
Dr Trevor Garnett
Director - Technology Development
School of Agriculture, Food and Wine
Faculty of Sciences
In January 2014 I joined the Plant Accelerator, the lead node of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility. In my role as Director of Technology Development I identify phenotyping needs within the Australian plant science community, determine gaps in infrastructure and initiate and implement strategies to address these. I consult with scientists in the design and running of phenotyping experiments and I am also involved in the development and introduction of new tools to phenotype traits of interest. A recent focus of this research is the use of hyperspectral imaging in plant phenotyping.
I am a chief investigator of the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Wheat in a Hot and Dry Climate and am the phenomics program leader. This program is developing and adapting high throughput phenotyping tools based on the use of UAVs.
I continue to research nitrogen use efficiency in cereals and am lead chief investigator on an ARC linkage project collaborating with DuPont-Pioneer and Australian Grain Technologies.
Following undergraduate studies at the University of Adelaide I traveled to Tasmania where I obtained a PhD in Plant Physiology from the University of Tasmania, graduating in 1996 (Thesis: Ammonium and nitrate uptake by Eucalyptus nitens). In 1997 I returned to Adelaide as a post-doc in Plant Science at the University of Adelaide investigating iron transport into wheat grains with ultimate aim of addressing human iron deficiency through cereal grains with high iron availability. At the beginning of 2001 I lectured in plant nutrition in the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Adelaide. From March 2001 until January 2006 I held a position with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) where I managed an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) funded project collaborating with China and Laos. The main aim of this project was to increase livestock production through finding and developing lucerne (alfalfa) with tolerance to abiotic stress. From January 2006 until the end of 2013 I was a Research Fellow at the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG) located at the Waite Research Institute where I led a collaboration with DuPont-Pioneer (US) focussed on increasing the nitrogen use efficiency of cereals.
Phenomics
Plant Scientists have gained vast knowledge about the genetics of various crop species during recent years. It has become increasingly easier and cheaper to sequence and map genomes, giving scientists access to information unimaginable just a few decades ago. However, a bottleneck has developed in capitalising on this information.
The Australian Plant Phenomics Facility was established to relieve the 'phenotyping bottleneck' which has, until now, limited our ability to capitalise on substantial government and industry investments already made in plant functional genomics and modern breeding technologies.
At the Plant Accelerator in Adelaide we are using high throughput phenotyping platforms to carry out large scale experiments with high resolution non-destructive measurements of plant growth.
http://www.plantphenomics.org.au/
I lead the phenomics program at the Australian Research Council/GRDC funded Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Wheat in a Hot and Dry Climate. The program is focussed on the use of UAVs to measure the performance of field trials.
http://www.wheathub.com.au/
Nitrogen Use Efficiency
Nitrogen is one of the biggest input costs for farmers and the price is increasing because of the power used to industrially fix nitrogen from the atmosphere. Approximately 4 % of the world’s energy is used to produced nitrogen fertiliser; this causes a considerable greenhouse gas contribution. Over 100 million tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser is applied to crops each year and 60% of this on cereals. Given the costs and environmental effects associated with production and usage of nitrogen fertilisers, plants with increased nitrogen use efficiency are of great importance to future food security. Nitrogen is the fertiliser that plants require the most, but only 40-50% of the applied fertiliser is taken up by the cereal crops. The nitrogen not taken up leads to pollution of waterways and oceans, one consequence being algal blooms at river deltas causing dead zones that lead to mass fish kills. Unused nitrogen fertiliser has a further environmental impact in that it is broken down in the soil by microbes and released into the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Our research is improving the nitrogen use efficiency of cereal plants by increasing the efficiency of mechanisms that allow plants to accumulate and use nitrogen. Focusing on corn, wheat and barley the project is characterising nitrogen related processes as the physiological, biochemical and molecular level across plant lifecycles.
-
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 1993 - 1996 University of Tasmania Australia PhD
-
Journals
-
Book Chapters
Year Citation 2018 Hansen, N., Plett, D., Berger, B., & Garnett, T. (2018). Tackling Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Cereal Crops Using High-Throughput Phenotyping. In A. Shrawat, A. Zayed, & D. Lightfoot (Eds.), Engineering Nitrogen Utilization in Crop Plants (pp. 121-139). Switzerland: Springer.
2017 Plett, D., Garnett, T., & Okamoto, M. (2017). Molecular genetics to discover and improve nitrogen use efficiency in crop plants. In M. Hossain, T. Kamiya, D. Burritt, L. -S. Tran, & T. Fujiwara (Eds.), Plant Macronutrient Use Efficiency: Molecular and Genomic Perspectives in Crop Plants (pp. 93-122). Cambridge: Elsevier.
2013 Garnett, T., & Rebetzke, G. (2013). Improving crop nitrogen use in dryland farming: interactions and potential trade-offs between water- and nutrient-use efficiency. In Z. Rengel (Ed.), Improving water and nutrient-use efficiency in food production systems (pp. 123-144). John Wiley & Sons.
