Review

As part of the process for the winding up of the CRC, Management and the Board will be reviewing all our projects to ensure they are progressing as planned and are on track to deliver their original contributions to the CRC Program goals and outcomes.

As part of this process project leaders have been requested to prepare a presentation to the four program leaders and myself to help us understand each project’s contribution to the CRC goals and how likely it is that these will be delivered by the end of each project.

Program 1 will be conducting its reviews on 8 and 12 August – individual project leaders will be contacted regarding the schedule for the review.

Program 2 projects will be reviewed on 11 and 20 August.

Workshop

We have temporarily placed a reservation at Couran Cove for the 2008 project leaders’ course for two days during the week of 29 September. The agenda and arrangements including travel options will be distributed shortly.

DArT is a DNA mapping tool widely used by plant breeders of wheat and barley. Largely due to the complex genome of sugarcane, sugarcane breeders across the globe have been hindered in their application of molecular marker systems for rapid genetic improvement of sugarcane.

The development of a diversity array for sugarcane breaks through this barrier with a cost effective and efficient solution.

The DArT service is being delivered by Diversity Arrays Technology Pty Ltd. This technology is available for use by our researchers for projects funded by our CRC.

Contact Peter Twine at our Head Office, on (07) 3365 7502, or Dr Karent Aitken, (07) 3214 2360, for more information.

Robert Chang recently completed his Bachelor of Engineering Honours in the division of Electrical Engineering. His thesis topic was 'NIR screening system to detect PHB positive sugarcane transgenic plants'. Congratulations Robert! And good luck with your future career.

In another success story, former CRC SIIB PhD student Mark Jackson, whose Functional Plant Biology paper "A bioinformatic approach to the identification of a conserved domain in a sugarcane legumain that directs GFP to the lytic vacuole", was awarded ‘High Commendation’ in the best young scientist’s category for 2007 published papers, by the Australian Society of Plant Scientists and Functional Plant Biology judging panel.

Entrants were asked to - in no more than 40 words - explain their innovation and state how it might solve a problem or result in a new product for the Australian sugarcane industry.

The competition winner was Andrew Dougall from DPI Bundaberg!!

Andrew’s innovation:

Isolate genes from plants that grow in low potassium soils and investigate how to use these genes to produce cane with a low K demand. It is currently not economic in the Australian sugarcane industry to replace removed soil K.

New reporting procedures are covered by the following three parts:

1. a policy on recruitment and selection of RHD candidates (Research Higher Degree Candidature Recruitment and Selection - HUPP 4.60.4);
2. a policy on the progression and development of RHD candidates (Research Higher Degree Candidature Progression and Development – HUPP 4.60.5); and
3. information about procedures, good practice, and other resources on the Graduate School website.

Enrolling academic organisational units (ie School/Institute) are establishing local protocols for implementing these new procedures. So, UQ students should hear from their School/Institute postgraduate coordinators in the coming weeks.

Our CRC and the ARC ran the annual plant biotechnology for beginners workshop held as part of the UQ Biological and Chemical Sciences Faculty Experience Science Week.

Approximately 100 high school students and 3 teachers from South-East QLD participated in the workshop to learn about various aspects of plant biotechnology relevant to the CRC and CILR.  

A big thank you to our PhD students Kimberley Tilbrook and Karl Pioch for running the event.

This year we will again be offering a series of awards at the 2008 Symposium.

The Awards will recognise the valuable contribution of our members to our CRC and our CRC’s outcomes.  

The categories for 2008 are currently being finalised and will be announced soon. Award categories will recognise contributions from both individuals and groups.

This year’s event will be held at the Victoria Park Golf Complex in Herston, Brisbane (not the Marriott Hotel as advertised in the last Enews).  http://www.victoriaparkgolf.com.au/

Further program and registration details will be made available closer to the date.