Dr Darren Plett

Biography

Darren's research goal is to improve the yield of cereal crops to provide more food for an expanding world population. He is using agricultural biotechnology techniques to discover the genes which regulate plant tolerance to abiotic stress. He then alters these genes to improve the tolerance of crop plants to stresses such as low soil nutrients, drought and salinity. Darren obtained his BSc and MSc degrees at the University of Manitoba, Canada. In his MSc thesis he investigated the potential effects of climate change on leaf lipid and seed oil quality in canola. He then moved to Australia and completed a PhD project with the goal of improving salinity tolerance in rice through cell type-specific expression of genes encoding sodium transporters. Since 2008 he has been employed by ACPFG to improve abiotic stress tolerance in cereal crops. Currently, Darren is leading a group investigating the system regulating nitrogen uptake in maize and wheat with the goal of altering the system to improve nitrogen uptake efficiency. The second group Darren manages is developing wheat and rice varieties with improved drought and salinity tolerance for release in developing countries. Darren also manages a plant transformation group which develops genetically modified wheat, barley and rice varieties.

Research Interest

Medicine,Medical Education,Research,etc