Evolution of halophytes: a phyloinformatic approach to understanding and exploiting the traits underlying salt-tolerance in plants [ 2011-03-31 - 2014-12-31 ]

Research Grant

Researchers: Darren Crayn (Chief Investigator) ,  Dr Lindell Bromham (Chief Investigator) ,  David Cantrill (Partner Investigator) ,  Dr Daniel Murphy (Partner Investigator) ,  Prof Dr Timothy Flowers (Partner Investigator)
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Brief description Evolution of halophytes: a phyloinformatic approach to understanding and exploiting the traits underlying salt-tolerance in plants. Salinity is an increasing burden on the Australian economy & environment, with >2 million ha of salt-affected land, at an annual cost to agriculture over $187 million. One solution is to exploit naturally salt-tolerant plants to increase productive agricultural land and restore salt-affected environments. To do this, we must increase basic knowledge of the diversity & distribution of salt-tolerance. This project is the first to use DNA sequences from thousands of species to understand the evolution of salt-tolerance in order to provide the foundation for the development of new crop varieties, selection of species that can be developed for bioremediation, and identification of traits that will be profitable targets for breeding programs.

Funding Amount $233,000

Funding Scheme Linkage Projects

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