Mahima Krishnan
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Mahima is a postdoctoral fellow with the Weed Science Research Group at The University of Adelaide. She completed her PhD in the study of salt tolerance in various cereal crops. As a postdoctoral fellow, she has focused her efforts in understanding the mechanisms that drive herbicide resistance in various weeds. Her research has included studying resistance to glyphosate (Group 9), ACC'ase inhibitors (Group 1), ALS inhibitors (Group 2), paraquat (Group 22) and tri-allate (Group 15) in various weed species. Her current research focus is on understanding the evolutionary dynamics of summer weed resistance to pre-emergent herbicides mesotrione (Group 27), S-metolachlor (Group 15), saflufenacil+trifludimoxazin (Group 14) and genetic characterisation of 2,4-D (Group 4) herbicide resistance in common sow thistle, wild radish, Indian hedge mustard, winged slender thistle, capeweed and wild turnip.
- My Research
- Career
- Publications
- Grants and Funding
- Teaching
- Supervision
- Professional Activities
- Contact
Weeds are an important yield determinant of agriculture and, in Australia, cause annual losses in the vicinity of $5 billion AUD. Herbicides account for most, if not all, of a farmer’s chemical control budget in cropping systems and are therefore a critical tool for broadacre farming. Such strong dependence on herbicides has inevitably given rise to herbicide resistance in various weed species. Understanding how these instances of resistance arise and the mechanisms by which they cause resistance is key for the identification of alternative weed management strategies. My research looks into the mechanisms which give rise to herbicide resistance in weeds and how the resistance can be mitigated.
| Year | Topic |
| 2015-2018 | Mechanisms, evolution and inheritance of herbicide resistance |
| 2018-2020 | Understanding resistance to 2,4-D in common sowthistle and opportunities for improving 2,4-D activity on resistant populations |
| 2020-2025 | Target-site resistance to 2,4-D or other group I/4 herbicides in winter and summer weed species |
| 2020-2025 | Assessment of phenotypic variation in glyphosate resistant populations of feathertop Rhodes grass and awnless barnyard grass in response to the K herbicide S-metolachlor (Group K/15) and saflufenacil + trifludimoxazin (Group G/14) |
| 2025-2030 | Dynamics of weed adaptation to management strategies, including the evolution and inheritance of herbicide resistance |
| 2025-2030 | Molecular, Biochemical and genetic mechanisms of novel herbicide resistance |
| 2025-2030 | Mitigating the impact and development of herbicide resistance |
Email me directly if you are interested in pursuing Honours, Masters by research or a PhD project in herbicide resistance and/or weed management.
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2015 - ongoing Postdoctoral Fellow The University of Adelaide -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review Hindi Can speak and understand spoken Kannada Can speak and understand spoken Malayalam Can speak and understand spoken Tamil Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title The University of Adelaide Australia B.Sc. Molecular Biology Charles Darwin University Australia B.Sc. Honours The University of Adelaide Australia PhD
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Journals
Year Citation 2025 Krishnan, M., Petrovic, T., Schwerdt, J. G., Merriam, A. B., Hereward, J. P., & Preston, C. (2025). A novel mutation in SoIAA20 confers cross-resistance to 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and other auxinic herbicides in Sonchus oleraceus. Pest Management Science, 81(1), 141-148.
Scopus7 Europe PMC62025 Qi, Y., Krishnan, M., Tucker, M., & Preston, C. (2025). A point mutation in IAA34 confers resistance to
the auxin herbicide 2,4-D in Sisymbrium
orientale. Pest Management Science, 81(7), 3523-3531.
Scopus2 Europe PMC12025 Qi, Y., Krishnan, M., Tucker, M., Boutsalis, P., & Preston, C. (2025). An 18 base pair in-frame deletion in the degron tail of IAA2 provides resistance to 2,4-D and dicamba in Brassica tournefortii. Pesticide Biochemistry and Physiology, 213, 6 pages.
2025 Qi, Y., Krishnan, M., Tucker, M., Boutsalis, P., & Preston, C. (2025). A deletion upstream of the degron of AcIAA27 leads to auxinic herbicide resistance in Arctotheca calendula. Pest Management Science, 8 pages.
