Centre News
Visit to Plant Energy Biology by His Excellency Zhao HongzhuHis Excellency Zhao Hongzhu, 60, newly appointed Party Secretary of Zhejiang Province, China, visited the Perth laboratories of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology with 12 fellow officials from Zhejiang Province, as part of a fact-finding mission and celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the sister-states relationship between WA and Zhejiang Province.
Zhao was particularly interested in the Centre's work on rice, and was given presentations by Centre members Dr Shaobai Huang and Dr Jing Li, on rice organelle proteomics and mutants of starch metabolism (respectively). |
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Shaobai Huang, His Excellence Zhao Hongzhu and Holger Eubel discuss electrophoresis separation of organelles.
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australian science festival, canberra 2007plant energy biology provided workshops for school students as part of the australian science festival. over 200 students extracted plant dna, calculated the rate of cytoplasmic streaming in a cell, ran gel-electrophoresis and observed plant cells under the microscope. this unique, hands-on experience was appreciated by students and teachers alike. also in canberra, plant energy biology’s public outreach efforts at the night markets were presented on the local tv news, stimulating the public’s interest in plants and science. activities were run by PEB staff and students: Matt Gordon, Steve Graham, Dawar Hussain, Chris Cazzonelli, Gonzalo Estavillo, Melanie Carmody, Luke Hendrickson, Will Pye, Peter Crisp and Sue Cossetto. |
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Plant Energy Biology at Science in the City 2007In the lead up to National Science Week in August 2007, Plant Energy Biology exhibited at Science in the City – Sydney's largest science event. Science in the City, hosted by the Australian Museum, provides primary and high school students with a fantastic opportunity to get involved in science and see the huge variety of career opportunities available in science.The Plant Energy Biology interactive exhibition booth offered exciting activities such as DNA isolation from strawberries, gel electrophoresis separating coloured dyes from chocolate smarties, and a plasma screen showing cytoplasmic streaming in plant cells. Crushing strawberries and extracting the gooey DNA proved to be particularly popular with the 5 704 high school and 4 140 primary school students who attended the event. The hands on activities were run by Plant Energy Biology staff: Angela Ho, Michelle Barthet and Renee Simms, plus Sydney University plant biologists: Matt Spencer, Danny Liu, Emilie Cameron and Leonie Whiffen. |
 The Plant Energy Biology stand at Science in the City, Australian Museum, Sydney, attracted thousands of high school and primary school students. The Plant Powerstation is manned by (l-r) Matt Spencer, Renee Simms and Angela Ho. view image full size  A student at Science in the City isolates DNA from strawberries – one of the popular activities offered by the Plant Energy Biology Plant Powerstation stand. view image full size |
Centre Welcomes Visiting UC Berkeley studentMaking the change from California's mid-summer to Perth's mid-winter wasn't too much of a hardship for Eugene Verkhovsky, Visiting Undergrad Biology Student from UC Berkeley, USA. Eugene is extending his interest in sterol metabolism by spending a semester in Steve Smith's metabolomics lab. Eugene leaves us in November to head back to the northern winter. |
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Official Visit to UWA by British High CommissionerThe Centre was delighted to host a visit by Her Excellency the Rt.Hon. Helen Liddell, High Commissioner, British High Commission, UK (Canberra).Before a whistle-stop tour of the Center, Centre Director Ian Small gave a brief presentation on the Centre's research programs. Her Excellency was treated to a display of research into starch metabolism mutants by Dr Sarah Purdy, and expressed great interest in the Centre's Education, Training and Outreach program. " |
 Dr A Liddel, HE Rt Hon Helen Liddell and Ms A Turner looking at starch metabolism mutant plants |
BioGENEius ChallengeOn Thursday 23rd August, Premier of Western Australia and Minister for Science, Hon. Mr Alan Carpenter, accompanied by Minister for Industry and Development Mr Fran Logan visited the western node of PEB to meet three students that are receiving specialist scientific mentoring through PEB’s “Young Scientist” education training and outreach program. These students will be the first students outside North America to participate in the sanofi-aventis International BioGENEius Challenge. This experience is being supported by the Department of Industry and Development and sees the three students completing a scientific research project with PEB scientists and going straight through to the finals of the BioGENEius Challenge in San Diego 2008 which is run in conjuction with the BIO 2008 conference, the largest biotechnology conference in the world. Premier Carpenter also used this opportunity to announce $4.17million funding package for the State’s biotechnology sector. |
 Premier of Western Australia and Minister for Science Mr Alan Carpenter (left) and Minister of Industry and Resources Mr Fran Logan (right) learning the fine art of pipetting under the watchful eye of Shenton College BioGENEius students, Bindhu Holavanahalli (left) and Vinayak Hutchinson (far right). Photo courtesy of Paul Ricketts (DUIT Multimedia) |
ExSCItement at UWATuesday 21st of August saw the start National Science Week celebrations with "ExSCItement", an event held by the western node of PEB at the University of Western Australia, with the support of Agilent Technologies Australia. This event welcomed over 250 school students who have been involved in the centres education program "Powerful Plants" to a day packed full of interactive science and inspiration for a new generation of young scientists. Students were introduced to Nobel Laureates, Professors Barry Marshall and Robin Warren and also recognised award winning Powerful Plants research students who presented their projects. |
 Eugenia Mazur of Westcoast PEAC (middle) receives her Powerful Plants “Outstanding Science Research Award (Primary)” from Nobel Laureates Professors Barry Marshall (left) and Robin Warren (right). |
