Developing biotechnology solutions for improving phosphate acquisition in plants using functional genomics in rice

目前使用最多的磷肥的全球供应预计将在不到世纪内耗尽。这些肥料是基于磷矿石矿床的不可再生资源，其使用是澳大利亚和国际上植物生产成本和环境破坏的主要驱动因素。利用水稻遗传和功能基因组学分析的力量，该项目将揭示植物中磷酸盐获取的关键控制因素。 因此，可以在各种谷类作物中实施基于生物技术的新解决方案，以帮助减少农业中磷肥的使用，并释放土壤中植物未使用的大量磷酸盐库。

Global supplies of the most currently used phosphate fertilisers are predicted to be exhausted in less than a century. These fertilisers are non-renewable resources based on phosphate rock deposits and their use are key drivers of both plant production costs and environmental damage in Australia and internationally. Using the power of genetic and functional genomics analyses in rice, this project will reveal key controllers of phosphate acquisition in plants. Hence, novel biotechnology based solutions can be implemented in a variety of cereal crops to aid reduced use of phosphate fertiliser in agriculture and unlock the large phosphate pool not used by plants in soil.