2006, Director Ian Small and Chief Investigator Steve Smith visited Beijing (Peking) University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing University of Technology (BUT), Beijing Association for Science and Technology (BAST), The second High School attached to Beijing Normal University, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Shanghai Association of Science and Technology (SAST) and Shanghai Jiaotong University. The visit will help to secure further student placements within the Centre and to build research collaborations.

Reaching out to Korea

Korean research and training is an emerging power-house in the Asia-Pacific region.

Building links with Korean science at all levels is seen as a major potential benefit to the Centre. In October 2006, Director Ian Small and Chief Investigator Steve Smith visited Korea University in Seoul, the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB) in Daejeon, the Daejeon Science High School, and the Korea Science Foundation. Future initiatives of the Centre will build upon this visit to forge links at all levels from high school to university and research institute.

Ian Small and Steve Smith raise Centre profile in Japan

Director Ian Small and Chief Investigator Steve Smith spent one week in October 2006, visiting top research laboratories in Japan with the aim of building research collaborations. They visited the University of Tokyo, The Centre for Gene Research at Nagoya University, Nagoya City University, Kobe University, the National Institute for Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) Tsukuba, The RIKEN Plant Science Centre, Yokohama, the National Institute for Basic Biology (NIBB) in Okazaki, and Ezaki Glico Co Ltd, Osaka. It is expected that reciprocal visits and joint projects will result from this very successful tour, and help to enhance Centre research output and quality.

UWA Expo 2006

The Centre took part in this massive event on Sunday August 20 where thousands of people attended. Students and staff impressed the members of the public with their scientific expertise, and gave out specially marked rock candy, plant word puzzles and coloured pencils. The sun was shining - a bonus!

Click on the following links for photos from the event...
Estelle and Etienne at the exhibit
David talks to the public 1
David talks to the public 2

Harvey Millar on "The Science Show"

On August 19, Centre Professor Harvey Millar spoke with Robin Williams on ABC's The Science Show about "Proteins and energy flow in plant cells."

Click here for more information including audio and a transcript.

Centre sponsors 8th International Congress of Plant Molecular Biology

The Centre is proud to be sponsoring the 8th International Congress of Plant Molecular Biology, Adelaide 20-25 August 2006. The Congress brings together several thousand researchers from around the World to discuss the many different aspects of plant biology that are studied at the molecular level. The Centre is sponsoring the Session devoted to Carbohydrate Metabolism. The Session is chaired by Professor Alison Smith (John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK) and the keynote speakers are Professor Mark Stitt (Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Plant Physiology, Golm, Germany) and Professor Sam Zeeman (Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH Zurich, Switzerland). All three are acclaimed researchers in Plant Energy Biology and all are strongly associated with our Centre.

HFSP Fellowship takes Ryan's plant research to La Jolla

Plant Energy Biology scientist Dr Ryan Lister has been awarded a prestigious Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Fellowship to study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California.

WA Minister for Energy, Science and Innovation visits the Centre

The Hon Francis Logan MLA, WA Minster for Energy, Science and Innovation, visited the Centre in Perth on 5th July 2006. The research carried out in the Centre was outlined to Minister Logan, who then toured facilities and met research staff.

Free Radical Research Conference in Perth

The ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology (PEB) is pleased to announce its sponsorship of the 15th Annual Meeting of the Society for Free Radical Research Australasia, being held for the first time in Perth, Western Australia from the 1-4 December 2006. (Conference Website)

PEB has extensive interest in Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). PEB's screens of Arabidopsis mutants have identified a relationship between drought tolerance and altered expression of cytosolic ascorbate peroxidase in response to changes in ROS and REDOX within the chloroplast.

PEB Chief Investigator Professor Harvey Millar will be one of the key speakers at the conference. His laboratory works on the proteome of plant mitochondria and the changes that occur in mitochondrial function during development and environmental stress. His current focus is understanding how the mechanisms of oxidative stress impact on mitochondria.

