Megan Shelden

Dr Megan Shelden

Senior Lecturer

School of Agriculture, Food and Wine

College of Science

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

Megan is a Senior Mortlock Fellow at the Waite Campus, Adelaide University. She is a plant molecular physiologist whose research aims to improve crop productivity in challenging soils, such as those affected by salinity and drought. Her research combines root biology, plant physiology, molecular biology and functional genomics to understand how crop roots respond to soil stress. Using barley as a model cereal crop, she aims to identify genes and traits that can be translated into crop improvement.
 
Soil salinity affects an estimated 5.7 million hectares of land in Australia and costs the agricultural industry ~ $1.5 billion annually. To address this challenge, Megan’s research focuses on understanding how plants sense and respond to challenging soil environments below ground. Plant roots have a remarkable ability to adapt to stressful conditions such as salinity, while continuing to grow. Megan investigates the molecular and physiological mechanisms underlying these adaptations, with the aim of improving water and nutrient uptake in crops.
 
She collaborates with researchers across Australia and internationally, including collaborators at the University of Nottingham, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Australian Wine Research Institute, to investigate the mechanisms underlying crop resilience to environmental stress. Integrating molecular genetics, physiology and advanced root phenotyping, her research uncovers the mechanisms that enable crops to thrive in challenging soil environments.
 
Megan has contributed to securing more than $6.7 million in nationally competitive research funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). She has published extensively in leading journals, including The Plant Journal and Journal of Experimental Botany.  Through her research, teaching and leadership, she is committed to advancing sustainable agriculture and improving crop resilience to support future food security.
 
Her long-term goal is to identify root traits and signalling pathways that can be translated into breeding programs to improve crop productivity and food security under increasingly challenging environmental conditions.

Current Research

Our research spans three complementary themes that seek to understand how plants sense, respond and adapt to environmental stress.

Understanding root traits to improve crop resilience

Our research seeks to understand the molecular and physiological mechanisms that enable crop root systems to adapt to challenging soil environments such as salinity and drought. Using barley as a model cereal crop, we investigate how root growth is regulated under stress to identify novel root architectural traits that improve water and nutrient uptake, enhance crop development, and increase yield. 

Recognising the importance of studying root responses in their natural soil environment, we use advanced three-dimensional (3D) X-ray computed tomography imaging techniques to phenotype root systems in soil. These approaches allow us to investigate how crop root system architecture changes in response to soil stress. One example is xerobranching – a developmental response in which plants suppress lateral root formation when growing through air-filled soil pores, enabling roots to respond to local water availability. 

Our research is expanding into the study of root-derived signalling molecules, including volatile organic compounds and plant hormones, to understand how roots perceive and respond to environmental stress. By integrating molecular biology, advanced root phenotyping and stress physiology, we aim to identify candidate genes and root traits that can be incorporated into breeding programs to develop more resilient, higher-yielding crops. 

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2023.1120583/full

 

Barley root tip showing sodium accumulation in salt treated compared to non salt treated.
Sodium accumulation in barley roots grown in saline soil measured using laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry (Shelden et al, The Plant Journal (2020) 101, 1462–1473 doi: 10.1111/tpj.14599)

 

Salt-tolerance in Grapevines

Grapevines, a major horticultural crop for table grapes and wine production, are moderately sensitive to soil salinity. We use grapevine as a model system to understand the movement of salt (sodium and chloride) and water through the plant, from root to shoot. Our research aims to determine how salt moves through different tissues, how it accumulates in roots, leaves, and shoots, and how these processes are regulated by different membrane transport proteins. Understanding these transport mechanisms will help identify traits that improve salinity tolerance and water-use efficiency in grapevines and other horticultural crops.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0981942826001427

Water and Ion Transport in Plants Under Environmental Stress

Plants rely on specialised proteins called aquaporins to move water across cell membranes. While aquaporins are best known for their role in water movement, some can also transport important nutrient ions as well as toxic sodium ions. Our research investigates how these proteins regulate the movement of water and ions within crop plants, particularly under saline and drought conditions. This work will provide novel insights into how plants coordinate and adapt to changing water and salt conditions, addressing a key gap in our understanding of how water and ions move into and out of plant vacuoles. These discoveries will identify new targets for breeding crops with improved water use efficiency, salt tolerance and resilience to climate change. 

