Jenny Mortimer

Associate Professor Jenny Mortimer

Associate Professor

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

Faculty of Sciences, Engineering and Technology

Jenny Mortimer is Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, and Deputy Director (Interim) of The Waite Research Institute. She is also an Affiliate Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA, and a Director of Plant Systems Biology at the Joint BioEnergy Institute, USA. After completing her PhD at Cambridge University, UK, she began exploring how engineering the plant cell wall could deliver sustainable and economically viable biofuels: first as a postdoc in Cambridge, then as a research fellow at RIKEN Japan, before joining Berkeley Lab in 2014, and Adelaide as a Top Talent appointment in 2021. Her team’s research focuses on understanding and manipulating plant cell metabolism, with a focus on complex glycosylation. The goal is to develop crops which contribute to a sustainable and renewable bioeconomy.

At Adelaide, her group is using synthetic biology to develop new crops for food and materials production in controlled growth environments – including for Space settlement, as part of the newly formed ARC Centre of Excellence Plants for Space (P4S), and applying new agricultural biotechnologies to develop resilient field crops as part of the ARC Training Centre for Future Crops Development. As part of the US Department of Energy (DoE) funded Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) her team in Adelaide and California work to reengineer the plant cell wall for the sustainable production of fuels and biochemicals from biomass. As part of the newly funded ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon, her group will collaborate to develop Australian feedstocks which support the production of biojetfuel. Finally, as part of the US DoE funded m-CAFES we seek to enhance plant-microbiome interactions for sustainable biomass crop production by exploring the role of the cell wall in determining the temporal and spatial relationship between plants and microbes.

The species we work on span model systems (Arabidopsis, Brachypodium) to crops (sorghum, switchgrass, poplar), and future crops (duckweed).

Honours include selection as a World Economic Forum Young Scientist (2016/17), where she contributed to the WEF Code of Ethics for Researchers (widgets.weforum.org/coe). She was selected as the 2023 Australian Society of Plant Sciences representative for "Science Meets Parliament". She is involved in outreach, both with the media, local SA schools and museums, and the general public.

She is a handling editor for the journals Plant Cell Physiology and The Plant Journal. She sits on the Engineering Biology Research Consortium (EBRC) Policy and International Engagement Committee, is a UoA Faculty Research Integrity Advisor, and is a proud member of the ALLY network.

I am available to supervise Bachelors of Science (Honours) projects in 2024. Contact me to discuss further but possible projects include:
1) Plants for Space - characterising the growth and nutrition profiles of new Australian accessions of duckweed
2) Biofuels and biomaterials - characterising the function of novel cell wall glycosyltransferases

