Uncovering rare metal-hoarding plants, mangrove desalination techniques and great hammerhead shark populations are the aims of some of the researchers awarded the Australian Academy of Science's 2020 Thomas Davies Research Grant for Marine, Soil and Plant Biology.

The grant is funded through a generous philanthropic bequest to the Academy from the estate of the late Thomas Lewis Davies. The fund offers annual research grants of up to $20,000 each to early- and mid-career researchers in the fields of marine, soil and plant biology.

Six researchers are recipients of research grants this year and a special Congratulations to  Dr Jana Sperschneider who will help uncover the mechanisms behind how rust fungi infect plants. Rust fungi are a significant threat to major agricultural crops like wheat, as well as iconic Australian plants, such as tea tree and lemon myrtle.

There is currently a lack of understanding surrounding how rusts infect plants—their unusual genomic structure is believed to be a major contributor to their virulence. Dr Sperschneider aims to shed light on how the rust genome is organised during the distinct stages of plant infection. This will help develop durable and effective strategies to protect crops and native ecosystems from rusts.

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