Title:
Learning From Halophytes: Strategies to Improve Salt Tolerance in Crops
Time:
3:00 P.M. Dec. 14th, 2015
Venue:
Room A435, College of Agriculture and Biotechnology
Speaker:
Prof. Sergey Shabala
Stress Physiology Research Group Leader, University of Tasmania, Australia
Editor-in-Chief, Functional Plant Biology
Host:
Prof. Guoping Zhang
Biography:
Prof. Sergey Shabala is a leader professor of stress physiology in University of Tasmania, and also the edit-in-chief of Functional Plant Biology. His major expertise is in the area of stress physiology and membrane transport. His group's research focus is on plant adaptive responses to environment (salinity, oxidative stress, extreme temperatures, soil acidity, drought, waterlogging, nutritional disorders, biotic stresses). He is also involved in a range of projects dealing with bacteria, yeast and fungi. The "cornerstone" of all projects is the crucial role of cell membranes (and, therefore, membrane-transport processes) in cell-environment interaction. Research projects range from molecular (patch-clamp studies of membrane transport proteins) to the whole plant level. Most of projects use the MIFE technique, a non-invasive microelectrode technique for measurements on net ion fluxes from plant cells and tissues. Over the last 17 years, He has published over 100 peer reviewed papers, 12 book chapters, and has edited five books. His work has been cited over 4793 times (Web of Science, Dec. 2014), and my current h-index is 39. Over the last 10 years He has attracted over $5M in competitive research funding, including seven ARC Discovery grants (in all but one as the 1st named CI). He has also given ~ 40 invited talks at various institutional seminars in 16 countries, and made 160 conference presentations at various national and international conferences (25 of these as an invited speaker).
Abstract:
l Agricultural production should move into marginal saline areas.
l A major breakthrough in crop breeding for salinity tolerance is needed.
l Understanding Na+ sequestration in salt bladders is critical to achieve this goal.
l Learning from halophytes opens new opportunities to crop breeders.