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2024 Jiao, Y., Nigam, D., Barry, K., Daum, C., Yoshinaga, Y., Lipzen, A., . . . Xin, Z. (2024). A large sequenced mutant library – valuable reverse genetic resource that covers 98% of sorghum genes. Plant Journal, 117(5), 1543-1557.
    DOI Scopus7 Europe PMC5
    2024 Morgan, M. F., Diab, J., Gilliham, M., & Mortimer, J. C. (2024). Green horizons: how plant synthetic biology can enable space exploration and drive on Earth sustainability. Curr Opin Biotechnol, 86, 103069-1-103069-7.
    DOI Scopus1
    2024 Lin, H. -H., Torres, M., Adams, C. A., Andeer, P. F., Owens, T. K., Zhalnina, K., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2024). Impact of Inoculation Practices on Microbiota Assembly and Community Stability in a Fabricated Ecosystem. PHYTOBIOMES JOURNAL, 8(2), 13 pages.
    DOI Scopus14
    2024 Zhang, Y., Sharma, D., Liang, Y., Downs, N., Dolman, F., Thorne, K., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2024). Putative rhamnogalacturonan-II glycosyltransferase identified through callus gene editing bypasses embryo lethality.. Plant Physiol, 195(4), 2551-2565.
    DOI Scopus1
    2024 Akyuz Turumtay, E., Turumtay, H., Tian, Y., Lin, C. -Y., Ning Chai, Y., Louie, K. B., . . . Eudes, A. (2024). Expression in poplar of dehydroshikimate dehydratase induces transcriptional and metabolic changes in the phenylpropanoid pathway.. Journal of experimental botany, 75(16), 4960-4977.
    DOI Scopus1 Europe PMC1
    2024 Priya, S., Rossbach, S., Eng, T., Lin, H. H., Andeer, P. F., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Mukhopadhyay, A. (2024). Assessing horizontal gene transfer in the rhizosphere of Brachypodium distachyon using fabricated ecosystems (EcoFABs). Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 90(11), 16 pages.
    DOI Scopus4
    2024 Edwards, R. A., Ng, X. Y., Tucker, M. R., & Mortimer, J. C. (2024). Plant synthetic biology as a tool to help eliminate hidden hunger. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 88, 103168-1-103168-9.
    DOI Scopus2 Europe PMC1
    2024 Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2024). Evolutionary arms race: the role of xylan modifications in plant–pathogen interactions. New Phytologist, 244(3), 749-751.
    DOI
    2024 Tian, Y., Gao, Y., Turumtay, H., Turumtay, E. A., Chai, Y. N., Choudhary, H., . . . Eudes, A. (2024). Engineered reduction of S-adenosylmethionine alters lignin in sorghum. Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts, 17(1), 128.
    DOI
    2024 Priya, S., Rossbach, S., Eng, T., Lin, H. -H., Andeer, P. F., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Mukhopadhyay, A. (2024). Assessing horizontal gene transfer in the rhizosphere of <i>Brachypodium distachyon</i> using fabricated ecosystems (EcoFABs).. Applied and environmental microbiology, 90(11), e0150524.
    DOI
    2023 Lankiewicz, T. S., Choudhary, H., Gao, Y., Amer, B., Lillington, S. P., Leggieri, P. A., . . . O'Malley, M. A. (2023). Lignin deconstruction by anaerobic fungi.. Nat Microbiol, 8(4), 596-610.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS3 Europe PMC10
    2023 Gao, Y., Lipton, A. S., Munson, C. R., Ma, Y., Johnson, K. L., Murray, D. T., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2023). Elongated galactan side‐chains mediate cellulose‐pectin interactions in engineered Arabidopsis secondary cell walls. The Plant Journal, 115(2), 529-545.
    DOI Scopus10 Europe PMC1
    2023 Sha, G., Sun, P., Kong, X., Han, X., Sun, Q., Fouillen, L., . . . Li, G. (2023). Genome editing of a rice CDP-DAG synthase confers multipathogen resistance.. Nature, 618(7967), 1017-1023.
    DOI Scopus88 WoS23 Europe PMC32
    2023 Eudes, A., Lin, C. Y., De Ben, C., Ortega, J., Lee, M. Y., Chen, Y. C., . . . Scheller, H. V. (2023). Field performance of switchgrass plants engineered for reduced recalcitrance. Frontiers in Plant Science, 14, 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus5 Europe PMC1
    2023 Choi, H. -S., Bjornson, M., Liang, J., Wang, J., Ke, H., Hur, M., . . . Dehesh, K. (2023). COG-imposed Golgi functional integrity determines the onset of dark-induced senescence. Nature Plants, 9(11), 1890-1901.
    DOI
    2022 Hu, Y., Andeer, P., Zheng, Q., Kosina, S., Jardine, K., Ding, Y., . . . Northen, T. (2022). Extensive plant use of exometabolites.
    DOI
    2022 Mortimer, J. C., & Gilliham, M. (2022). SpaceHort: redesigning plants to support space exploration and on-earth sustainability. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 73, 246-252.
    DOI Scopus25 WoS7 Europe PMC8
    2022 Bowerman, A. F., Byrt, C. S., Roy, S. J., Whitney, S. M., Mortimer, J. C., Ankeny, R. A., . . . Pogson, B. J. (2022). Potential abiotic stress targets for modern genetic manipulation.. The Plant cell, 35(1), 139-161.
    DOI Scopus18 WoS10 Europe PMC6
    2022 Munson, C. R., Gao, Y., Mortimer, J. C., & Murray, D. T. (2022). Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance as a Tool to Probe the Impact of Mechanical Preprocessing on the Structure and Arrangement of Plant Cell Wall Polymers. Frontiers in Plant Science, 12, 1-9.
    DOI Scopus5 WoS2 Europe PMC3
    2022 Yang, L., Zhao, M., Sha, G., Sun, Q., Gong, Q., Yang, Q., . . . Li, G. (2022). The genome of the rice variety LTH provides insight into its universal susceptibility mechanism to worldwide rice blast fungal strains. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, 20, 1012-1026.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS11 Europe PMC7
    2022 Gao, Y., & Mortimer, J. C. (2022). Reimagining Lignin for the Biorefinery.. Plant Cell Physiol, 63(6), 734-736.
    DOI Scopus2 Europe PMC1
    2022 Ferreira, S. S., Goeminne, G., Simões, M. S., de Almeida Pina, A. V., Alves de Lima, L. G., Pezard, J., . . . Cesarino, I. (2022). Transcriptional and metabolic changes associated with internode development and reduced cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase activity in sorghum.. Journal of experimental botany, 73(18), 6307-6333.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS5 Europe PMC3
    2022 Jardine, K. J., Dewhirst, R. A., Som, S., Lei, J., Tucker, E., Young, R. P., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2022). Cell wall ester modifications and volatile emission signatures of plant response to abiotic stress.. Plant Cell Environ, 45(12), 3429-3444.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS2 Europe PMC5
