Chief Investigators' profiles

Ian Small

Ian Small's PhD at Edinburgh University (awarded in 1988) was followed by a long career with France's National Agronomy Research Institute (INRA) first as a postdoc and later as a tenured research scientist. He held the Vice-Director position at the Plant Genetics & Breeding Station in Versailles and the Plant Genomics Unit in Evry. In 2005 he was awarded a WA State Premier's Research Fellowship and moved to Perth to become the Centre Director early in 2006.

Ian is Chairman of the Fachbeirat (Scientific Advisory Board) for the Max-Planck-Institut for Molecular Plant Physiology in Golm, Germany, and in 2006-2007, he was Chairman of the Multinational Arabidopsis Steering Committee (MASC, a US National Science Foundation-funded committee that coordinates world-wide Arabidopsis research by making recommendations to scientists and funding agencies).

Ian's PhD work on plant mitochondrial genomes (EMBO Journal, 1988; Cell, 1989) changed the way we view their evolution, revealing unsuspected dynamic changes that are only now being understood. Building on these discoveries, his post-doctoral work on mitochondrial genes involved in cytoplasmic male sterility (Molecular and General Genetics, 1992) contributed significantly to the development, patenting and commercialisation of INRA's technology for male-sterile brassicas used in the breeding of elite hybrid lines. Much of the canola grown globally is now produced using this technology.

Ian's research has focused on the cellular machinery involved in translating messenger RNAs into proteins (The Plant Cell, 1996; Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 2005), and on the transport of RNA and proteins into organelles (EMBO Journal, 1992). However, his research interests evolved rapidly to take advantage of the functional genomics technology emerging from the sequencing of the Arabidopsis nuclear genome. He coordinated the large European Union Framework 5 project, AGRIKOLA, that has provided unparalleled tools to the scientific community for analysing gene function in Arabidopsis (Genome Research, 2004) by the exciting new technology of RNA interference. He is perhaps best-known for the discovery and characterisation of the pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) family of proteins, a huge family of 450 proteins involved in controlling gene expression in mitochondria and chloroplasts (Trends in Biochemical Sciences, 2000; The Plant Cell, 2004, 2007, 2008).

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Murray Badger

Murray Badger is a native Australian, completing his BSc Agr at the University of Sydney and PhD in Plant Biochemistry at ANU in Canberra. He subsequently spent time as a postdoctoral researcher at the Carnegie Institution of Washington Department of Plant Biology at Stanford (USA) before returning to Australia as a Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow and has subsequently has spent most of his academic career at the Australian National University, Research School of Biological Sciences. He was appointed to Professor in 1998 and has served in a number of administrative roles as Head of the Department of Environmental Biology, Research Program Leader in the CRC for Plant Sciences and is currently Head of the Molecular Plant Physiology Group. As recognition for his research in Plant Sciences in Australia he was awarded the Peter Goldacre Medal (1982) and is listed as one of the most highly cited researchers in Plant and Animal Sciences in Australia by ISI.

His research career started in 1974 and has been diverse, making contributions to various aspects of photosynthesis research relating to plant biochemistry, plant physiology and aquatic photosynthesis. Specific research highlights have included:

• the discovery and characterisation of Rubisco oxygenase and carboxylase reactions and their kinetic implications for the operation of photorespiration in higher plants (Biochemistry, 1975; Archives in Biochemistry and Biophysics, 1976).
• the pioneering use of a metabolomics approach to understanding alterations to photosynthetic function under conditions varying light, CO2 and abiotic stress (Planta, 1984)
• research into understanding the role of O2 as an electron acceptor in photosynthesis, as it relates to the operation of photorespiration and photoreduction of O2 by the thylakoid reactions (Annual Review of Plant Physiology, 1985)
• the initial use of antisense RNA techniques to produce transgenic tobacco plants with specific alterations to enzyme components of the thylakoid electron transport pathway and the PCR cycle. (Planta, 1994, 1995)
• the discovery and charcaterisation of photosynthetic CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) in algae and cyanobacteria. This has had significant implications for understanding many aspects of aquatic photosynthesis. (Planta , 1980; Plant Physiology, 1980; Functional Plant Biology, 1998; Journal of Experimental Botany, 2003, 2005)

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David Day

David Day studied at the University of Adelaide, gaining a PhD in Botany in 1975. After two postdoctoral fellowships in the USA, in 1978 he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship to work with Hal Hatch (CSIRO, Division of Plant Industry, Canberra) on C₄ photosynthesis. He subsequently became a Research Fellow in the Research School of Biological Sciences at the Australian National University, working on photosynthesis and the interaction between mitochondria and chloroplasts. In 1983-84 he continued this work in Europe, first at the Centre D'Etudes Nucléaires at Grenoble, France with Roland Douce and then at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands with Hans Lambers. In 1985, he returned to Australia and joined the Botany Department at ANU, before moving to the School of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, becoming a Professor in 1995. While at ANU, he was Head of School for two years, convenor of the Graduate Program in Plant Sciences, the Manager of Education and Communication in the CRC for Plant Science, and the Deputy Dean of Science. During this period he also served on the biological sciences panel of the Australian Research Council. David moved to the University of Western Australia in 1999 to take up the Chair of Biochemistry. In 2005 he was appointed Dean of Science at the University of Sydney.

