APrf Scott Boden
ARC Externally-Funded Research Associate Professor
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
College of Science
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
Scott is an ARC Future Fellow, who is investigating the genetic regulation of inflorescence architecture, flowering-time and grain quality in wheat, with the aim to improve the yield and nutrition of grain. Scott also leads projects investigating the genes that control thermal responsiveness and floret fertility in wheat, and allelic variation controlling flowering-time in oats. Scott supervises students investigating floral architecture traits in wheat, with the aim to improve hybrid seed production, and he leads an ARC Discovery Project that is developing an approach for enhancing the introgression of genetic variation from wild barley into breeding programs.Scott is the Discipline Lead for Agriculture and an Honours Co-ordinator for the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine. He is available to supervise Bachelor of Science (Honours) research projects in Plant Science and Agriculture. Possible projects for 2024 include:1) Investigation of genes that control daylength-dependent flowering of oats.2) Spatial and temporal expression analysis of genes that control spikelet development in wheat.3) Characterisation of genetic variation that influences grain protein content in wheat.
The Boden group investigates genes and molecular processes that control inflorescence architecture and flowering time in wheat, barley and oats. The goal of our research is to understand the fundamental mechanisms that regulate key yield components of reproductive development in cereals, which can then be applied in breeding programs to improve grain production and quality.
Our research includes investigation of genes that determine the number and arrangement of spikelets that form on an inflorescence, which are specialised reproductive branches that form grain-producing florets. To investigate this trait, we study the development of ‘paired spikelets’, which are supernumerary spikelets characterised by the formation of two spikelets rather than the typical single spikelet. Research investigating this trait has shown that transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of the photoperiod-dependent flowering pathway regulates spikelet architecture, with a weak-flowering signal during early developmental stages leading to the production of additional spikelets.
Our research includes analysis of the developmental regulation of floral architecture, particularly the control of stigma and carpel development in wheat and how this can be enhanced to benefit hybrid seed production.
We are also interested in the seasonal regulation of flowering-time, and how a plant interacts with its environment to determine when and how many fertile florets form. We are combining laboratory and field-based experiments to understand how genes respond to the seasonal progression of daylength and temperature to influence flowering-time. This work is being extended into oats to understand the major genetic regulators of phenology-related traits in this important cereal.
Scott is based at the Waite Research Institute at the University of Adelaide, and works with colleagues at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, where he was previously a Group Leader and Royal Society Research Fellow. Scott’s collaborations with colleagues at JIC and the Designing Future Wheat research program in the UK aim to generate a wheat ideotype with improved yield potential that will be resilient to changes in the climate. Scott also collaborates with the international wheat research community through his aligned project with the International Wheat Yield Partnership, and he interacts with commercial breeding programs such as KWS and AGT.
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Associate Professor | University of Adelaide |
| 2022 - ongoing | ARC Future Fellow | University of Adelaide |
| 2020 - 2021 | Independent Research Fellow | University of Adelaide |
| 2016 - 2020 | Royal Society University Research Fellow | John Innes Centre |
| 2015 - 2020 | Group Leader | John Innes Centre |
| 2011 - 2014 | OCE Post-doctoral Research Fellow | Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation |
| 2009 - 2011 | Marie Curie International Incoming Fellow | John Innes Centre |
| 2008 - 2009 | Post-doctoral Scientist | John Innes Centre |
| Language | Competency |