    2022 Tom, L. M., Aulitto, M., Wu, Y. W., Deng, K., Gao, Y., Xiao, N., . . . Singer, S. W. (2022). Low-abundance populations distinguish microbiome performance in plant cell wall deconstruction. Microbiome, 10(1), 1-16.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS3 Europe PMC9
    2021 Jha, S. G., Borowsky, A. T., Cole, B. J., Fahlgren, N., Farmer, A., Huang, S. S. C., . . . Mortimer, J. (2021). Vision, challenges and opportunities for a plant cell atlas. eLife, 10, 27 pages.
    DOI Scopus46 Europe PMC25
    2021 Verhertbruggen, Y., Bouder, A., Vigouroux, J., Alvarado, C., Geairon, A., Guillon, F., . . . Chateigner-Boutin, A. L. (2021). The TaCslA12 gene expressed in the wheat grain endosperm synthesizes wheat-like mannan when expressed in yeast and Arabidopsis. Plant Science, 302, 110693.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS4 Europe PMC3
    2021 Silva, T. N., Thomas, J. B., Dahlberg, J., Rhee, S. Y., & Mortimer, J. C. (2021). Progress and challenges in sorghum biotechnology, a multi-purpose feedstock for the bioeconomy.. Journal of experimental botany, 73(3), 646-664.
    DOI Scopus36 WoS9 Europe PMC13
    2021 Ohtani, M., Kotake, T., Mortimer, J. C., & Demura, T. (2021). The Mechanics and Biology of Plant Cell Walls: Resilience and Sustainability for Our Future Society.. Plant Cell Physiol, 62(12), 1787-1790.
    DOI Scopus1 Europe PMC1
    2021 Dewhirst, R. A., Lei, J., Afseth, C. A., Castanha, C., Wistrom, C. M., Mortimer, J. C., & Jardine, K. J. (2021). Are methanol-derived foliar methyl acetate emissions a tracer of acetate-mediated drought survival in plants?. Plants, 10(2), 1-14.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC1
    2021 Demirer, G. S., Silva, T. N., Jackson, C. T., Thomas, J. B., W. Ehrhardt, D., Rhee, S. Y., . . . Landry, M. P. (2021). Nanotechnology to advance CRISPR–Cas genetic engineering of plants. Nature Nanotechnology, 16(3), 243-250.
    DOI Scopus157 WoS68 Europe PMC64
    2021 Jing, B., Ishikawa, T., Soltis, N., Inada, N., Liang, Y., Murawska, G., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2021). The Arabidopsis thaliana nucleotide sugar transporter GONST2 is a functional homolog of GONST1.. Plant direct, 5(3), 1-13.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS4 Europe PMC6
    2021 Moore, W. M., Chan, C., Ishikawa, T., Rennie, E. A., Wipf, H. M. L., Benites, V., . . . Scheller, H. V. (2021). Reprogramming sphingolipid glycosylation is required for endosymbiont persistence in Medicago truncatula. Current Biology, 31(11), 2374-2385.e4.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS9 Europe PMC8
    2021 Cassim, A. M., Navon, Y., Gao, Y., Decossas, M., Fouillen, L., Grélard, A., . . . Mongrand, S. (2021). Biophysical analysis of the plant-specific GIPC sphingolipids reveals multiple modes of membrane regulation. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 296, 1-21.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS19 Europe PMC14
    2021 Mortimer, J. (2021). Editorial Feature: Meet the PCP Editor—Jenny Mortimer. Plant and Cell Physiology, 62(5), 747-748.
    DOI
    2021 Cole, B., Bergmann, D., Blaby-Haas, C. E., Blaby, I. K., Bouchard, K. E., Brady, S. M., . . . Dickel, D. E. (2021). Plant single-cell solutions for energy and the environment. Communications Biology, 4(1), 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus25 WoS19 Europe PMC15
    2021 Dewhirst, R. A., Handakumbura, P., Clendinen, C. S., Arm, E., Tate, K., Wang, W., . . . Jardine, K. J. (2021). High Temperature Acclimation of Leaf Gas Exchange, Photochemistry, and Metabolomic Profiles in Populus trichocarpa. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, 5(8), 1813-1828.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS3
    2020 Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2020). Synthesis and Function of Complex Sphingolipid Glycosylation. Trends in Plant Science, 25(6), 522-524.
    DOI Scopus14 WoS12 Europe PMC8
    2020 Eng, T., Herbert, R., Martinez, U., Wang, B., Chen, J., Brown, B., . . . Mukhopadhyay, A. (2020). Iron Supplementation Eliminates Antagonistic Interactions Between Root Associated Bacteria.
    DOI
    2020 Hori, C., Takata, N., Lam, P. Y., Tobimatsu, Y., Nagano, S., Cullen, D., & Mortimer, J. (2020). Identifying transcription factors that reduce wood recalcitrance and improve enzymatic degradation of xylem cell wall in Populus.. Sci Rep, 10(1), 22043.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS3 Europe PMC3
    2020 Mason, P. J., Furtado, A., Marquardt, A., Hodgson-Kratky, K., Hoang, N. V., Botha, F. C., . . . Henry, R. J. (2020). Variation in sugarcane biomass composition and enzymatic saccharification of leaves, internodes and roots. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 13(1), 19 pages.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS4 Europe PMC3
    2020 Baral, N. R., Dahlberg, J., Putnam, D., Mortimer, J. C., & Scown, C. D. (2020). Supply cost and life-cycle greenhouse gas footprint of dry and ensiled biomass sorghum for biofuel production. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 8(42), 15855-15864.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS13
    2020 Yang, M., Baral, N. R., Simmons, B. A., Mortimer, J. C., Shih, P. M., & Scown, C. D. (2020). Erratum: Accumulation of high-value bioproducts in planta can improve the economics of advanced biofuels (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.(2020) 117 (8639–8648) DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2000053117). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 117(43), 27061.
    DOI Scopus2
    2020 Vejlupkova, Z., Warman, C., Sharma, R., Scheller, H. V., Mortimer, J. C., & Fowler, J. E. (2020). No evidence for transient transformation via pollen magnetofection in several monocot species.
    DOI
    2020 Gao, Y., Lipton, A. S., Wittmer, Y., Murray, D. T., & Mortimer, J. C. (2020). A grass-specific cellulose–xylan interaction dominates in sorghum secondary cell walls. Nature Communications, 11(1), 10 pages.
    DOI Scopus76 WoS49 Europe PMC26
    2020 Dewhirst, R. A., Afseth, C. A., Castanha, C., Mortimer, J. C., & Jardine, K. J. (2020). Cell wall O-acetyl and methyl esterification patterns of leaves reflected in atmospheric emission signatures of acetic acid and methanol. PLOS ONE, 15(5), 1-16.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS8 Europe PMC3