David has served on the Editorial Boards of Plant Physiology, Plant Physiology and Biochemistry and Biochimica Biophysica Acta. He is currently an editor of The Biochemical Journal and is on the editorial advisory panels of Symbiosis and Functional Plant Biology. David is immediate past president of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists, a member of the Australian Academy of Science's National Committee for Plant and Animal Biology and an ISI Highly Cited Author in the field of Animal and Plant Biology.

In a career spanning approximately 30 years, David has established an international reputation in plant biochemistry and molecular biology, particularly in relation to mitochondrial metabolism and biogenesis, whole plant respiration, ion transport, and symbiotic nitrogen fixation. An important feature of the research has been the integration of physiology with biochemistry and molecular biology. The general focus of his current research is the role of mitochondria in oxidative stress and the isolation of genes encoding transport proteins involved symbiotic nitrogen fixation. His work been published in over 200 articles in leading international journals and books.

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Harvey Millar

Harvey Millar grew up in Canberra, Australia and obtained his BSc and PhD degrees and was awarded the University Medal from The Australian National University. He has worked at The University of Oxford in the UK, but has spent most of his career so far at The University of Western Australia. He has held a number of prestigious research fellowships: Human Frontier Research Programme Fellowship (1997), ARC Australian Post-doctoral Fellowship (2000), ARC QEII Research Fellowship (2002), ARC Australian Professorial Fellowship (2006). He has also been awarded the Peter Goldacre Medal by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (2003), the WA Premier's Prize for Early Career Achievement in Science (2003) and the Science Minister's Prize for Australian Life Scientist of the Year (2005).

Harvey Millar has a proven track record in mitochondrial research in plants. His major contribution has been discoveries using whole plant respiratory studies, enzyme kinetics, protein purification and proteomics combined with emerging genomic data, to further our understanding of the role mitochondria play in the primary carbon and nitrogen metabolism of plants and their response to oxidative stress. This has included discovery of the novel allosteric activation of the plant-specific cyanide-insensitive alternative oxidase (AOX) by alpha-keto acids (FEBS Letters, 1993; Plant Physiology, 1996), a role for nitric oxide in plants in respiratory inhibition (Trends in Plant Science, 1996), detailed insight into the plant mitochondrial proteome (The Plant Cell, 2004; Trends in Plant Science, 2005), new information on plant mitochondrial oxidative stress tolerance mechanisms (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2002; Plant Journal, 2002; Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2003; Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, 2005) and mitochondrial biogenesis during anoxia and re-aeration(Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2004). Understanding these energy-generating structures of the cell provides a platform for directed engineering of mitochondrial function in plants.

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Barry Pogson

Barry Pogson undertook his study in Australia completing his B.Sc. (Hons) at the University of NSW and his Ph.D. in 1991 at Macquarie University. He undertook a postdoctoral fellowship with CSIRO Division of Horticulture, which involved exchange visits with New Zealand Crop and Food Research. He moved to the USA in 1994 working as a postdoc with Dean DellaPenna at the University of Arizona and University of Nevada, Reno, before taking an Assistant Professorship at Arizona State University in 1997. His current appointment at The Australian National University commenced late 1999. He was promoted to professor in 2008

Barry has received three prestigious awards in recognition both of the impact of his research into carotenoids, photosynthesis and drought research, and for his leadership qualities in supervision of research students and postdoctoral fellows:

• The Fenner Medal by the Australian Academy of Science
• The Goldacre Medal by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists
• The ANU Vice Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Supervision.

His research focuses on two major areas: 1. carotenoid biosynthesis and 2. chloroplast signaling and plant responses to high light and drought.

1. Barry and colleagues were the first to identify and characterise the gene encoding the key biosynthetic enzyme that produces the most abundant plant carotenoid, lutein. A key result was the demonstration that lutein is not an essential structural component in the main light-harvesting complex, as had been assumed (Plant Cell 1996, PNAS 1998). Subsequent research published in The Plant Cell in 2002 on the discovery of a novel enzyme in carotenoid biosynthesis, the carotenoid isomerase, is in the top 1% in its field for citations. Current research on carotenoids is targeted at defining novel roles for carotenoids, namely, the interactions between carotenoids and plant developmental processes, investigating their regulation by epigenetic processes (Plant Cell 2009) and studying the role of novel genes in carotenoid biosynthesis.

