Steven Hussey

Dr Steven Hussey

Senior Mortlock Fellow

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

I'm passionate about plant developmental biology, functional genomics and applied biotechnology. I've conducted research in South Africa, the United States and Australia, mostly on the transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of wood development in Eucalyptus. I hold an affiliate position at the University of Pretoria (since 2022) and a Prestigious (P) rating with the National Research Foundation of South Africa (2020-2025).

I'm a plant molecular biologist interested in the transcriptional and epigenomic regulation of development, lignocellulosic feedstocks, (secondary) cell wall biology and synthetic biology. In previous and current research, I've aimed to understand the transcriptional regulatory networks underlying xylogenesis, uncover the biological roles of transcription factors and gene promoters, decipher and molecular mechanisms underlying traits of interest, and design synthetic circuits for the manipulation and bioengineering of plant systems. I have a wide interest in plant biotechnology and have extensive experience working with transdisciplinary teams.

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2023 Takawira, L. T., Hadj Bachir, I., Ployet, R., Tulloch, J., San Clemente, H., Christie, N., . . . Hussey, S. G. (2023). Functional investigation of five R2R3-MYB transcription factors associated with wood development in Eucalyptus using DAP-seq-ML. Plant Molecular Biology, 113(1-3), 33-57.
    DOI
    2022 Karannagoda, N., Spokevicius, A., Hussey, S., Cassan-Wang, H., Grima-Pettenati, J., & Bossinger, G. (2022). Eucalyptus grandis AUX/INDOLE-3-ACETIC ACID 13 (EgrIAA13) is a novel transcriptional regulator of xylogenesis. Plant Molecular Biology, 109(1-2), 51-65.
    DOI Scopus3 Europe PMC2
    2020 Karannagoda, N., Spokevicius, A., Hussey, S., & Bossinger, G. (2020). Microanalytical techniques for phenotyping secondary xylem. IAWA Journal, 41(3), 356-389.
    DOI Scopus4
    2020 Lyall, R., Schlebusch, S. A., Proctor, J., Prag, M., Hussey, S. G., Ingle, R. A., & Illing, N. (2020). Vegetative desiccation tolerance in the resurrection plant Xerophyta humilis has not evolved through reactivation of the seed canonical LAFL regulatory network. Plant Journal, 101(6), 1349-1367.
    DOI Scopus18 Europe PMC13
    2020 Yang, X., Medford, J. I., Markel, K., Shih, P. M., De Paoli, H. C., Trinh, C. T., . . . Tuskan, G. A. (2020). Plant Biosystems Design Research Roadmap 1.0. BioDesign Research, 2020.
    DOI Scopus18
    2019 Tonfack, L. B., Hussey, S. G., Veale, A., Myburg, A. A., & Mizrachi, E. (2019). Analysis of orthologous SECONDARY WALL-ASSOCIATED NAC DOMAIN1 (SND1) promotor activity in herbaceous and woody angiosperms. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 20(18), 16 pages.
    DOI Scopus2 Europe PMC2
    2019 Brown, K., Takawira, L. T., O'Neill, M. M., Mizrachi, E., Myburg, A. A., & Hussey, S. G. (2019). Identification and functional evaluation of accessible chromatin associated with wood formation in Eucalyptus grandis. New Phytologist, 223(4), 1937-1951.
    DOI Scopus9 Europe PMC2
    2019 Hussey, S. G., Grima-Pettenati, J., Myburg, A. A., Mizrachi, E., Brady, S. M., Yoshikuni, Y., & Deutsch, S. (2019). A Standardized Synthetic Eucalyptus Transcription Factor and Promoter Panel for Re-engineering Secondary Cell Wall Regulation in Biomass and Bioenergy Crops. ACS Synthetic Biology, 8(2), 463-465.
    DOI Scopus14 Europe PMC7
    2018 Laubscher, M., Brown, K., Tonfack, L. B., Myburg, A. A., Mizrachi, E., & Hussey, S. G. (2018). Temporal analysis of Arabidopsis genes activated by Eucalyptus grandis NAC transcription factors associated with xylem fibre and vessel development. Scientific Reports, 8(1), 14 pages.
    DOI Scopus15 Europe PMC9
    2018 Lu, Q., Shao, F., Macmillan, C., Wilson, I. W., van der Merwe, K., Hussey, S. G., . . . Qiu, D. (2018). Genomewide analysis of the lateral organ boundaries domain gene family in Eucalyptus grandis reveals members that differentially impact secondary growth. Plant Biotechnology Journal, 16(1), 124-136.
    DOI Scopus51 Europe PMC30
    2017 Hussey, S. G., Loots, M. T., Van Der Merwe, K., Mizrachi, E., & Myburg, A. A. (2017). Integrated analysis and transcript abundance modelling of H3K4me3 and H3K27me3 in developing secondary xylem. Scientific Reports, 7(1), 14 pages.
    DOI Scopus21 Europe PMC15
    2015 Hussey, S. G., Saïdi, M. N., Hefer, C. A., Myburg, A. A., & Grima-Pettenati, J. (2015). Structural, evolutionary and functional analysis of the NAC domain protein family in Eucalyptus. New Phytologist, 206(4), 1337-1350.
    DOI Scopus56 Europe PMC37
    2015 Hussey, S. G., Mizrachi, E., Groover, A., Berger, D. K., & Myburg, A. A. (2015). Genome-wide mapping of histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation in Eucalyptus grandis developing xylem. BMC Plant Biology, 15(1), 14 pages.
    DOI Scopus28 Europe PMC12
    2014 Myburg, A. A., Grattapaglia, D., Tuskan, G. A., Hellsten, U., Hayes, R. D., Grimwood, J., . . . Schmutz, J. (2014). The genome of Eucalyptus grandis. Nature, 510(7505), 356-362.
    DOI Scopus665 Europe PMC363
    2013 Hussey, S. G., Mizrachi, E., Creux, N. M., & Myburg, A. A. (2013). Navigating the transcriptional roadmap regulating plant secondary cell wall deposition. Frontiers in Plant Science, 4(AUG), 21 pages.
    DOI Scopus125 Europe PMC79
    2011 Botha, J., Pinard, D., Creux, N., Hussey, S., Maritz-Olivier, C., Spokevicius, A., . . . Myburg, A. (2011). Characterising the role of the Eucalyptus grandis SND2 promoter in secondary cell wall biosynthesis. BMC proceedings, 5(Suppl 7), P105.
    DOI Europe PMC1
    2011 Hussey, S. G., Mizrachi, E., Spokevicius, A. V., Bossinger, G., Berger, D. K., & Myburg, A. A. (2011). SND2, a NAC transcription factor gene, regulates genes involved in secondary cell wall development in Arabidopsis fibres and increases fibre cell area in Eucalyptus. BMC Plant Biology, 11(1), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus136 Europe PMC85
    2011 Hussey, S., Mizrachi, E., Berger, D., & Myburg, A. (2011). The role of SND2 in the regulation of Arabidopsis fibre secondary cell wall formation. BMC proceedings, 5(Suppl 7), P114.
    DOI Europe PMC1