    2020 Yang, M., Baral, N. R., Simmons, B. A., Mortimer, J. C., Shih, P. M., & Scown, C. D. (2020). Accumulation of high-value bioproducts in planta can improve the economics of advanced biofuels. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(15), 8639-8648.
    DOI Scopus64 WoS47 Europe PMC13
    2020 Sharma, R., Liang, Y., Lee, M. Y., Pidatala, V. R., Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2020). Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of sorghum leaves for accelerating functional genomics and genome editing studies. BMC Research Notes, 13(1), 1-7.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS15 Europe PMC12
    2020 Vejlupkova, Z., Warman, C., Sharma, R., Scheller, H. V., Mortimer, J. C., & Fowler, J. E. (2020). No evidence for transient transformation via pollen magnetofection in several monocot species. Nature Plants, 6(11), 1323-1324.
    DOI Scopus36 WoS20 Europe PMC22
    2020 Hori, C., Yu, X., Mortimer, J. C., Sano, R., Matsumoto, T., Kikuchi, J., . . . Ohtani, M. (2020). Impact of abiotic stress on the regulation of cell wall biosynthesis in populus trichocarpa. Plant Biotechnology, 37(3), 1-11.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS18 Europe PMC11
    2020 Eng, T., Herbert, R. A., Martinez, U., Wang, B., Chen, J. C., Brown, J. B., . . . Mukhopadhyay, A. (2020). Iron Supplementation Eliminates Antagonistic Interactions Between Root-Associated Bacteria. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 1-11.
    DOI Scopus8 WoS6 Europe PMC5
    2020 Dewhirst, R. A., Mortimer, J. C., & Jardine, K. J. (2020). Do Cell Wall Esters Facilitate Forest Response to Climate?. Trends in Plant Science, 25(8), 729-732.
    DOI Scopus4 WoS3 Europe PMC2
    2019 Yan, D., Yadav, S. R., Paterlini, A., Nicolas, W. J., Petit, J. D., Brocard, L., . . . Helariutta, Y. (2019). Publisher Correction: Sphingolipid biosynthesis modulates plasmodesmal ultrastructure and phloem unloading (Nature Plants, (2019), 5, 6, (604-615), 10.1038/s41477-019-0429-5). Nature Plants, 5(9), 1023.
    DOI Scopus1
    2019 Yan, D., Yadav, S. R., Paterlini, A., Nicolas, W. J., Petit, J. D., Brocard, L., . . . Helariutta, Y. (2019). Sphingolipid biosynthesis modulates plasmodesmal ultrastructure and phloem unloading.. Nature plants, 5(6), 604-615.
    DOI Scopus66 WoS48 Europe PMC35
    2019 Sharma, R., Liang, Y., Lee, M. Y., Pidatala, V., Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2019). Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of sorghum leaves for accelerating functional genomics and genome editing studies.. Research Square.
    DOI
    2019 Langley, S., Eng, T., Wan, K. H., Herbert, R. A., Klein, A. P., Yoshikuni, Y., . . . Mukhopadhyay, A. (2019). Complete Genome Sequence of Agrobacterium sp. Strain 33MFTa1.1, Isolated from Thlaspi arvense Roots. Microbiology Resource Announcements, 8(37), 1-3.
    DOI Scopus1 WoS1
    2019 Sharma, R., Liang, Y., Lee, M. Y., Pidatala, V. R., Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2019). Agrobacterium-mediated transient transformation of sorghum leaves for accelerating functional genomics and genome editing studies. biorxiv.
    DOI
    2019 Dewhirst, R. A., Afseth, C. A., Castanha, C., Mortimer, J. C., & Jardine, K. J. (2019). Cell wall O-acetyl and methyl esterification patterns of leaves reflected in atmospheric emission signatures of acetic acid and methanol. biorxiv.
    DOI
    2019 Mortimer, J. C. (2019). Plant synthetic biology could drive a revolution in biofuels and medicine. Experimental Biology and Medicine, 244(4), 323-331.
    DOI Scopus46 WoS28 Europe PMC12
    2019 Yan, J., Huang, Y., He, H., Han, T., Di, P., Sechet, J., . . . Zhang, A. (2019). Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase-hydrolase30 negatively affects salt tolerance in Arabidopsis. Journal of Experimental Botany, 70(19), 5495-5506.
    DOI Scopus45 WoS24 Europe PMC20
    2019 Yoshida, S., Kim, S., Wafula, E. K., Tanskanen, J., Kim, Y. M., Honaas, L., . . . Shirasu, K. (2019). Genome Sequence of Striga asiatica Provides Insight into the Evolution of Plant Parasitism. Current Biology, 29(18), 3041-3052.
    DOI Scopus104 WoS84 Europe PMC55
    2019 Herbert, R. A., Eng, T., Martinez, U., Wang, B., Langley, S., Wan, K., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2019). Rhizobacteria Mediate the Phytotoxicity of a Range of Biorefinery-Relevant Compounds. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 38(9), 1911-1922.
    DOI Scopus3 WoS1 Europe PMC1
    2019 Liang, Y., Eudes, A., Yogiswara, S., Jing, B., Benites, V. T., Yamanaka, R., . . . Loqué, D. (2019). A screening method to identify efficient sgRNAs in Arabidopsis, used in conjunction with cell-specific lignin reduction. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 12(1), 1-15.
    DOI Scopus39 WoS30 Europe PMC23
    2019 Bouchez, P., Teixeira Benites, V., Baidoo, E. E. K., Mortimer, J. C., Sullivan, M. L., Scheller, H. V., & Eudes, A. (2019). Production of clovamide and its analogues in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Lactococcus lactis. Letters in Applied Microbiology, 69(3), 181-189.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS8 Europe PMC5
    2019 Baral, N. R., Sundstrom, E. R., Das, L., Gladden, J., Eudes, A., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Scown, C. D. (2019). Approaches for More Efficient Biological Conversion of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks to Biofuels and Bioproducts. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering, 7(10), 9062-9079.
    DOI Scopus96 WoS61
    2019 Temple, H., Mortimer, J. C., Tryfona, T., Yu, X., Lopez-Hernandez, F., Sorieul, M., . . . Dupree, P. (2019). Two members of the DUF579 family are responsible for arabinogalactan methylation in Arabidopsis. Plant Direct, 3(2), 1-4.
    DOI Scopus21 WoS17 Europe PMC12
    2018 Ebert, B., Birdseye, D., Liwanag, A. J. M., Laursen, T., Rennie, E. A., Guo, X., . . . Scheller, H. V. (2018). The three members of the Arabidopsis Glycosyltransferase Family 92 are functional β-1,4-galactan synthases. Plant and Cell Physiology, 59(12), 2624-2636.
    DOI Scopus36 WoS19 Europe PMC24
    2018 Li, G., Jones, K. C., Eudes, A., Pidatala, V. R., Sun, J., Xu, F., . . . Ronald, P. C. (2018). Overexpression of a rice BAHD acyltransferase gene in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) enhances saccharification. BMC Biotechnology, 18(1), 1-10.
