Why study with the CCDM?

We are industry connected, a rising star in national and global agricultural research and a driver of improved farming systems and techniques.

Our $46 million state-of-the-art laboratories and plant growth facilities will help you advance your research career. We’ve teamed up with industry collaborators to offer a wide range of scholarship opportunities.

How to apply

Currently Available Projects

Isolation of fungicide resistant Pyrenophora teres f.sp. maculata from barley seed - Honours/Masters

The major barley pathogen, Pyrenophora teres f.sp. maculata (SFNB), has recently been confirmed to be capable of being seed transmissible. Ongoing research is now investigating whether how frequently Ptm is associated with seed used by barley growers. This project will involve isolating Ptm from the seed of barley and compare the recovery frequency to the frequency of seedling disease expression.
Contact Dr Elizabeth Czislowski

Do DNA origami nanoparticles shape up as new fungicide technology? - Honours/Masters

DNA origami has been developed into a wide range of applications including nanosensors, anticancer, antiviral and antibacterial therapies. There is an opportunity to determine if DNA origami structures could also be used as novel fungicide to fight fungal pathogens. This project will investigate the stability of DNA origami structures.
Contact Dr Elizabeth Czislowski

Deciphering necrotrophic fungal susceptibility genes in oat - Honours/Masters/PhD

Septoria avenae blotch is a devastating disease of oat. To reduce the impact of the disease on oat production, the susceptibility genes need to be identified and removed from oat breeding germplasm. The goal of this project is to identify such genes and develop a tool to detect that in our oat breeding germplasms in order to produce disease resistance oat cultivars.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Functional studies of host-selective toxins causing septoria nodorum blotch of wheat - Honours/Masters/PhD

A set of toxin candidates were identified in an important wheat pathogen. The objective of the project is to characterise the predicted effectors by cloning them into a protein expression vector and generating gene deletion mutants. Effector activities and effector impact on pathogenicity will be assessed using various genetics and biochemical techniques.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Characterise necrotrophic fungal effectors in an economically important oat pathogen - Honours/Masters/PhD

Oat becomes increasingly important cereal crop due to its benefits to human health. The most limiting factor for oat production is fungal diseases. The aim of this project is to use various molecular approaches including gene insertion, deletion, proteomics and bioinformatics to understand the function of disease-causing factors in an important pathogen of oat, Parastagonospora avenae.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Understanding novel pathogenicity factor of a wheat pathogen - Honours/Masters/PhD

A panel of 200 P. nodorum isolates show great variation in pathogenicity in wheat. This project is set to determine pathogenicity factor which cause differences in disease severity in wheat. Outcome from this project can help to control septoria nodorum disease of wheat effectively as well as to understand how the disease works.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

The economic impact of integrated pest management practices on the sustainability of agribusinesses - Honours/Masters/PhD

The proposed project aligns with CCDM’s goal of “Reducing the impact of crop disease in the Australian grains industry“ by focusing on economically informed crop protection decisions. By integrating economic analysis, spatial-temporal modelling, and engaging with various stakeholders, the project strives to provide growers with data-informed solutions, leading to sustainable and profitable agribusinesses.
Contact Dr Toto Olita

Characterisation of plant biochemical signals associated with disease tolerance - Honours/Masters/PhD

In this project you will apply non-destructive imaging techniques including ATR-FTIR and reflectance-FTIR methodology as a diagnostic tools for detection and monitoring of stress caused by disease, drought, and lack of nutrition in a model plant system. Critical to this project will be the ability to associate changes in FTIR spectra, with specific biochemical parameters, and gene expression.
Contact Dr Fatima Naim

Regulation of necrotrophic effector expression in P. nodorum - Honours/PhD

P. nodorum secrete proteinaceous necrotrophic effectors (NEs) into the host tissue during infection. This project aims to determine changes in the level of NEs when the fungus is exposed to abiotic factors such as nutrition and stress.
Contact Dr Kar-Chun Tan

Genomics of fungal co-infection on wheat- Honours/PhD

This experiment aims to determine biomass accumulation of both P.nodorum and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis during co-infection on a selection of wheat varieties.
Contact Dr Kar-Chun Tan

From spore to score: a smarter way of breeding sclerotinia-resistant canola - Honours

This project aims to create a smarter, faster and more realistic field test for one of the world's worst canola diseases. You will work on a novel spore-based screening method that could help provide industry with a new standard for breeding more resilient canola.
Contact Dr Mark Derbyshire

Protein Crystallization and Structure of a Novel Toxin in Cereal Pathogens - Honours/Masters/PhD

Dive into the fascinating world of protein crystallization to uncover the structure of a newly identified toxin found in several cereal pathogens. This study aims to: (1) Investigate protein structures: compare and contrast the protein structures of the Tox8 toxin across different cereal pathogens, including wheat pathogens Parastagonospora nodorum (Pn) and Pyrenophora tritici-repentis (Ptr); barley pathogens Pyrenophora teres f. teres (Ptt) and Pyrenophora teres f. maculata (Ptm); and oat pathogen Parastagonospora avenae (Pa); (2) Examine structural variations: analyze the similarities and differences in the Tox8 haplotypes among these pathogens to understand how these variations may influence pathogenicity.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Deciphering different mechanisms of disease susceptibility and resistance triggered by an effector of a fungal wheat pathogen - Honours/Masters/PhD

Our recent study on Septoria nodorum blotch (SNB) of wheat revealed a novel effector which interact with two receptors to confer susceptibility and resistance. This study will give you many oppotunities to learn new advanced skill sets from lab-based to computer-based activities to understand how they work.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Identification and characterisation of new resistance source to necrotrophic fungal diseases of wheat - Honours/Masters/PhD

Seproria nodorum blotch (SNB) is an important disease of wheat caused by Parastagonospora nodorum (P. nodorum). The best way to control the disease is by deploying resistant cultivars. Our group has recently identified a new source of resistance to this and other diseases in wheat. Your job is to identify the resistance genomic location(s), clone the gene(s) conferring the traits, study their functions and develop molecular diagnostic markers for marker-assited selection program.
Contact Dr Huyen Phan

Project Leaders

View all

Fran Lopez-Ruiz

Theme Leader / Project Leader / Associate Professor fran.lopezruiz@curtin.edu.au

Huyen Phan

Project Leader/ Senior Research Fellow huyenphan.phan@curtin.edu.au

Fatima Naim

Project Leader / Senior Research Fellow fatima.naim@curtin.edu.au

James Hane

Project Leader / Senior Research Fellow james.hane@curtin.edu.au

Related Resources

View all
Lisa Smith
Mar 14, 2024 Video Length: 3 minutes Analytics for the Australian Grains Industry (AAGI)
Jun 13, 2022 Video Length: 3 minutes The CCDM – engaging with industry to reduce the economic impact of crop disease.
Megan Jones
Dec 15, 2021 Read Time: 2 minutes The clearest picture of fungicide resistance in WA, thanks to growers

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