Recent News

PhD position available on crop epigenomics and enhancers

We have a funded PhD scholarship opportunity in the lab. Check out the details in this post or get in contact for more information. The Scholarship is officially listed on the UQ Graduate School page search for Peter Crisp. The position is a fully funded PhD scholarship for a domestic or international student (stipend + tuition + health cover). More details on the scholarship scheme can be found here on the UQ Graduate School Earmarked Scholarship page.

The Lab Opened

There has been a lot going on lately… including the grand opening of the Lab. We are here! Excited to be at UQ. Located in the John Hines Building, St Lucia.

Lab Opening Feb 2020

The lab will be opening at the University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus, in the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences beginning Feb 2020. We will be looking for students! Contact me for more information.

Research Overview

Crop epigenomics and plant stress memory.

The field of epigenetics is concerned with the inheritance of traits that are not solely attributable to the underlying DNA sequence. We seek to understand the contribution of epigenetics to heritable phenotypic variation and resilience in plants.

I am continually fascinated by epigenetic inheritance and there remain many unanswered questions concerning the fundamental principles of epigenetic phenomena.

Epigenomic datasets including profiles of DNA methylation and chromatin modifications also provide a valuable resource for understanding gene regulation and genome architecture. In particular, we use epigenomic approaches to distill large genomes down to the relatively small fraction of regions that are functionally important for trait variation.

Potential role(s) of epigenetics in stress responses and acclimation is a topical issue but remains unresolved. We continue to work to identify cryptic, epigenetically regulated resilience alleles, a research area of great importance as we adapt agriculture to future climates.

Crop epigenetics and epigenomics

Epigenetic engineering, inheritance, and the roles of DNA methylation

Epigenomics and stress resilience

Cryptic stress resilience epialleles and stress recovery

Epigenome guided crop improvement - distilling the Functional Genome

Discovering hidden regulatory elements for crop improvement using epigenomics

Meet the Team

Group leader

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Peter Crisp

ARC DECRA Fellow and Lecturer in Crop Biotechnology

Epigenomics, DNA methylation, Bioinformatics, Reproducibility in science

Current Lab Members

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Ulduz Vafadarshamasbi

PhD Student

Epigenomics, DNA methylation, Gene expression and regulation, Stress transcriptomics (From genome to gene function), Genetic manipulation of plants, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

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Yan Zhang (Kimmy)

PhD Student

Genetic improvement, Biotechnology, Genome editing (CRISPR/Cas9), Epigenomics, GMOs and GM-free plants

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Judy Eglitis-Sexton

PhD Student

Barley, Wheat, DNA methylation, Transformation, Speed breeding

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Jessica Hintzsche

Senior Research Assistant

Genome editing, Crop improvement, Epigenetics, Genetic variation, Teaching, Environmental impacts

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Leroy Mangila (Misha)

PhD Student

Bioinformatics, Eucalyptus, Galls, R, Politics, Video games

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Dale Leech

PhD Student

DNA editing (CRISPR/Cas9), Genome editing, Epigenomics, DNA methylation, GMOs

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Kusumitha Shrinivasan

Masters Student

Sorghum Digestibility, Grain Quality, Genetic Engineering, RNAi/CRISPR – Which is better and why?, Plant improvements

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Vanessa Putland

Honours Student

Maize, DNA methylation, Biotechnology, Sequencing technologies, Commercialisation

Alumni

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Haylie Andrews

Honours Student

Sorghum, Grain quality, Cis-regulatory elements, Biotechnology, DNA methylation

Recent Publications

See all publications >

Drastic differential CRISPR-Cas9 induced mutagenesis influenced by DNA methylation and chromatin features

CRISPR-Cas9 mediated genome editing has been widely adopted for basic and applied biological research in eukaryotic systems. While many …

Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future

For millennia, natural and artificial selection has combined favourable alleles for desirable traits in crop species. While modern …

Decoding the sorghum methylome: understanding epigenetic contributions to agronomic traits

DNA methylation is a chromatin modification that plays an essential role in regulating gene expression and genome stability and it is …
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Peter Crisp

ARC DECRA Fellow and Lecturer in Crop Biotechnology

School of Agriculture and Food Sciences

University of Queensland

The guiding paradigm for our research is understanding the contribution of epigenetics to heritable phenotypic variation in crop plants and developing methods to harness that variation for crop improvement.

Interests

  • Epigenomics
  • DNA methylation
  • Bioinformatics
  • Reproducibility in science

Education

  • PhD in Plant Biology, 2016

    Australian National University

  • BSc in Science with Honours, 2009

    Australian National University

  • LLB in Laws with Honours, 2008

    Australian National University

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