A ground-breaking research centre to address fundamental research on plant cell walls that underpins issues relating to human nutrition and biofuel production was recently announced.
Under the auspices of the Australian Research Council (ARC) and collaborating research institutions, the new Centre of Excellence will undertake cutting-edge research and development work, covering a wide range of research issues relating to cell wall biology and its applications in human nutrition and renewable energy production. The Centre will also undertake an extensive education and training program that will include postgraduate student training, the provision of scholarships, and more general community engagement programs.
Professor Geoffrey Fincher
According to Professor Geoff Fincher, the Director Designate for the new ARC Centre of Excellence, plant cell wall biology is an important area for research because it will be focused on cereals and grasses, which play major roles in human nutrition as well as in biofuel production. “In human health and nutrition, for instance, plant cell walls make up a major component of dietary fibre and hence a closer scientific study on the cell walls themselves is highly likely to reveal background information that can subsequently be evaluated by our partner investigators for industrial applications such as human health, pulp and paper manufacture, malting and brewing, flour milling and bread making, and biomass production for bioethanol ,” explained Dr. Rachel Burton, who is also a Chief Investigator of the Centre and is based at the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide.
Other Chief Investigators include Professor Tony Bacic (University of Melbourne) and Professor Mike Gidley (University of Queensland). The new Centre will also be closely collaborating with research institutions and industry partners in Australia, Scotland, Sweden, Germany, and the United States, all of whom will bring specialized scientific expertise and infrastructure, together with conduits for delivery of research outcomes into a wide range of potential applications. Based at the University of Adelaide’s Waite Campus, the Centre will operate with an initial budget of $19.25 million from the ARC and approximately $12 million from collaborating and partner institutions, over seven years.
For more information about the new ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Wall Biology, contact Professor Fincher via telephone: 08 83037296, or email: geoff.fincher@adelaide.edu.au.
Written by Ronan Zagado
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