|---|---|
| English | Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review |
| Italian | Can read, write, speak and understand spoken |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 - 2008 | University of Adelaide | Australia | PhD |
| 2004 - 2004 | University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| 2001 - 2003 | University of Adelaide | Australia | Bachelor of Science |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Millan-Blanquez, M., Simmonds, J., Bird, N., Manes, Y., Uauy, C., & Boden, S. A. (2025). Stigma longevity is not a major limiting factor in hybrid wheat seed production.. Journal of experimental botany, 76(14), eraf154. Scopus2 WoS1 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Bennett, M., Bhosale, R., Boden, S. A., Chen, S. -Y., Colombi, T., Ito, T., . . . Wu, S. (2025). Developmental Pathways in Plants: Lessons from Arabidopsis for Crop Innovation.. Plant Cell, 37(7), 30 pages. Scopus2 |
| 2025 | Rohde, A., Albertsen, M. C., Boden, S. A., Bansept-Basler, P., Boeven, P. H. G., Cavanagh, C., . . . Whitford, R. (2025). New genomic resources to boost research in reproductive biology to enable cost-effective hybrid seed production. Plant Genome, 18(3), e70092-1-e70092-12. Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC2 |
| 2025 | Pasquariello, M., Qu, Y., Gauley, A., Bentham, A., Dixon, L. E., & Boden, S. A. (2025). CATION AMINO ACID TRANSPORTER1 encodes an arginine transporter whose expression is influenced by daylength and Photoperiod-1. Annals of Botany, 1-12. |
| 2025 | Schoen, A., Yoshikawa, G. V., Sharma, P. K., Mahlandt, A., Chen, Y., Sheng, H., . . . Tiwari, V. (2025). WUSCHEL-D1 upregulation enhances grain number by inducing formation of multiovary-producing florets in wheat. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 122(42), e2510889122-1-e2510889122-12. Scopus1 |
| 2024 | Yoshikawa, G. V., & Boden, S. A. (2024). Finding the right balance: The enduring role of florigens during cereal inflorescence development and their influence on fertility. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 79, 102539-1-102539-6. Scopus1 WoS1 Europe PMC4 |
| 2024 | Gauley, A., Pasquariello, M., Yoshikawa, G. V., Alabdullah, A. K., Hayta, S., Smedley, M. A., . . . Boden, S. A. (2024). Photoperiod-1 regulates the wheat inflorescence transcriptome to influence spikelet architecture and flowering time. Current Biology, 34(11), 2330-2343. Scopus11 WoS12 Europe PMC14 |
| 2024 | Xu, Y., Wei, Y., Zhou, Z., Cai, X., Boden, S. A., Umer, M. J., . . . Liu, F. (2024). Widespread incomplete lineage sorting and introgression shaped adaptive radiation in the Gossypium genus. Plant Communications, 5(2), 100728. Scopus13 WoS10 Europe PMC5 |
| 2023 | Nguyen, D. T., Henningsen, E. C., Lewis, D., Mago, R., McNeil, M., Suchecki, R., . . . Figueroa, M. (2023). Genotypic and resistance profile analysis of two oat crown rust differential sets urge coordination and standardisation.. Phytopathology, 114(6 June), 1356-1365. Scopus5 Europe PMC5 |
| 2023 | Safdar, L. B., Dugina, K., Saeidan, A., Yoshicawa, G. V., Caporaso, N., Gapare, B., . . . Fisk, I. D. (2023). Reviving grain quality in wheat through non‐destructive phenotyping techniques like hyperspectral imaging. Food and Energy Security, 12(5), 1-21. Scopus13 WoS12 Europe PMC4 |
| 2023 | Safdar, L. B., Foulkes, M. J., Kleiner, F. H., Searle, I. R., Bhosale, R. A., Fisk, I. D., & Boden, S. A. (2023). Challenges facing sustainable protein production: Opportunities for cereals. Plant Communications, 4(6), 100716-1-100716-15. Scopus51 WoS40 Europe PMC20 |
| 2023 | Boden, S. A., McIntosh, R. A., Uauy, C., Krattinger, S. G., Dubcovsky, J., Rogers, W. J., . . . Wheat Initiative. (2023). Updated guidelines for gene nomenclature in wheat.. Theor Appl Genet, 136(4), 1-16. Scopus59 WoS59 Europe PMC45 |
| 2022 | Boden, S. (2022). Discovery of a bread wheat mutant with extra spikelets and a gain in grain yield.. NATURE PLANTS, 8(8), 875-876. |
| 2022 | Dixon, L. E., Pasquariello, M., Badgami, R., Levin, K. A., Poschet, G., Ng, P. Q., . . . Boden, S. A. (2022). MicroRNA-resistant alleles of HOMEOBOX DOMAIN-2 modify inflorescence branching and increase grain protein content of wheat. Science Advances, 8(19), 1-16. Scopus31 WoS30 Europe PMC22 |
| 2022 | Millan-Blanquez, M., Hartley, M., Bird, N., Manes, Y., Uauy, C., & Boden, S. (2022). A scalable phenotyping approach for female floral organ development and senescence in the absence of pollination in wheat.. Development (Cambridge, England), 149(18), dev.200889. Scopus8 WoS8 Europe PMC4 |
