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

目前最常用的磷肥的全球供应预计将在不到一个世纪内耗尽。这些化肥是基于磷矿矿藏的不可再生资源，它们的使用是澳大利亚和国际上工厂生产成本和环境破坏的关键驱动因素。利用水稻遗传和功能基因组分析的力量，该项目将揭示植物获得磷的关键控制因素。因此，基于生物技术的新型解决方案可以在多种谷类作物中实施，以帮助减少农业中磷肥的使用，并释放土壤中植物不使用的大型磷酸盐池。

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.