Lab Group

Current Staff

Dr. Sara Jalali (Research Assistant, GRDC project)

Ms. Daisy Edwards (Research Assistant, GRDC project)

Current Students

Ms. Zhale Hekmati

Ms. Iza Fatima

Mr. Caoyang Wang (co-supervisor)

Completed Students

Dr. Ying Meng 

Dr. Apriadi Situmorang (Post-doc at AU)

Previous Staff

Dr. Yue Wu (Postdoctoral Fellow, now at PSBA)

 

Shelden lab group at lunch

(Left to right): Yue (Crystal) Wu, Zhale Hekmati, Megan Shelden, Daisy Edwards, Iza Fatima

Research in the news:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/rural-news/2015-12-11/salinity-research-goes-underground-for-better-yields/7018276

Radio interview with ABC rural:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2015-12-11/sheldon-saline-wheat/7018212

Teaching, mentoring and outreach

Beyond her research, Megan is an active member of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists (ASPS), where she has served as a discipline representative and contributed to the establishment of the Society’s Gender, Equity and Diversity policy. She is passionate about educating and mentoring the next generation of plant and agricultural scientists through her teaching, research supervision, and mentoring at Adelaide University. 

Megan is committed to promoting STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) through community engagement, including events such as National Science Week and the Royal Adelaide Show. In recognition of these efforts, she received the 2022 ASPS Education and Outreach Award. She founded the Women in Crop Science network at the Waite campus to support and connect women in plant and agriculture sciences. 

I am recruiting Honours, Masters, and PhD students to work on aspects of the various projects listed above. If interested, please contact Megan directly with an expression of interest and CV (megan.shelden@adelaide.edu.au).

Date Position Institution name
2022 - ongoing Senior Lecturer/ Mortock Fellow University of Adelaide
2020 - 2021 Lecturer The University of Adelaide
2019 - 2020 Research Fellow The University of Adelaide
2014 - 2019 ARC DECRA Fellow University of Adelaide
2009 - 2013 Research Fellow University of Melbourne
2007 - 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow Australian National University

Date Institution name Country Title
2023 Deakin University Australia Graduate Certificate in Higher Education (Learning and Teaching)
2008 University of Adelaide Australia PhD
1994 - 1997 University of Adelaide Australia Bachelor of Science (Honours)