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    2022 Hussey, S. G. (2022). Transcriptional regulation of secondary cell wall formation and lignification. In Advances in Botanical Research (Vol. 104, pp. 317-361). Elsevier.
    DOI Scopus5
    2016 Hussey, S. G., Wegrzyn, J. L., & Vasquez-Gross, H. A. (2016). Evolutionary Histories of Gene Families in Angiosperm Trees. In Plant Genetics and Genomics: Crops and Models (pp. 121-137). Springer International Publishing.
    DOI

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2018 Takawira, L. T., Mizrachi, E., Myburg, A. A., & Hussey, S. G. (2018). Inferring secondary cell wall-associated transcriptional regulatory networks in <i>Eucalyptus grandis</i> through high-throughput DNA affinity purification sequencing. In SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY Vol. 115 (pp. 329-330). ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV.
    DOI
    2012 Singh, P., Hussey, S. G., Maritz-Olivier, C., Mizrachi, E., & Myburg, A. A. (2012). Expression and characterisation of <i>Egr</i>SND2, a <i>Eucalyptus grandis</i> transcription factor potentially involved in secondary cell wall regulation. In SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY Vol. 79 (pp. 238). ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV.
    2012 Botha, J., Pinard, D., Creux, N., Hussey, S., Maritz-Olivier, C., Mizrachi, E., & Myburg, A. A. (2012). Promoter analysis of the <i>Eucalyptus grandis</i> secondary cell wall related <i>SND2</i> transcription factor gene. In SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY Vol. 79 (pp. 226). ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV.

 

Sources

Total for year

2014

DST, NRF, Sappi, Mondi, THRIP

ZAR560,000

2015

DST, NRF, Sappi, Mondi, THRIP

ZAR560,000

2016

DOE-JGI, DST, NRF, Sappi, Mondi, THRIP, UP, NSTF, Inqaba Biotec, Whitehead Scientific, Thermo Scientific, ACGT, UP

ZAR1,870,000

2017

DOE-JGI, UP, Australia Awards, THRIP, Sappi, Mondi

ZAR1,040,000

2018

DOE-JGI, UP, GCRF, THRIP, Sappi, Mondi

ZAR1,600,000

2019

DST-TIA, UP, GCRF, Sappi, Mondi

ZAR2,000,000

2020

DST-TIA, UP, GCRF, Sappi, Mondi

ZAR1,830,000

2021

NRF, GCRF, DSI, TIA

ZAR1,925,000

2022

NRF, DSI, TIA

ZAR1,200,000

2023

NRF, DSI, TIA

ZAR950,000

 

TOTAL

ZAR13,535,000 (~A$1.1M)

2021    Module coordinator and lecturer: Eukaryotic Gene Regulation 351

            Module coordinator: Molecular and Cell Biology 721 (Honours course)

 

2020    Module coordinator and lecturer: Eukaryotic Gene Regulation 351

            Module coordinator: Molecular and Cell Biology 721 (Honours course)

 

2019    Lecturer for Eukaryotic Gene Regulation 351

            Module coordinator: Molecular and Cell Biology 721 (Honours course)

            Guest lecturer: Plant Genetics and Crop Biotechnology 361

            Lecturer: Spring School on Solar Energy and Photosynthesis

2018    Lecturer for Plant Genetics and Crop Biotechnology 361

            Lecturer for Molecular and Cell Biology 721 (Honours course)

            Lecturer: Spring School on Solar Energy and Photosynthesis

  • Position: Senior Mortlock Fellow
  • Phone: 83136162
  • Email: steven.hussey@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: Waite
  • Org Unit: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
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