| 2022 | Trevaskis, B., Harris, F. A. J., Bovill, W. D., Rattey, A. R., Khoo, K. H. P., Boden, S. A., & Hyles, J. (2022). Advancing understanding of oat phenology for crop adaptation. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13, 13 pages. Scopus9 WoS7 Europe PMC6 |
| 2021 | Gauley, A., & Boden, S. A. (2021). Step-wise increases in FT1 expression regulate seasonal progression of flowering in wheat (Triticum aestivum). The New phytologist, 229(2), 1163-1176. Scopus35 WoS34 Europe PMC33 |
| 2021 | Boden, S. A. (2021). Evolution: Replicated mutation of COL2 contributed long-day flowering in common bean.. Current biology : CB, 31(8), R384-R386. Scopus1 WoS1 |
| 2021 | Casas, A. M., Gazulla, C. R., Monteagudo, A., Cantalapiedra, C. P., Moralejo, M., Pilar Gracia, M., . . . Igartua, E. (2021). Candidate genes underlying QTL for flowering time and their interactions in a wide spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) cross. The Crop Journal, 9(4), 862-872. Scopus8 WoS7 |
| 2021 | Dixon, L. E., & Boden, S. A. (2021). A modified intron of VRT2 drives glume and grain elongation in wheat.. Molecular plant, 14(9), 1421-1423. Scopus3 WoS3 Europe PMC1 |
| 2021 | Gaurav, K., Arora, S., Silva, P., Sánchez-Martín, J., Horsnell, R., Gao, L., . . . Wulff, B. B. H. (2021). Population genomic analysis of Aegilops tauschii identifies targets for bread wheat improvement. Nature Biotechnology, 40(3), 31 pages. Scopus162 WoS154 Europe PMC142 |
| 2020 | Levin, K. A., & Boden, S. A. (2020). A new branch of understanding for barley inflorescence development. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(22), 6869-6871. Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC3 |
| 2020 | Dixon, L. E., Pasquariello, M., & Boden, S. A. (2020). TEOSINTE BRANCHED1 regulates height and stem internode length in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). Journal of experimental botany, 71(16), 4742-4750. Scopus46 WoS38 Europe PMC30 |
| 2020 | Scott, M. F., Ladejobi, O., Amer, S., Bentley, A. R., Biernaskie, J., Boden, S. A., . . . Mott, R. (2020). Multi-parent populations in crops: a toolbox integrating genomics and genetic mapping with breeding. Heredity, 125(6), 396-416. Scopus186 WoS160 Europe PMC126 |
| 2020 | Jacott, C. N., & Boden, S. A. (2020). Feeling the heat: developmental and molecular responses of wheat and barley to high ambient temperatures. Journal of experimental botany, 71(19), 5740-5751. Scopus79 WoS76 Europe PMC46 |
| 2019 | Dixon, L. E., Karsai, I., Kiss, T., Adamski, N. M., Liu, Z., Ding, Y., . . . Griffiths, S. (2019). VERNALIZATION1 controls developmental responses of winter wheat under high ambient temperatures. Development (Cambridge, England), 146(3), 10 pages. Scopus76 WoS71 Europe PMC49 |
| 2019 | Boden, S. A., & Østergaard, L. (2019). How can developmental biology help feed a growing population?. Development (Cambridge), 146(3), 7 pages. Scopus19 WoS19 Europe PMC18 |
| 2019 | Gauley, A., & Boden, S. A. (2019). Genetic pathways controlling inflorescence architecture and development in wheat and barley. Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, 61(3), 296-309. Scopus49 WoS49 Europe PMC42 |
| 2019 | Dixon, L. E., Karsai, I., Kiss, T., Adamski, N. M., Liu, Z., Ding, Y., . . . Griffiths, S. (2019). Correction to: VERNALIZATION1 controls developmental responses of winter wheat under high ambient temperatures. Development (Cambridge), 146(3), dev175901. Scopus16 Europe PMC1 |
| 2018 | Finnegan, E. J., Ford, B., Wallace, X., Pettolino, F., Griffin, P. T., Schmitz, R. J., . . . Trevaskis, B. (2018). Zebularine treatment is associated with deletion of FT-B1 leading to an increase in spikelet number in bread wheat. Plant Cell and Environment, 41(6), 1346-1360. Scopus50 WoS50 Europe PMC43 |
| 2018 | Dixon, L. E., Farré, A., Finnegan, E. J., Orford, S., Griffiths, S., & Boden, S. A. (2018). Developmental responses of bread wheat to changes in ambient temperature following deletion of a locus that includes FLOWERING LOCUS T1. Plant Cell and Environment, 41(7), 1715-1725. Scopus52 WoS50 Europe PMC46 |
| 2018 | Dixon, L. E., Bencivenga, S., & Boden, S. A. (2018). A new opening for wheat seed production. Journal of Experimental Botany, 69(3), 341-343. Scopus10 WoS8 Europe PMC3 |