Year Citation
2026 Wu, Y., Collins, C., Gilliham, M., & Shelden, M. C. (2026). Salinity stress in grapevine: Nutrient dynamics and tolerance strategies. Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, 232, 111156-1-111156-17.
DOI
2025 Wu, Y., Henderson, S. W., Walker, R. R., Shelden, M. C., & Gilliham, M. (2025). Expression of the grapevine anion transporter ALMT2 in Arabidopsis root decreases shoot Cl¯/NO₃¯ ratio under salt stress. Journal of Experimental Botany, 76(11), 3088-3104.
DOI Scopus5 WoS5 Europe PMC3
2025 Li, A., Yang, Y., Guo, Y., Li, Q., Zhou, A., Wang, J., . . . Wu, J. (2025). ZmASR6 positively regulates salt stress tolerance in maize. New Crops, 2, 100067.
DOI Scopus14 WoS10
2023 Shelden, M. C., & Munns, R. (2023). Crop root system plasticity for improved yields in saline soils.. Front Plant Sci, 14, 1-14.
DOI Scopus116 WoS111 Europe PMC52
2020 Munns, R., Day, D. A., Fricke, W., Watt, M., Arsova, B., Barkla, B. J., . . . Tyerman, S. D. (2020). Energy costs of salt tolerance in crop plants. New Phytologist, 225(3), 1072-1090.
DOI Scopus476 WoS426 Europe PMC252
2020 Arsova, B., Foster, K. J., Shelden, M. C., Bramley, H., & Watt, M. (2020). Dynamics in plant roots and shoots minimize stress, save energy and maintain water and nutrient uptake. New Phytologist, 225(3), 1111-1119.
DOI Scopus54 WoS51 Europe PMC31
2020 Shelden, M. C., Gilbert, S. E., & Tyerman, S. D. (2020). A laser ablation technique maps differences in elemental composition in roots of two barley cultivars subjected to salinity stress. The Plant Journal, 101(6), 1462-1473.
DOI Scopus16 WoS15 Europe PMC7
2020 Ho, W. W. H., Hill, C. B., Doblin, M. S., Shelden, M. C., van de Meene, A., Rupasinghe, T., . . . Roessner, U. (2020). Integrative Multi-omics Analyses of Barley Rootzones under Salinity Stress Reveal Two Distinctive Salt Tolerance Mechanisms. Plant Communications, 1(3), 100031.
DOI Scopus44 WoS42 Europe PMC33
2017 Shelden, M., Vandeleur, R., Kaiser, B., & Tyerman, S. (2017). A comparison of petiole hydraulics and aquaporin expression in an anisohydric and isohydric cultivar of grapevine in response to water-stress induced cavitation. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 1893-1-1893-17.
DOI Scopus39 WoS39 Europe PMC22
2016 Shelden, M., Dias, D., Jayasinghe, N., Bacic, A., & Roessner, U. (2016). Root spatial metabolite profiling of two genotypes of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) reveals differences in response to short-term salt stress. Journal of Exerimental Botany, 67(12), 3731-3745.
DOI Scopus134 WoS110 Europe PMC72
2013 Shelden, M., & Roessner, U. (2013). Advances in functional genomics for investigating salinity stress tolerance mechanisms in cereals. Frontiers in Plant Science, 4(article 123), 1-8.
DOI Scopus68 WoS50 Europe PMC27
2013 Shelden, M., Roessner, U., Sharp, R., Tester, M., & Bacic, A. (2013). Genetic variation in the root growth response of barley genotypes to salinity stress. Functional Plant Biology, 40(5), 516-530.
DOI Scopus55 WoS45 Europe PMC12
2011 Price, G., Shelden, M., & Howitt, S. (2011). Membrane topology of the cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporter, SbtA, and identification of potential regulatory loops. Molecular Membrane Biology, 28(5), 265-275.
DOI Scopus30 WoS27 Europe PMC25
2010 Shelden, M., Howitt, S., & Price, G. (2010). Membrane topology of the cyanobacterial bicarbonate transporter, BicA, a member of the SulP (SLC26A) family. Molecular Membrane Biology, 27(1), 12-22.
DOI Scopus51 WoS46 Europe PMC44
2009 Vandeleur, R., Mayo, G., Shelden, M., Gilliham, M., Kaiser, B., & Tyerman, S. (2009). The Role of Plasma Membrane Intrinsic Protein Aquaporins in Water Transport through Roots: Diurnal and Drought Stress Responses Reveal Different Strategies between Isohydric and Anisohydric Cultivars of Grapevine. Plant Physiology, 149(1), 445-460.
DOI Scopus458 WoS427 Europe PMC254
2009 Shelden, M., Howitt, S., Kaiser, B., & Tyerman, S. (2009). Identification and functional characterisation of aquaporins in the grapevine, Vitis vinifera. Functional Plant Biology, 36(12), 1065-1078.
DOI Scopus82 WoS78 Europe PMC31
2007 Shelden, M., Kaiser, B., & Tyerman, S. (2007). Identification and characterisation of aquaporins in the grapevine, <i>Vitis vinifera</i>. PHOTOSYNTHESIS RESEARCH, 91(2-3), 301.
WoS1
2003 Shelden, M. C., Loughlin, P., Tierney, M. L., & Howitt, S. M. (2003). Interactions between Charged Amino Acid Residues within Transmembrane Helices in the Sulfate Transporter SHST1. Biochemistry, 42(44), 12941-12949.
DOI Scopus12 WoS13 Europe PMC8
2001 Shelden, M. C., Loughlin, P., Tierney, M. L., & Howitt, S. M. (2001). Proline residues in two tightly coupled helices of the sulphate transporter, SHST1, are important for sulphate-transport. Biochemical Journal, 356(2), 589-594.
DOI Scopus27 WoS26 Europe PMC10
2001 Shelden, M. C., Dong, B., De Bruxelles, G. L., Trevaskis, B., Whelan, J., Ryan, P. R., . . . Udvardi, M. K. (2001). Arabidopsis ammonium transporters, atAMT1;1 and atAMT1;2, have different biochemical properties and functional roles. Plant and Soil, 231(1), 151-160.
DOI Scopus70 WoS60
2000 Shelden, M., & Sinclair, R. (2000). Water relations of feral olive trees (Olea europaea) resprouting after severe pruning. Australian Journal of Botany, 48(5), 639-644.
DOI Scopus10 WoS10 Europe PMC2
2000 Khurana, O. K., Coupland, L. A., Shelden, M. C., & Howitt, S. M. (2000). Homologous mutations in two diverse sulphate transporters have similar effects. FEBS Letters, 477(1-2), 118-122.
DOI Scopus18 WoS18 Europe PMC14
2000 Sohlenkamp, C., Shelden, M., Howitt, S., & Udvardi, M. (2000). Characterization of Arabidopsis AtAMT2, a novel ammonium transporter in plants. FEBS Letters, 467(2-3), 273-278.
DOI Scopus111 WoS108 Europe PMC78