 Left to right: Barry Pogson, Ulrike Mathesius, and Britta Förster in their laboratory in Australia (2007). The photograph is a courtesy of Förster. First Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research 2006 Paper PrizeOn June 16, 2007, the First Rebeiz Foundation for Basic Research 2006 Paper Prize was awarded to Drs. Britta Förster, Ulrike Mathesius and Barry J. Pogson (right) for their paper on the ‘‘Comparative Proteomics of High- Light Stress in the Model Alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (Proteomics 6:4309-4320, 2006).’’ Since Förster and her two coworkers could not attend the ceremony, the award was mailed to the recipients at the Australian National University, Canberra.The paper was chosen for the award by five world leaders in photosynthesis research. To place this award in context there were 2,092 papers published on photosynthesis in 2006. (Read more...) |
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Steve Smith@ParliamentSteve Smith attended the inaugural Science@Parliament event at Parliament House in Perth (14th August 2007). He briefed members of Parliament about issues surrounding Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Western Australia has a moratorium on commercial growth of GM crops and is currently reviewing this policy. Steve sits on the Ministerial GMO Specialist Advisory Panel which advises the Minister for Agriculture and Food, The Hon Kim Chance MLC. |
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Centre Research Associate wins Award at International ConferenceCongratulations to Kristina Kühn, Research Associate working in Jim Whelan's group at the Perth node of the Centre. At the recent International Congress on Plant Mitochondrial Biology ( ICPMB2007, Nara, Japan, June 25th - 29th ) Kristina was awarded the prestigious Biochemical Society Poster Prize. Her poster (as a pdf 2M) and Abstract (as a word document or html) described work reconstituting an in vitro transcription system to examine the transcription of mitochondrial genes by the mitochondrial RNAP RpoTm and the dual-targeted RpoTmp. Kristina received her award from Professor Chris Leaver, Sibthorpian Professor of Plant Science, Head of Department, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK, on behalf of the Biochemical Society. |
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 Photo: Drs Hema Indrasamy (IP Australia) and Dawar Hussain (PEB) learn details of DIGE. Functional Genomics Workshop at ANUChief Investigator Steve Smith gave a very well received keynote lecture at this year’s workshop. The workshop was well attended with the majority of attendees coming from IP Australia. IP Australia administers the patents, designs, trade marks and Plant Breeder's Rights systems. The Centre sponsors and assists in running the workshop. |
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UWA Researcher Blazes Trail to MexicoGround-breaking research into the link between seed growth and smoke has secured plant biologist Dave Nelson a trip to Mexico. Dr Nelson, a researcher at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, at The University of Western Australia, is investigating how it is that some plant seeds are triggered to germinate after exposure to smoke. His innovative work on a novel group of natural compounds that play a role in regulating plant development has earned him funding to present his research findings at the next International Plant Growth Substance Association conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, from July 21 to 25, 2007, an event held once every three years. See the media release for more details. An MP3 of Dave's interview on ABC Radio is also available.
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Friday, June 1, 2007
Stressed out plants earn UWA researcher overseas ticketPhD student Adam Carroll, from The University of Western Australian, is about to trade his bike for a jumbo jet as he travels around the world to present his research findings on how plants deal with environmental stress. Mr Carroll cycles a 30km round-trip each day from his home in the Perth suburb of Nollamara to his laboratory at the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology, at The University of Western Australia. But he’ll soon be making his first trip outside Australia after being selected by three leading international research conferences to present different aspects of his work at international conferences in the UK, China and Japan. Using his PhD scholarship from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Mr Carroll is investigating how plants tolerate the stress inflicted by harsh environmental factors such as drought, salinity and extreme temperatures. “Managing stress is a drain on our energy and it’s no different for plants,” Mr Carroll said. “But how they do it is largely unknown so I’m looking at how plants redirect their internal energy supplies to cope with environmentally imposed stresses.” See the media release for more details. |
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"Powerful Plants" lauching students into ScienceMay 9th 2007: "Powerful Plants" lauching students into Science: see the media release for more details. |
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 Photo (left to right): Lister Staveley-Smith, John Mackenzie, Julian Gale, Lyn Beazley, Klaus Regenauer-Lieb, Ian Small and Peter Quinn Centre Director meets fellow "Fellows"May 2007: Plant Energy Biology Centre Director, Professor Ian Small recently took the opportunity to meet his fellow WA Premier’s Research Fellows at a 2nd February lunch hosted by Western Australia’s Chief Scientist Professor Lyn Beazley. Under the Fellowship Program, established in 2003/4, Fellows are chosen against demanding criteria, including their demonstrated ability to …
Having had the chance to meet each other and compare disciplines at that venue, Fellows met with Premier Alan Carpenter for lunch on 6th February 2007. | |
Real-time RT-PCR Workshop at ANU Eight third-year undergraduates were treated to a CPEB
Honours Pathway Photo (left to right): Joy Thompson, Rob Allen, Pip Wilson (PEB PhD candidate), Tracy Yuen |
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2006 Annual Report from Plant Energy BiologyHot off the press, the Centre’s 2006 Annual Report documents how this exciting new venture is progressing in its goals. It highlights our recent discoveries towards understanding the controls governing the formation of the energy organelles of plants, the primary products they produce, the signalling and communication between energy organelles and the cell nucleus, and their integrated functioning as an energy system. If you want to know more about who we are, what we do, what is plant energy biology, why we work with Arabidopsis, or how oxidative stress and photorespiration emerge as multi-organelle issues for plants, then download our Annual report 2006 . It also sets out what we strive to give back to our community.