    DOI Scopus40 WoS26 Europe PMC24
    2018 Faria-Blanc, N., Mortimer, J. C., & Dupree, P. (2018). A transcriptomic analysis of xylan mutants does not support the existence of a secondary cell wall integrity system in arabidopsis. Frontiers in plant science, 9, 1-12.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS20 Europe PMC15
    2018 Laursen, T., Stonebloom, S. H., Pidatala, V. R., Birdseye, D. S., Clausen, M. H., Mortimer, J. C., & Scheller, H. V. (2018). Bifunctional glycosyltransferases catalyze both extension and termination of pectic galactan oligosaccharides. The Plant Journal, 94(2), 340-351.
    DOI Scopus27 WoS20 Europe PMC15
    2018 Ishikawa, T., Fang, L., Rennie, E. A., Sechet, J., Yan, J., Jing, B., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2018). GLUCOSAMINE INOSITOLPHOSPHORYLCERAMIDE TRANSFERASE1 (GINT1) Is a GlcNAc-Containing Glycosylinositol Phosphorylceramide Glycosyltransferase.. Plant physiology, 177(3), 938-952.
    DOI Scopus33 WoS26 Europe PMC14
    2018 Sechet, J., Htwe, S., Urbanowicz, B., Agyeman, A., Feng, W., Ishikawa, T., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2018). Suppression of Arabidopsis GGLT1 affects growth by reducing the L-galactose content and borate cross-linking of rhamnogalacturonan-II.. The Plant journal : for cell and molecular biology, 96(5), 1036-1050.
    DOI Scopus32 WoS23 Europe PMC20
    2018 Jing, B., Ishikawa, T., Soltis, N., Inada, N., Liang, Y., Murawska, G., . . . Mortimer, J. (2018). GONST2 transports GDP-Mannose for sphingolipid glycosylation in the Golgi apparatus of Arabidopsis.
    DOI
    2017 Lenarčič, T., Albert, I., Böhm, H., Hodnik, V., Pirc, K., Zavec, A. B., . . . Nürnberger, T. (2017). Eudicot plant-specific sphingolipids determine host selectivity of microbial NLP cytolysins.. Science (New York, N.Y.), 358(6369), 1431-1434.
    DOI Scopus141 WoS117 Europe PMC71
    2017 Tartaglio, V., Rennie, E. A., Cahoon, R., Wang, G., Baidoo, E., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Scheller, H. V. (2017). Glycosylation of inositol phosphorylceramide sphingolipids is required for normal growth and reproduction in Arabidopsis. The Plant Journal, 89(2), 278-290.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS36 Europe PMC20
    2017 Pidatala, V. R., Mahboubi, A., & Mortimer, J. C. (2017). Structural Characterization of Mannan Cell Wall Polysaccharides in Plants Using PACE.. Journal of visualized experiments : JoVE, 2017(128), 1-7.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS2 Europe PMC3
    2017 Liang, Y., Richardson, S., Yan, J., Benites, V. T., Cheng-Yue, C., Tran, T., . . . Loqué, D. (2017). Endoribonuclease-Based Two-Component Repressor Systems for Tight Gene Expression Control in Plants. ACS Synthetic Biology, 6(5), 806-816.
    DOI Scopus15 WoS11 Europe PMC6
    2016 Zhang, Y., Nikolovski, N., Sorieul, M., Vellosillo, T., McFarlane, H. E., Dupree, R., . . . Dupree, P. (2016). Golgi-localized STELLO proteins regulate the assembly and trafficking of cellulose synthase complexes in Arabidopsis.. Nature communications, 7(1), 1-14.
    DOI Scopus107 WoS80 Europe PMC57
    2016 Simmons, T. J., Mortimer, J. C., Bernardinelli, O. D., Pöppler, A. -C., Brown, S. P., deAzevedo, E. R., . . . Dupree, P. (2016). Folding of xylan onto cellulose fibrils in plant cell walls revealed by solid-state NMR.. Nature communications, 7(1), 1-9.
    DOI Scopus308 WoS249 Europe PMC125
    2016 Rogowski, A., Briggs, J. A., Mortimer, J. C., Tryfona, T., Terrapon, N., Lowe, E. C., . . . Bolam, D. N. (2016). Erratum: Glycan complexity dictates microbial resource allocation in the large intestine (Nature Communications (2015) 6 (7481) DOI:10.1038/ncomms8481). Nature Communications, 7(1), 1 page.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS10 Europe PMC7
    2016 Eudes, A., Zhao, N., Sathitsuksanoh, N., Baidoo, E. E. K., Lao, J., Wang, G., . . . Loqué, D. (2016). Expression of S-adenosylmethionine Hydrolase in Tissues Synthesizing Secondary Cell Walls Alters Specific Methylated Cell Wall Fractions and Improves Biomass Digestibility.. Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 4(JUL), 1-10.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC6
    2016 Fang, L., Ishikawa, T., Rennie, E. A., Murawska, G. M., Lao, J., Yan, J., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2016). Loss of Inositol Phosphorylceramide Sphingolipid Mannosylation Induces Plant Immune Responses and Reduces Cellulose Content in Arabidopsis.. The Plant cell, 28(12), 2991-3004.
    DOI Scopus62 WoS49 Europe PMC33
    2015 Dupree, R., Simmons, T. J., Mortimer, J. C., Patel, D., Iuga, D., Brown, S. P., & Dupree, P. (2015). Probing the molecular architecture of arabidopsis thaliana secondary cell walls using two- and three-dimensional <sup>13</sup>C solid state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Biochemistry, 54(14), 2335-2345.
    DOI Scopus75 WoS63 Europe PMC36
    2015 Sawake, S., Tajima, N., Mortimer, J. C., Lao, J., Ishikawa, T., Yu, X., . . . Kotakea, T. (2015). KONJAC1 and 2 are key factors for GDP-mannose generation and affect l-ascorbic acid and glucomannan biosynthesis in arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 27(12), 3397-3409.
    DOI Scopus51 WoS35 Europe PMC24
    2015 Rogowski, A., Briggs, J. A., Mortimer, J. C., Tryfona, T., Terrapon, N., Lowe, E. C., . . . Bolam, D. N. (2015). Glycan complexity dictates microbial resource allocation in the large intestine. Nature Communications, 6(1), 15 pages.
    DOI Scopus327 WoS275 Europe PMC210
    2015 Mortimer, J. C., Faria-Blanc, N., Yu, X., Tryfona, T., Sorieul, M., Ng, Y. Z., . . . Dupree, P. (2015). An unusual xylan in Arabidopsis primary cell walls is synthesised by GUX3, IRX9L, IRX10L and IRX14. Plant Journal, 83(3), 413-426.
    DOI Scopus83 WoS65 Europe PMC56
    2014 Rogowski, A., Baslé, A., Farinas, C. S., Solovyova, A., Mortimer, J. C., Dupree, P., . . . Bolam, D. N. (2014). Evidence that GH115 α-glucuronidase activity, which is required to degrade plant biomass, is dependent on conformational flexibility. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 289(1), 53-64.
    DOI Scopus64 WoS48 Europe PMC30
