Project description
There are many weeds in the broadacre cropping systems across South Australia that cause significant reductions in yield and are expensive to control via herbicides; competition with weeds lead to reduction in yields. Agronomic weeds have evolved with crop species but have gained competitive advantages over crops with their ability for phenotypic plasticity and ability to gain adaptive measures such as flexible germination cues, rapid growth, high seed production under extremes such as drought, ensuring their survival. This resilience of weeds in part may be due to their beneficial interactions with the soil and its associated microbiomes. Though both ryegrass and wheat grow together in the same field soil, the weed thrives while the crop struggles. In this project the aim is to define the baseline core and stress microbiome of weed species and leverage that to improve growth of cereal crops. The project will use a mix of plant physiology, molecular and microbiology, bioinformatics and soil microbial ecology techniques to deliver outcomes.
Assumed knowledge
An interest in soil ecology/microbiology, plants and ecosystems desirable
Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.