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Wayne Snedden visits the Centre at ANU from Ontario, CanadaThe ANU node of the centre has recently hosted Wayne Snedden who met with the staff and students and gave seminars to the ANU-CSIRO Plant Science Seminar Series. Wayne Snedden spoke on the role of calmodulins and calmodulin-like proteins in Arabidopsis. In addition to the science Wayne spent a day in the Snowy Mountains fly fishing. Photo: Wayne Snedden with Centre researcher Chris Cazzonelli |
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Grant Cramer visits the Centre at ANU from Nevada, USA
Grant Cramer, University of Nevada, who works on the
functional genomics of abiotic stress tolerance in grapevines, recently
visited the ANU node of the Centre. Grant presented a seminar to the
ANU-CSIRO Plant Science Seminar Series on his research. He had numerous
discussions with researchers around Canberra that were well received
and enjoyed “testing” the quality of the local wine
industry. |
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Research student from Sheffield visits Centre in CanberraKatie Field, PhD student from the University of
Sheffield UK is spending 4 months in the laboratory of Barry Pogson,
ANU in 2007. She was awarded a scholarship from the Sheffield
University Excellence Exchange Scheme to work on the metabolomics of
drought stress. Her interest and skills are very complementary to the
Centre’s. |
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Per Gardestrom from Umeå Plant Science Centre spends sabbatical in PerthProfessor Per Gardestrom from the Umeå Plant Science Centre in Sweden, spent most of January and February 2007 in the Centre in Perth. Per is a world authority on mitochondrial function and its relationship to photosynthesis, and he was Editor-in-Chief of Physiologia Plantarum for many years. His sabbatical visit provided the opportunity to discuss common research interests and to build collaborations. Per gave two Centre lectures and a seminar during his visit. The Umeå Plant Science Centre (a Swedish Centre of Excellence) and the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology are now seeking to establish a formal collaboration providing the opportunity for joint projects and exchanges of students and research scientists. |
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Top ranked universities in Life and Agricultural SciencesThe 2006 Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings for university research quality places the Centre's 3 universities in the top 5 in Australia. In Life and Agricultural Sciences, UWA and ANU ranked 1st and 2nd (37th and 44th in the World). ANU is top in Natural Sciences and Mathematics while Sydney is top for Engineering, Technology and Computer Sciences. Click here for more information in the recent Australian Newspaper article |
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Photo: Young Scientist, Vinayak Hutchinson of Shenton
College experiencing cutting edge scientific techniques with PhD
student Lois Ho at ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology
laboratories.
Centre 'Young Scientist Program'The Plant Energy Biology Young Scientist program introduces gifted and talented secondary students to cutting edge research and involves them in scientific project work with world class scientists at the Plant Energy Centre laboratories. Vinayak Hutchinson is a student in the Academic Talent Program at Shenton College and has been identified as a brilliant young scientist by his teachers. Whilst in Year 9 he has just successfully completed Year 11 maths units and will be studying several Year 12 subjects in 2007. Due to his strength in mathematics and science subjects Vinayak was identified as the perfect first candidate for the Young Scientist program, which seeks to enrich and enhance the natural talents of young scientists and encourage them towards careers in cutting edge scientific research. Having developed the program, Yvonne Van Der Ploeg Education, Training and Outreach Officer for Plant Energy Biology is excited to welcome Vinayak as the first participant to the program.  Click here to read more (media
release .DOC)
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Julian Tonti-Filippini Centre Student receives Hackett Scholarship in 2007Julian Tonti-Filippini undertook his honours year in Genetics in the Centre in 2006, and joins the centre in 2007 as a PhD student working on proteogenomic mapping and the exploration of peptide mass spectral data from Arabidopsis. Julian has been awarded the prestigious Hackett Scholarship from The University of Western Australia, indicating he was in the top two ranked PhD candidates accepted by the University. He was also awarded the Ernest and Evelyn Havill Shacklock top-up scholarship for the top ranked PhD candidate for the Faculty of Life and Physical Sciences. |
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