2. The major area of the research into organelle signalling is identifying the mechanisms by which plants perceive and respond to drought and excess light. The approach utilizes genomic technologies in the model plant, Arabidopsis. Mutations that perturb or enhance chloroplast — nuclear communication have been found (Plant Journal 2009). Drought tolerant mutants in Arabidopsis have been studied and collaborative projects to transfer this technology to crop plants, such as wheat and rice have commenced. A related project has demonstrated the extent and speed by which plants communicate the perception of light stress from one leaf to another distal, non-stressed leaf, a process known as Systemic Acquired Acclimation (Plant Cell 2007). This paper was in the top 60 most read articles at the Plant Cell in 2008.

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Steven Smith

Steve was raised in the UK and obtained degrees from the Universities of Leicester (UK), Indiana (USA) and Warwick (UK). He has been employed in research institutes in both the UK (Rothamsted Research, John Innes Centre) and Australia (CSIRO Plant Industry), but spent most of his academic career at the University of Edinburgh where he became Head of the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences. He has served the scientific community in numerous ways including coordination of pan-European research programs, acting as External Examiner at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Singapore and as Teaching Quality Assessor for the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. He has received awards of four prestigious fellowships:

• NATO Postdoctoral Fellowship (1980)
• Fellowship of the Institute of Biology (1999)
• Leverhulme Research Fellowship (2003)
• Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship (2004).

The latter award took him to the University of Western Australia in 2005, as Professor of Plant Genomics.

Steve Smith has a proven record of highly original, pioneering research. He isolated the first-ever cDNA sequence encoding a plant enzyme (Nature, 1979, 1980), opening the door to the plant biotechnology revolution. This was followed by several other 'firsts' in gene cloning and analysis. In 1990 he conceived of the concept of measuring and visualizing calcium fluxes in living cells using the calcium-responsive luminous protein aequorin, from jellyfish. He carried out the gene cloning and plant genetic manipulation that made this revolutionary technique possible (Nature, 1991; PNAS, 1992). He discovered that an unusual plant enzyme could make a novel molecule, which was called cycloamylose (JBC, 1996). Cycloamylose has subsequently been used in the food and chemical industries. The structure of cycloamylose at atomic resolution revealed a totally unexpected 'band-flip' configuration which could explain how amylose folds in starch granules (PNAS, 1999). In the late 1990s Steve pioneered reverse genetics approaches ('knock-out' technology) in Arabidopsis to study plant energy metabolism. This resulted in the publication of several seminal papers in this area (eg Plant Journal, 2000, 2001; PNAS, 2000; JBC, 2004; The Plant Cell, 2005). Modification of some of these metabolic processes has led to the redirection of carbon and energy resources within the plant. Such discoveries have the potential for improving plant productivity and quality for the benefit of food, materials and energy industries.

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Jim Whelan

Jim obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from University College Dublin. He spent 5 years at the Australian National University before being appointed as a lecturer at the University of Western Australian in 1995. He has been actively involved in teaching and research and was appointed Chair of Biochemistry in 2004, which he held until he became Interim Director of the Centre for Plant Energy Biology in 2005. He has been awarded a number of prestigious international fellowships:

• OECD Fellowship (1989)
• Werner-Gren Fellowship (1993 and 1996)
• Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2001).

He has also been awarded the Peter Goldacre Medal by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (1998) and has been appointed to the ARC College of Experts in 2007.

Jim has made outstanding contributions in the field of plant mitochondrial biogenesis. His primary research interest is the targeting of proteins to mitochondria, and the mechanisms to avoid mis-sorting to chloroplasts. These studies have uncovered several novel aspects of protein targeting in plants and overall give insights into the evolution of eukaryotic cells as a whole (JBC, 2000, 2005; JMB, 2004, 2005; Plant J, 2002). Notably, his research was the first to provide experimental evidence for reasons limiting gene transfer between organelle and the nucleus (PNAS, 2002; Plant J, 2002), and also how functional gene transfer occurs (Nature, 2000; Plant Cell, 2002; Plant Physiology, 2005). His research on organelle biogenesis also examines gene regulation (Plant Physiology 2001, 2003, 2004) defining the switches that control gene expression for organelle proteins by combining morphological, biochemical, genetic and genomic approaches to understand organelle function and biogenesis.

Jim has also been actively involved in education throughout his career. He has received several grants to carry out community-based programs. He has been involved in curriculum development for Agriculture, Medical and Science students and played a leading role in establishing a vibrant degree program in Genetics at UWA, taking a leadership role in establishing the cross-faculty Genetics Honours program. Currently he is a member of the graduate research school that oversees all PhD awards at UWA and is actively involved in establishing international links to facilitate the internationalization of graduate research at UWA.

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