Federal Minister Opens New Centre for Plant Research

The Hon Ms , Minister for Education, Science and Training, and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women's Issues, opened the Australian Research Council's Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology in the new Molecular and Chemical Sciences building at The University of Western Australia on Thursday, April 27th, 2006.

Australian Life Scientist of the Year

There has been further excellent news for the Centre and the University with the naming of Professor Harvey Millar as Australian Life Scientist of the Year for 2005. Professor Millar's research focuses on mitochondria in plants - the respiratory organelles responsible for the breakdown of carbohydrates to form energy for germination, growth and flowering of plants.

This has major implications for our understanding of how plants can maintain growth and development under stress conditions (common to crops) and will aid in improving plant performance. The Life Scientist of the Year award (part of the Prime Minister's Prizes for Science) was made to Professor Millar at a ceremony in Canberra 4th October 2005.

The award is for a scientist 35 years of age or younger, for outstanding achievement in science that advances, or has the potential to advance, human welfare and benefits society. Professor Millar's achievement - following the announcement of a Nobel Prize to Professor Barry Marshall and Dr Robin Warren - is further evidence of the importance of the University's role in science, innovation and research for the benefit of the State and the Nation.

Vice Chancellor Message

The University of Western Australia is proud to contribute to strong science enterprise through the opening of a major new facility to support Biochemistry and Chemistry. The Molecular and Chemical Sciences Building is the largest infrastructure project undertaken by The University of Western Australia. …..I am delighted that our university has been awarded an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology that will be located in our new building. Already we have a nucleus of world class scientists in the Centre and shortly they will be joined by Professor Ian Small who comes to us as a Western Australian Premier’s Research Fellow from the Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire at the National Institute for Agricultural Research in Versaille.

Centre Researchers Recognised for Achievements

Two researchers from the Centre have been recognised by the University for individual achievements over the course of the year in a recent article in WA Business News. Professor Harvey Millar, a Professorial Fellow and Professor Steven Smith, an ARC Federation Fellow. They are pictured with Professor Barry Marshall, a clinical professor and senior principal research fellow, also from UWA, who was recently awarded the 2005 Nobel Prize for Medicine.

Their work has been instrumental in furthering the university’s position as one of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities.

WA Premier's Research Fellowships

"The state will benefit from the award of two Premier's Research Fellowships, bringing internationally-renowned researchers to UWA. Dr Ian Small from the French National Institute for Agricultural Research and Professor Klaus from Germany have been awarded the fellowships each worth $1million over 4 years.

Dr Small is a world-leading researcher in Plant Energy Biology, investigating the processes that drive plant growth. He will head up the newly-funded ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology. His work in the Centre aims to achieve a better understanding of the factors and regulation of gene expression in plants, and to apply the knowledge and resources developed to Australian biotechnology and crop plant programs."

WA Premier and State Science Minster Visits Centre

Premier Dr Geoff Gallop and the Minister for Environment & Science Hon Dr Judy Edwards MLA visited the ARC Centre of Excellence located in UWA's new state of the art Molecular & Chemical Sciences facility.

Centre CI wins Research Supervison Award

Centre CI Assoc Prof Barry Pogson has been recognised at The Australian National University’s Conferring of Degrees ceremony in July 2005 by the Vice-Chancellor’s award for research supervision. The winners of the Vice-Chancellor’s annual awards are nominated by students and peers for their enthusiasm, innovation and guidance.

“It was one of the most thrilling days of my life when I first found out my students had put in a nomination without telling me, and in some ways that was more important than winning the award this time around.”

“It is a collaborative process working with the students, helping them achieve their best, which is obviously of benefit to the supervisor and the student."

Executive Committee Meets in Perth for the First Time

Following the success of the centre bid in June 2005, the Executive Committee of Chief Investigators on the ARC Centre of Excellence Bid met in Perth on 14th-16th August along with proposed Centre Director, Professor Ian Small, to plan initial operations, define the budget and develop plans for the first year of the centre’s operation.