2019 Nguyen, H., Malone, J., Krishnan, M., Boutsalis, P., & Preston, C. (2019). Inheritance of glyphosate resistance in Echinochloa colona from Australia. Journal of Research in Weed Science, 2(4), 310-331.
2018 Dang, H., Malone, J., Boutsalis, P., Krishnan, M., Gill, G., & Preston, C. (2018). Reduced translocation in 2,4-D-resistant oriental mustard populations (Sisymbrium orientale L.) from Australia. Pest management science, 74(6), 1524-1532.
Scopus30 WoS20 Europe PMC162017 Ngo, T. D., Krishnan, M., Boutsalis, P., Gill, G., & Preston, C. (2017). Target-site mutations conferring resistance to glyphosate in feathertop Rhodes grass (Chloris virgata) populations in Australia. Pest Management Science, 74(5), 1094-1100.
Scopus46 WoS38 Europe PMC212014 Byrt, C., Xu, B., Krishnan, M., Lightfoot, D., Athman, A., Jacobs, A., . . . Gilliham, M. (2014). The Na⁺ transporter, TaHKT1;5-D, limits shoot Na⁺ accumulation in bread wheat. The Plant Journal, 80(3), 516-526.
Scopus192 WoS140 Europe PMC1042007 Alvarez, B., Krishnan, M., & Gibb, K. (2007). Analysis of intragenomic variation of the rDNA internal transcribed spacers (ITS) in Halichondrida (Porifera: Demospongiae). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 87(6), 1599-1605.
Scopus15 -
Book Chapters
Year Citation - Korres, N. E., Burgos, N. R., & Duke, S. O. (n.d.). Weed Control. In N. E. Korres, N. R. Burgos, & S. O. Duke (Eds.). CRC Press.
DOI -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2018 Preston, C., Brunton, D., Merriam, A., Dang, H., Ngo, T., Boutsalis, P., . . . Gill, G. (2018). Herbicide and weed management - latest research. In GRC Updates Papers. Australia. -
Conference Items
Year Citation 2018 Krishnan, M., Petrovic, T., Valappan, G., Merriam, A., & Preston, C. (2018). Understanding the mechanism of 2,4-D resistance in Sonchus oleraceus (Common sowthistle). Poster session presented at the meeting of Weed Biosecurity - Protecting Our Future. Sydney. 2016 Krishnan, M., Nguyen, T. H., Malone, J., Morran, S., Boutsalis, P., & Preston, C. (2016). Mechanisms and inheritance of glyphosate resistance in Echinochloa colona from Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of Weed Science Society of America’s Annual Meeting. 2016 Krishnan, M., Boutsalis, P., & Preston, C. (2016). Understanding the mechanisms of triallate resistance in annual ryegrass. Poster session presented at the meeting of 20th Australasian Weeds Conference. 2015 Krishnan, M., & Preston, C. (2015). New developments in herbicide resistance in Australia. Poster session presented at the meeting of The 3rd Australian Agrichemical Resistance Meeting.
| Year | Project | Team | Amount | Grant | Role |
| 2015-2020 | Protecting your crop: Mechanisms, evolution and inheritance of resistance | C Preston, J Malone, M Krishnan, F Dolman | $1,498,727 | GRDC- Cat 1 | Partner investigator |
| 2020-2025 | Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative- Phase 6 | M Krishnan, C Preston | $720,827 | GRDC- Cat 1 | Chief investigator |
| 2024 | Is the 2,4-D resistance caused by a novel mutation in IAA34 in Sisymbrium orientale a result of reduced herbicide translocation in resistant biotypes? | M Krishnan | $4,800 | Charlick Endowment Fund- internal | Chief investigator |
| 2025-2030 | UOA Weed Management Initiative | C Preston, G Gill, J Malone, M Krishnan N Aggarwal | $6,700,000 | GRDC- Cat 1 | Chief investigator |
Bachelor of Agricultural Sciences and the Bachelor of Viticulture and Oenology
Courses:
- Foundations in Plants Science II
- Plant Health III
- Research Skills for Applied Biology II
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Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2022 Co-Supervisor Resistance to Auxinic Herbicides in Wild Radish Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Yuanlin Qi
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2024 - ongoing Representative Gender, Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity University of Adelaide Australia -
Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2022 - ongoing Member WMSSA Australia
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