| 2018 | Watson, A., Ghosh, S., Williams, M. J., Cuddy, W. S., Simmonds, J., Rey, M. -D., . . . Hickey, L. T. (2018). Speed breeding is a powerful tool to accelerate crop research and breeding. Nature Plants, 4(1), 23-29. Scopus941 WoS716 Europe PMC484 |
| 2018 | Dixon, L. E., Greenwood, J. R., Bencivenga, S., Zhang, P., Cockram, J., Mellers, G., . . . Boden, S. A. (2018). TEOSINTE BRANCHED1 Regulates Inflorescence Architecture and Development in Bread Wheat ( Triticum aestivum ). The Plant Cell, 30(3), 563-581. Scopus213 WoS205 Europe PMC177 |
| 2017 | Boden, S. (2017). How hormones regulate floral architecture in barley. Nature Genetics, 49(1), 8-9. Scopus7 WoS6 Europe PMC3 |
| 2017 | Serrano-Mislata, A., Bencivenga, S., Bush, M., Schiessl, K., Boden, S., & Sablowski, R. (2017). DELLA genes restrict inflorescence meristem function independently of plant height. Nature Plants, 3(9), 749-754. Scopus90 WoS87 Europe PMC82 |
| 2016 | Ford, B., Deng, W., Clausen, J., Oliver, S., Boden, S., Hemming, M., & Trevaskis, B. (2016). Barley ( Hordeum vulgare ) circadian clock genes can respond rapidly to temperature in an EARLY FLOWERING 3 -dependent manner. Journal of Experimental Botany, 67(18), 5517-5528. Scopus53 WoS48 Europe PMC45 |
| 2015 | Deng, W., Clausen, J., Boden, S., Oliver, S. N., Casao, M. C., Ford, B., . . . Trevaskis, B. (2015). Dawn and dusk set states of the circadian oscillator in sprouting barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings. Plos One, 10(6), 18 pages. Scopus22 WoS17 Europe PMC13 |
| 2015 | Boden, S. A., Cavanagh, C., Cullis, B. R., Ramm, K., Greenwood, J., Jean Finnegan, E., . . . Swain, S. M. (2015). Ppd-1 is a key regulator of inflorescence architecture and paired spikelet development in wheat. Nature Plants, 1(2), 1-6. Scopus193 WoS185 Europe PMC159 |
| 2015 | Deng, W., Clausen, J., Boden, S., Oliver, S. N., Casao, M. C., Ford, B., . . . Trevaskis, B. (2015). Erratum: Dawn and dusk set states of the circadian oscillator in sprouting barley (Hordeum vulgare) seedlings: (Dawn and Dusk Set States of the Circadian Oscillator in Sprouting Barley (Hordeum vulgare) Seedlings. (PLoS ONE 10(6): e0129781. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0129781)). Plos One, 10(9), e0138255. |
| 2014 | Fjellheim, S., Boden, S., & Trevaskis, B. (2014). The role of seasonal flowering responses in adaptation of grasses to temperate climates. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE, 5, 15 pages. WoS80 Europe PMC65 |
| 2014 | Boden, S. A., Weiss, D., Ross, J. J., Davies, N. W., Trevaskis, B., Chandler, P. M., & Swain, S. M. (2014). EARLY FLOWERING3 regulates flowering in spring barley by mediating gibberellin production and FLOWERING LOCUS T expression. Plant Cell, 26(4), 1557-1569. Scopus117 WoS113 Europe PMC109 |
| 2013 | Boden, S. A., Kavanová, M., Finnegan, E. J., & Wigge, P. A. (2013). Thermal stress effects on grain yield in Brachypodium distachyon occur via H2A.Z-nucleosomes. Genome Biology, 14(6), 14 pages. Scopus75 WoS66 Europe PMC52 |
| 2009 | Able, J., Crismani, W., & Boden, S. (2009). Understanding meiosis and the implications for crop improvement. Functional Plant Biology, 36(7), 575-588. Scopus16 WoS13 |
| 2009 | Boden, S., Langridge, P., Spangenberg, G., & Able, J. (2009). TaASY1 promotes homologous chromosome interactions and is affected by deletion of Ph1. Plant Journal, 57(3), 487-497. Scopus72 WoS61 Europe PMC58 |
| 2007 | Boden, S., Shadiac, N., Tucker, E., Langridge, P., & Able, J. (2007). Expression and functional analysis of TaASY1 during meiosis of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). BMC Molecular Biology, 8(65), 1-14. Scopus30 WoS23 Europe PMC22 |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| - | Boden, S. (n.d.). Quantitative real-time PCR analysis for the thermal responses of genes from the circadian clock, heat-shock and GABA-shunt pathways in wheat. DOI |
| Year | Citation |
|---|---|
| 2025 | Safdar, L. B., Fisk, I. D., Pasquariello, M., Lale, A., Searle, I. R., Bhosale, R. A., . . . Boden, S. A. (2025). Mutations in <i>HOMEOBOX DOMAIN-2</i> improve grain protein content in wheat without significantly affecting grain yield and senescence. DOI |
| 2025 | Qu, Y., Tan, C., Yang, L., Pasquariello, M., Alabdullah, A. K., Sun, S., . . . Boden, S. (2025). Spatial transcriptomics identifies distinct domains regulating yield-related traits of the wheat ear. DOI |
GRDC (2023-2027) - Analysing intrinsic heat response pathways to optimise thermal tolerance of wheat
GRDC (2022-2027) - Increasing cereal yield potential through reduced floret abortion.