Year Citation
2019 Tyerman, S., Munns, R., Fricke, W., Arsova, B., Barkla, B., Bose, J., . . . Wen, Z. (2019). Energy costs of salinity tolerance in crop plants. In New Phytologist Vol. 221 (pp. 25-29). UK: Wiley.
DOI Scopus61 WoS53 Europe PMC39
2002 Loughlin, P., Shelden, M. C., Tierney, M. L., & Howitt, S. M. (2002). Structure and function of a model member of the SulP transporter family. In Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics Vol. 36 (pp. 183-190). AUSTRALIA, COOLANGATTA: HUMANA PRESS INC.
DOI Scopus14 WoS13 Europe PMC13

College of Science EMCR Travel Grant (2026), Adelaide University, $7600

Grains Research and Development Corporation (2025-2026); Establishing a new paradigm for salinity tolerance in cereals, $222,760

Charlick Endowment Fund (2025); University of Adelaide, $14,700

Research Small Equipment Support Scheme (2024), University of Adelaide, $11,000

UoA-UoN Seed Partnering Grant (2024), University of Adelaide, $10,000

Barbara Kidman Women's Fellowship (2024), University of Adelaide, $30,000

ARC Discovery Project (2022 - 2025); Finding the missing links in salt and water transport in plants, $489,236

ARC Discovery Project (2020 - 2023); Root-to-shoot: modeling the salt stress response of a plant vascular system, $420,000

ARC DECRA Fellow (2014 - 2017); Getting to the root of salt-tolerance in the model cereal crop, barley, $394,570

PRIF Catalyst Research Grant (2015 - 2016); Screening for salt-tolerance in wheat using impedance spectroscopy: A novel technique to reveal performance of the hidden half, $30,000

I contribute to teaching in: 

Foundations in Plant Science II

Viticulture II /A

 

 

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2025 Co-Supervisor Evaluating the resilience of emerging winegrape cultivars in Australian vineyards to multiple abiotic stresses Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Caoyang Wang
2024 Principal Supervisor Characterization of hydrotropism in crop plants using barley as a model system Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Iza Fatima
2023 Principal Supervisor Finding the Missing Links in Salt and Water Transport in Plants Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Zhale Hekmati

Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
2017 - 2023 Co-Supervisor The Role of GABA in Plant Salinity and Hypoxia Responses Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Ying Meng
2015 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Elucidation of the Ammonium Major Facilitator (AMF) Family in Plants Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Apriadi Situmorang

Date Role Committee Institution Country
2017 - 2019 Representative Australian Society of Plant Scientists Executive Discipline Cell Biology Australia

Date Role Membership Country
2015 - ongoing - Society of Experimental Biology -
1998 - ongoing Member Australian Society of Plant Scientists -

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