Scopus4 -
Conference Papers
Year Citation 2017 Dayer, S., Tyerman, S., Garnett, T., & Pagay, V. (2017). Relationship between hydraulic and stomatal conductance and its regulation by root and leaf aquaporins under progressive water stress and recovery and exogenous application of ABA in Vitis vinifera L. ‘Syrah’. In Acta Horticulturae 1188 Vol. 1188 (pp. 227-234). online: ISHS.
2009 Huynh, B., Pallotta, M., Choi, E., Garnett, T., Graham, R., & Stangoulis, J. (2009). Quantitative trait loci for reducing sugar concentration in the barley root tip under boron toxicity. In Proceedings of the International Plant Nutrition Colloquium XVI (pp. 1-8). California: eScholarship. 2005 Garnett, T., Peck, D., & Auricht, G. (2005). The relative effects of low pH and aluminium on the root elongation of alfalfa (lucerne). In Proceedings of the 15th international plant nutrition colloquium 'Plant nutrition for food security, human health and environmental protection' (pp. 762-763). Beijing: Tsinghua. 1993 GARNETT, T., TESTER, M., & NABLE, R. (1993). THE CONTROL OF BORON ACCUMULATION BY 2 GENOTYPES OF WHEAT. In N. Barrow (Ed.), PLANT NUTRITION - FROM GENETIC ENGINEERING TO FIELD PRACTICE Vol. 45 (pp. 397-400). PERTH, AUSTRALIA: KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL.
WoS1
Grant Description |
Role |
Duration |
Amount |
High throughput wheat spike phenotyping with Xray CT (GRDC) |
Lead investigator |
2018-2020 |
$930 k |
Enhancing the infrastructure for grains research at the University of Adelaide (GRDC) |
Lead investigator Other Investigators: |
2017-2018 |
$1.11M |
Wheat Quality Australia: ate Maturity Alpha-amylase (LMA) phenotyping for the Australian wheat breeding industry - validation |
Lead CI Other CI: Mackay (SARDI) |
2017-2018 |
$244k |
ARC Research Hub for genetic diversity and molecular breeding for wheat in a hot and dry climate IH130200027 |
Co CI Other CIs: Dr Delphine Fleury ; Dr Ute Baumann ; Dr Nicholas Collins ; Dr Stephan Haefele ; Prof Brent Kaiser ; Prof Peter Langridge ; Prof Stanley Miklavcic ; Dr Juan Juttner ; Dr Haydn Kuchel ; Dr Daniel Mullan ; A/Prof Sigrid Heuer ; Dr Sandra Dunckel |
2013-2019 |
$4.31M ARC $3.750M GRDC |
DVCR Infrastructure Grant for Hyperspectral Phenotyping Capability |
Sole Investigator |
2016 |
$572k |
NCRIS APPF Funding |
Co-director |
2013-2017 onwards |
$10.8M |
|
|
|
|
Service Fee Income of all phenotyping projects run at The Plant Accelerator |
Co-director |
2015 onwards |
$ 350k per annum |
ARC Linkage Grant LP130101055 Control points in nitrogen uptake: enhancing the response of cereals to nitrogen supply and demand |
Lead CI Other CIs: Roessner (UM); Small (UWA); Heuer (UA); Rafalski (DuPont); Dhugga (DuPont); Kuchel (AGT) |
2014-2017 |
$ 524k (ARC) $ 295k (Industry) |
Waite Research Institute Purchase of LI-COR 6400XT Infra-red Gas Analyser (IRGA). |
Co CI with: Pagay, Gilliham; Wilkinson; Collins; Tyerman; Habili; Cavagnaro |
2015 |
$33k |
-
Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2019 Co-Supervisor Combined Drought and Heat Tolerance of Wheat Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Abdeljalil El Habti 2017 Principal Supervisor Field -Based Phenotyping Tools for NUE Characterisation and Breeding Applications in Wheat Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Vahid Rahimi-Eichi 2016 Co-Supervisor A 3-D Hyperspectral Imaging System For Measuring Plant Properties and Phenotypic Traits Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mrs Brooke Bruning -
Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name 2015 - 2019 Principal Supervisor Quantifying Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Wheat Using High-Precision Phenotyping Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Nicholas John Sitlington Hansen 2011 - 2014 Co-Supervisor Nitrate and Ammonium Interactions in Maize Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Dr Jessey George 2011 - 2014 Co-Supervisor The Responses of Maize Roots to Nitrogen Supply Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Kasra Sabermanesh 2011 - 2015 Co-Supervisor Long- and short-term nitrate uptake regulation in maize Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Luke Reid Holtham
-
Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2015 - ongoing Member Expert working group on Nutrient Use Efficiency The Wheat Initiative — -
Memberships
Date Role Membership Country 2015 - ongoing — Wheat Initiative Expert Working Group on Nutrient Use Efficiency — 1991 - ongoing Member The Australian Society of Plant Scientists Australia
Connect With Me
External Profiles