UQ branches out into pea fuel

The discovery of a hormone that controls how plants form branches and the use of a legume tree in biodiesel production are just two of the major scientific breakthroughs to come out of UQ’s ARC Centre of Excellence in Integrative Legume Research (CILR) this year.

Established with a $10 million Australian Research Council (ARC) grant in 2003, the Centre is a partnership that brings together leading plant research scientists located at UQ, the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne and the University of Newcastle.

Awarded a further $6.9 million for the period 2008 to 2010, and with cash contributions from partner universities and state governments, the CILR will spend a total of $38 million on research.

The money has been well spent with the Centre now firmly established as one of the world’s leading legume research centres.

Since its inception, the CILR has published an exceptional 327 scientific peer reviewed articles – more than one article every week for six years.

The Centre has also given 154 international conference presentations, produced 75 international poster presentations and graduated 45 PhD or Masters students and 34 Honours students - a significant contribution to the growth of human capital and the future of plant science.

All that work has brought about some discoveries that are bound to impact on society in the future.
Perhaps the most significant development was the discovery of a new plant hormone that inhibits shoot branching in plants, as featured on the cover of the journal Nature, by Associate Professor Christine Beveridge and her colleagues.

These hormones, called strigolactones, were discovered by analysing the branching behaviour of garden peas and could be of significant potential to the horticultural and forestry industries.

The Centre, primarily through work at the UQ Node, also achieved a number of successes in its biofuel program focussing on the legume tree Pongamia pinnata.

Significant industry interest has stimulated funding for the program with a major plantation established in central Queensland with a commercial partner, and an experimental plot evaluating the legume’s carbon sequestration and nitrogen gain established at UQ’s Gatton campus.

In the case of carbon sequestration, the legume removes CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in soil; nitrogen gain refers to the legume’s ability to return nitrogen to the soil they grow in, acting like a fertiliser.

More information about the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research and its contributions to the community through research and teaching can be found in the Centre’s 2008 Annual Report.

Media: Charlotte Camerer on (07 3346 9534 or c.camerer@uq.edu.au).