    2014 Richards, S. L., Laohavisit, A., Mortimer, J. C., Shabala, L., Swarbreck, S. M., Shabala, S., & Davies, J. M. (2014). Annexin 1 regulates the H₂O₂-induced calcium signature in Arabidopsis thaliana roots. The Plant Journal, 77(1), 136-145.
    DOI Scopus110 WoS95 Europe PMC68
    2014 Rautengarten, C., Ebert, B., Moreno, I., Temple, H., Herter, T., Link, B., . . . Orellana, A. (2014). The Golgi localized bifunctional UDP-rhamnose/UDP-galactose transporter family of Arabidopsis. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 111(31), 11563-11568.
    DOI Scopus95 WoS88 Europe PMC65
    2013 Bromley, J. R., Busse-Wicher, M., Tryfona, T., Mortimer, J. C., Zhang, Z., Brown, D. M., & Dupree, P. (2013). GUX1 and GUX2 glucuronyltransferases decorate distinct domains of glucuronoxylan with different substitution patterns. Plant Journal, 74(3), 423-434.
    DOI Scopus166 WoS129 Europe PMC94
    2013 Wang, Y., Mortimer, J. C., Davis, J., Dupree, P., & Keegstra, K. (2013). Identification of an additional protein involved in mannan biosynthesis. Plant Journal, 73(1), 105-117.
    DOI Scopus43 WoS34 Europe PMC33
    2013 Goué, N., Mortimer, J. C., Nakano, Y., Zhang, Z., Josserand, M., Ohtani, M., . . . Demura, T. (2013). Secondary cell wall characterization in a BY-2 inductive system. Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, 115(2), 223-232.
    DOI Scopus12 WoS11
    2013 Li, X., Jackson, P., Rubtsov, D. V., Faria-Blanc, N., Mortimer, J. C., Turner, S. R., . . . Dupree, P. (2013). Development and application of a high throughput carbohydrate profiling technique for analyzing plant cell wall polysaccharides and carbohydrate active enzymes. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 6(1), 12 pages.
    DOI Scopus37 WoS29 Europe PMC20
    2013 Mortimer, J. C., Yu, X., Albrecht, S., Sicilia, F., Huichalaf, M., Ampuero, D., . . . Dupree, P. (2013). Abnormal glycosphingolipid mannosylation triggers salicylic acid-mediated responses in Arabidopsis. Plant Cell, 25(5), 1881-1894.
    DOI Scopus83 WoS72 Europe PMC59
    2013 Van Acker, R., Vanholme, R., Storme, V., Mortimer, J. C., Dupree, P., & Boerjan, W. (2013). Lignin biosynthesis perturbations affect secondary cell wall composition and saccharification yield in Arabidopsis thaliana. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 6(1), 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus247 WoS206 Europe PMC126
    2012 Anders, N., Wilkinson, M. D., Lovegrove, A., Freeman, J., Tryfona, T., Pellny, T. K., . . . Mitchell, R. A. C. (2012). Glycosyl transferases in family 61 mediate arabinofuranosyl transfer onto xylan in grasses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(3), 989-993.
    DOI Scopus209 WoS178 Europe PMC124
    2012 Laohavisit, A., Shang, Z., Rubio, L., Cuin, T. A., Véry, A. -A., Wang, A., . . . Davies, J. M. (2012). Arabidopsis annexin1 mediates the radical-activated plasma membrane Ca²⁺- and K⁺-permeable conductance in root cells. The Plant Cell, 24(4), 1522-1533.
    DOI Scopus162 WoS140 Europe PMC105
    2010 Yamaguchi, M., Goué, N., Igarashi, H., Ohtani, M., Nakano, Y., Mortimer, J. C., . . . Demura, T. (2010). VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN6 and VASCULAR-RELATED NAC-DOMAIN7 effectively induce transdifferentiation into xylem vessel elements under control of an induction system. Plant Physiology, 153(3), 906-914.
    DOI Scopus243 WoS195 Europe PMC158
    2010 Mortimer, J. C., Miles, G. P., Brown, D. M., Zhang, Z., Segura, M. P., Weimar, T., . . . Dupree, P. (2010). Absence of branches from xylan in Arabidopsis gux mutants reveals potential for simplification of lignocellulosic biomass. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 107(40), 17409-17414.
    DOI Scopus268 WoS221 Europe PMC171
    2009 Mortimer, J. C., Coxon, K. M., Laohavisit, A., & Davies, J. M. (2009). Heme-independent soluble and membrane-associated peroxidase activity of a zea mays annexin preparation. Plant Signaling and Behavior, 4(5), 428-430.
    DOI Scopus24 WoS21
    2009 Rubio, L., Laohavisit, A., Mortimer, J. C., Dark, A., & Davies, J. M. (2009). Salt stress signalling involves ATP release and Arabidopsis annexin 1. COMPARATIVE BIOCHEMISTRY AND PHYSIOLOGY A-MOLECULAR & INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY, 153A(2), S193-S194.
    DOI WoS2
    2009 Laohavisit, A., Mortimer, J. C., Demidchik, V., Coxon, K. M., Stancombe, M. A., Macpherson, N., . . . Davies, J. M. (2009). Zea mays annexins modulate cytosolic free Ca<sup>2+</sup> and generate a Ca<sup>2+</sup>-permeable conductance. Plant Cell, 21(2), 479-493.
    DOI Scopus123 WoS111 Europe PMC35
    2009 Goubet, F., Barton, C. J., Mortimer, J. C., Yu, X., Zhang, Z., Miles, G. P., . . . Dupree, P. (2009). Cell wall glucomannan in Arabidopsis is synthesised by CSLA glycosyltransferases, and influences the progression of embryogenesis. Plant Journal, 60(3), 527-538.
    DOI Scopus168 WoS145 Europe PMC111
    2009 Demidchik, V., Shang, Z., Shin, R., Thompson, E., Rubio, L., Laohavisit, A., . . . Davies, J. M. (2009). Plant extracellular ATP signalling by plasma membrane NADPH oxidase and Ca<sup>2+</sup> channels. Plant Journal, 58(6), 903-913.
    DOI Scopus182 WoS161 Europe PMC109
    2009 Laohavisit, A., Mortimer, J. C., Demidchik, V., Coxon, K. M., Stancombe, M. A., Macpherson, N., . . . Davies, J. M. (2009). Zea mays annexins modulate cytosolic free Ca2+ and generate a Ca2+-permeable conductance.. The Plant cell, 21(2), 479-493.
    DOI Europe PMC45
    2008 Mortimer, J. C., Laohavisit, A., Miedema, H., & Davies, J. M. (2008). Voltage, reactive oxygen species and the influx of calcium. Plant Signaling and Behavior, 3(9), 698-699.
    DOI Scopus7 WoS8 Europe PMC5
    2008 Macpherson, N., Takeda, S., Shang, Z., Dark, A., Mortimer, J. C., Brownlee, C., . . . Davies, J. M. (2008). NADPH oxidase involvement in cellular integrity. Planta, 227(6), 1415-1418.
    DOI Scopus29 WoS29 Europe PMC22
    2008 Ridlova, G., Mortimer, J. C., Maslen, S. L., Dupree, P., & Stephens, E. (2008). Oligosaccharide relative quantitation using isotope tagging and normal-phase liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 22(17), 2723-2730.
    DOI Scopus44 WoS43 Europe PMC27
    2008 Mortimer, J. C., Laohavisit, A., Macpherson, N., Webb, A., Brownlee, C., Battey, N. H., & Davies, J. M. (2008). Annexins: Multifunctional components of growth and adaptation. Journal of Experimental Botany, 59(3), 533-544.
    DOI Scopus205 WoS180 Europe PMC126

