2023 Laureate Profile: Professor Jacqueline Batley

Administering Organisation: The University of Western Australia

Fellowship Project Summary

FL230100030 – A walk on the wild side: understanding disease resistance across plants

Professor Batley will apply the latest genomics approaches to characterise disease resistance gene diversity across the plant kingdom. Comparison of gene diversity within and between plant families will improve our understanding of resistance gene evolution in wild species and the impact of domestication and breeding on resistance gene diversity. This project will identify and characterise disease resistance genes across the entire plant kingdom and study their evolution and how they affect disease resistance. This information will be used to design and breed disease resistant plants and increase crop yields. The results will be translated for industry through the identification of new resistance genes for major Brassica diseases. The ultimate goal is to ensure that there is enough food to feed the growing population and have an armoury of resistance genes that can be deployed as new diseases emerge. This project will accelerate crop breeding, ensuring food security and supporting rural economies.

Australian Research Council funding: $3,320,000