Conserving and utilizing the Australian flora for food and energy

Robert Henry, Professor of Innovation in Agriculture in the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland

The diverse Australian flora contains many species that are wild relatives of important crops. These species have had limited use as a source of variation in crop breeding. Recent advances in genome sequencing have made it possible to explore the genomes of these species to evaluate their utility. The genomes of many Citrus species have novel and potentially important disease resistance genes. Oryza (rice) species have novel quality and nutritional traits. Some of these species are key targets for de novo domestication to expand the range of crop species. Genomics is a key tool now being applied in conservation of biodiversity in ecological restoration and in protecting the populations of crop wild relatives that are key genetic resources for agriculture and food. 

Bio: Robert Henry is Professor of Innovation in Agriculture in the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland. His research aims to conserve and utilize biodiversity to support food and energy security with a focus on genomics of crop wild relatives. He established the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University and was Foundation Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation. His research is supported by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture and he is Director of the Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon.   

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