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    2020 Gao, Y., & Mortimer, J. C. (2020). Unlocking the architecture of native plant cell walls via solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. In C. T. Anderson, E. S. Haswell, & R. Dixit (Eds.), Methods in Cell Biology (Vol. 160, pp. 121-143). Cambridge, United States: Elsevier.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS10 Europe PMC9
    2017 Mortimer, J. C. (2017). Structural Analysis of Cell Wall Polysaccharides Using PACE.. In Methods in Molecular Biology (Vol. 1544, pp. 223-231). Springer New York.
    DOI Scopus5 Europe PMC4
    2017 Lao, J., Smith-Moritz, A. M., Mortimer, J. C., & Heazlewood, J. L. (2017). Enrichment of the Plant Cytosolic Fraction.. In Isolation of Plant Organelles and Structures (Vol. 1511, pp. 213-232). Springer New York.
    DOI Scopus1 Europe PMC1

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2019 Moore, W., Chan, C., Ishikawa, T., Rennie, E., Mortimer, J., & Scheller, H. V. (2019). Reprogramming of GIPC glycosylation by GINT1 is critical for the persistence of perimicrobial membranes in Medicago truncatula. In MOLECULAR PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS Vol. 32 (pp. 200). Glasgow, SCOTLAND: AMER PHYTOPATHOLOGICAL SOC.
    2019 Mortimer, J. (2019). Engineered plant cell walls for improved biomass: exploring the effects on cell wall nanoarchitecture using solid state NMR. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Vol. 257 (pp. 1 page). Orlando, FL: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.
    2018 Scheller, H. V., Moore, W. M., Fang, L., Chan, C., Ishikawa, T., Ebert, B., . . . Mortimer, J. C. (2018). Sphingolipid glycosylation and its role in membrane organization and plant-microbe interactions. In GLYCOBIOLOGY Vol. 28 (pp. 1020). New Orleans, LA: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.
    2017 Zhang, Y., Nikolovksi, N., Sorieul, M., Vellosillo, T., McFarlane, H., Dupree, R., . . . Dupree, P. (2017). Golgi-localized STELLO proteins regulate the assembly and trafficking of cellulose synthase complexes. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Vol. 253 (pp. 1 page). San Francisco, CA: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.
    2017 Fang, L., Jing, B., Ishikawa, T., Rennie, E., Scheller, H., & Mortimer, J. (2017). Sphingolipid glycosylation in plants: Some implications for cellulose biosynthesis. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Vol. 253 (pp. 1 page). San Francisco, CA: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.
    2017 Simmons, T., Mortimer, J., Bernardinelli, O., Poppler, A. -C., Brown, S., Azevedo, E., . . . Dupree, P. (2017). Folding of xylan onto cellulose fibrils in plant cell walls revealed by solid-state NMR. In ABSTRACTS OF PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY Vol. 253 (pp. 1 page). San Francisco, CA: AMER CHEMICAL SOC.
    2015 Mortimer, J. C., Ishikawa, T., Fang, L., Jing, B., Rennie, E., Inada, N., . . . Dupree, P. (2015). Glycosylated sphingolipid biosynthesis and function in Arabidopsis. In GLYCOBIOLOGY Vol. 25 (pp. 1266-1267). San Francisco, CA: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.
    2014 Ebert, B., Rautengarten, C., Schultink, A., Pauly, M., Herter, T., Mortimer, J., . . . Scheller, H. (2014). Identification of novel nucleotide sugar transporters in plants and animals. In GLYCOBIOLOGY Vol. 24 (pp. 1183). Honolulu, HI: OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC.

