Lumen Spring Summer 2023 - Flipbook - Page 29
the brains of TBI sufferers with those
of healthy individuals and people with
established Parkinson’s disease to identify
factors in the brain that increase the risk of
neurodegenerative disease after a TBI.
Failed antibiotic
turns weed killer
Weed killers of the future could soon be
based on failed antibiotics.
“We’re ultimately hoping to alter the way
that clinical diagnosis and prognosis for
survivors of traumatic brain injury is
done,” says project lead Associate Professor
Lyndsey Collins-Praino.
A normal barley flower compared to the flower of a
mutant barley variety, which could hold the key to
increasing yields. Credit Dr Caterina Selva
Cracking the code for
better barley
Researchers have identified several genes in
barley that could eventually lead to larger
yielding crops.
Spiney leaf stick insect - Extatosoma tiaratum
Sales of online invertebrates
Researchers investigating the level of online
trade in invertebrates in Australia have
found 264 different species of terrestrial
invertebrates for sale online in Australia.
The year-long University of Adelaide study
found buyers were looking to “acquire
unusual species of invertebrates - even those
that are lethal or dangerous to humans,”
says University of Adelaide PhD student
Charlotte Lassaline, from the Invasion
Science and Wildlife Ecology Lab, who
led the study.
The research was carried out at the Waite
Research Institute and involved genetic
techniques and molecular biology to
examine several historical multiovary barley
mutants, to determine which genes boost
fertility and make the plants more receptive
to cross-pollination.
Lead researcher Dr Caterina Selva says the
study found one mutant variety that was
“more fertile” and “capable of producing up
to three times the number of seeds than the
other plants”.
“This discovery is a potential game
changer for the agricultural industry,”
says lead researcher Dr Tatiana Soares da
Costa from the University of Adelaide’s
Waite Research Institute.
“Many weeds are now resistant to the
existing herbicides on the market, costing
farmers billions of dollars each year.
“Using failed antibiotics as herbicides
provides a short-cut for faster
development of new, more effective weed
killers that target damaging and invasive
weeds that farmers find hard to control.”
They exploited these similarities and, by
chemically modifying the structure of a
failed antibiotic, they were able to block
the production of amino acid lysine,
which is essential for weed growth.
SA’s fishy flake
Making spirits from agave
It’s a popular takeaway choice, but new
research has revealed threatened species of
shark are being sold as flake at some outlets
across South Australia.
A new Australian agave spirit, produced
with the aid of University of Adelaide
research, could be a stepping stone to using
the plant as a sustainable and carbon-neutral
fuel source.
A total of nine species were identified,
including four threatened species and some
which are not found in Australian waters.
Only 27 per cent of the samples were found
to be gummy shark, one of just two species
recommended to be sold as flake.
While the failed antibiotic wasn’t fit for
its original purpose, scientists at the
University of Adelaide discovered that
by tweaking its structure, the molecule
became effective at killing two of the
most problematic weeds in Australia –
annual ryegrass and wild radish – without
harming bacterial and human cells.
Researchers at the University’s Herbicide
and Antibiotic Innovation Lab discovered
there were similarities between bacterial
superbugs and weeds at a molecular level.
Charlotte says the most traded species
were the spiney leaf insect and the Flinders
Ranges scorpion, and they “even uncovered
the trade of 57 species of ant”.
A team of University of Adelaide researchers
analysed the DNA of fillets from more
than 100 retailers across South Australia to
determine what was being labelled flake –
an umbrella term used to describe shark
meat fillets.
A molecule which was initially developed
to treat tuberculosis, but failed to progress
out of the lab as an antibiotic, is now
showing promise as a powerful weapon
against weeds that invade gardens and
cost farmers an estimated $5 billion
each year.
“There are no commercially available
herbicides on the market that work in this
way. In fact, in the past 40 years, there
have been hardly any new herbicides
with new mechanisms of action that have
entered the market,” says Dr Andrew
Barrow, a postdoctoral researcher in
Dr Soares da Costa’s team.
The spirit, named Act of Treason, was
produced by Top Shelf International using
100 per cent Blue Weber Agave grown near
Bowen in north Queensland.
Professor Rachel Burton, Head of the
University’s Food Science department,
says her team will now explore creating
agave biofuels.
“Instead of using the juice to make a spirit,
you can use it to make hydrogen,” she says.
LUMEN – SPRING/SUMMER 20223 29