ARC Future Fellowship (2022-2026) - Deciphering the genetic regulation of inflorescence development in wheat.
ARC Discovery Project (2021-2025) - Harnessing genetic diversity for complex traits.
GRDC (2020-2023) - Optimise oat phenology for Australian oat production environments.
SAGIT (2020-2023) - Enhancing grain production and quality traits for bread wheat.
BBSRC Responsive Mode (2020-2023) - Regulation of wheat inflorescence architecture by a cation amino acid transporter.
Royal Society Research Grant (2018-2020) - Genetic regulation of spikelet architecture in bread wheat
Royal Society Resaerch Grant (2017-2018) - Investigating genetic diversity regulating spikelet development in bread wheat.
Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2016-2020) - Genetic regulation of inflorescence architecture in wheat.
International Wheat Yield Partnership (2016-2019) - A genetic diversity toolkit to maximise harvest index by controlling the duration of developmental phases.
Marie Curie IIF (2009-2011) - TemPiC: Temperature perception in crop plants.
Honours coordinator, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine: 2023 - current.
Lecturer, Genetics 3212 and Microbiology II, University of Adelaide: 2021 - current.
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Deciphering the genetic regulation of inflorescence development in bread wheat | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Mawra Arif |
| 2024 | Principal Supervisor | Deciphering the genetic regulation of inflorescence development in bread wheat | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Mawra Arif |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Exploring the role of alternative transcript splicing in heat stress responses of rice and wheat during reproductive development. | Doctor of Philosophy under a Jointly-awarded Degree Agreement with | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Shiyu Sun |
| 2023 | Principal Supervisor | Exploring the role of alternative transcript splicing in heat stress responses of rice and wheat during reproductive development. | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Shiyu Sun |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating the genetic control of inflorescence development in wheat | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Guilherme Pedro Ventura Yoshicawa Simoes Silva |
| 2022 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating the genetic control of inflorescence development in wheat | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Guilherme Pedro Ventura Yoshicawa Simoes Silva |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 - 2025 | Principal Supervisor | Advancing understanding of the genetic basis of grain protein content in wheat through hyperspectral imaging and genomics | Doctor of Philosophy under a Jointly-awarded Degree Agreement with | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Luqman Bin Safdar |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Location | Program | Supervision Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Genetic control of stigma development and survival in bread wheat | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Doctorate | Full Time | Marina Millan-Blanquez |
| 2018 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | Genetic regualtion of spikelet and floret development in wheat | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Master | Full Time | Agamemnon Soutas |
| 2018 - ongoing | Co-Supervisor | Improving yield components in Triticum aestivum at contrasting environment with novel QTL/genes for cell division and expansion. | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Doctorate | - | Aura Montemayor Lara |
| 2016 - ongoing | Principal Supervisor | Flowering time regulation in bread wheat | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Doctorate | - | Adam Gauley |
| 2015 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | Balancing the genetics of source to sink to increase of bread wheat productivity | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Doctorate | - | Elizabeth Chapman |
| 2015 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | Genetic diversity for floret development in wheat | University of East Anglia/John Innes Centre | - | Master | Full Time | Abdul Kamara |
| Date | Role | Committee | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 - ongoing | Member | Institutional Biosecurity Committee | University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2021 - ongoing | Council | Australian Society of Plant Scientists | University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2017 - 2020 | Member | Designing Future Wheat ISP | John Innes Centre | United Kingdom |
| 2015 - 2020 | Member | Monogram UK | Monogram UK | United Kingdom |
| Date | Role | Membership | Country |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 - ongoing | Member | International Wheat Yield Partnership | United States |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 - ongoing | Associate Editor | Journal of Experimental Botany | University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2019 - ongoing | Editor | Agronomy Journal | University of Adelaide | Australia |
| 2016 - ongoing | Consulting Editor | Frontiers in Plant Science | University of Adelaide | Australia |
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