Current and Recently Awarded Funding 



ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space (2024-2031; CI, UoA node leader)

ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon (2024-2029; CI; Biomass Conversion Theme Lead)

UK Space Agency International Bialteral Fund Phase I Autonomous Agriculture to Support Space Exploration (2024; CI)

ARC Training Centre for Accelerated Future Crop Development (2022-2027; CI; Exec. Committee)

US Department of Energy Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI; 2014-2027; CI & Director of Plant Systems Biology)

US Department of Energy m-CAFEs SFA (Microbial Community Analysis & Functional Evaluation in Soils Scientific Focus Area) (2020-2025; CI; Steering Committee).

Microbiology & Biotechnology II (PLANT SC 2520) - course co-ordinator, lectures/practicals

Biotechnoogy Practice III (BIOTECH 3000) - lectures/tutes

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Principal Supervisor Identify and characterise plant glycosyltransferases involved in critical components of cell wall biosynthesis: identifying essential building blocks for efficient bioenergy production. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Xingyi Zhou
    2024 Principal Supervisor Regulation and suppression of calcium oxalate accumulation in Iponema aquatica and duckweeds, potential Space crops. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Cadell Loechel Canute
    2024 Principal Supervisor Development of Novel Herbicide-Tolerant Wheat Cultivars through Genome Editing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Olalekan Musa Amoo
    2023 Co-Supervisor Transcription profiling of glycosyltransferases following grapevine smoke exposure Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Wenwen Jiang
    2023 Principal Supervisor Biosynthesis of Omega-3 in duckweed Master of Philosophy Master Full Time Mr Xiao Yu Ng
    2022 Principal Supervisor Enhancing the nutritional quality of duckweed, a novel crop for Space and Closed Environmental Agriculture Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ryan Andre Edwards
    2022 Co-Supervisor Cell Wall Remodeling and Metabolism under Metallic Nanoparticle Stress Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Muhammad Nadeem
    2022 Co-Supervisor Biomanufacturing in plants. Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Matthew Fox Morgan
    2022 Principal Supervisor Developing Duckweed as a Novel Protein Crop for Closed Environment Agriculture and Off Planet Applications Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Jonathan Harriman Diab
    2022 Principal Supervisor Processing duckweed into an ingredient for use in novel foods and beverages Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Chigozie Emmanuel Ofoedu
    2022 Co-Supervisor A novel repurposing approach for herbicide discovery to combat resistant weeds Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Ryan James Francis McClean
    2022 Co-Supervisor Using LEDs to optimise duckweed physiology and nutrition for Astrofarming applications Doctor of Philosophy under a Jointly-awarded Degree Agreement with Doctorate Full Time Mr Robert Calgacus Rintoul

  • Committee Memberships
    Date Role Committee Institution Country
    2022 - ongoing Member Policy and International Engagement Engineering Biology Research Consortium United States

  • Editorial Boards
    Date Role Editorial Board Name Institution Country
    2024 - ongoing Editor The Plant Journal The Plant Journal United Kingdom
    2022 - 2024 Editor Editor, Plant Cell Reports Plant Cell Reports United States
    2020 - ongoing Editor Plant and Cell Physiology Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists Japan
  • Position: Associate Professor
  • Phone: 83133615
  • Email: jenny.mortimer@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: Waite
  • Building: Plant Research Centre, floor 2
  • Org Unit: School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
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