Dr Amanda Able

Telephone	+61 8 8303 7245
Position	Senior Lecturer
Email	amanda.able@adelaide.edu.au
Fax	+61 8 8303 7109
Building	Waite Main Building
Floor/Room	GN 12
Campus	Waite
Org Unit	Plant and Food Science

To link to this page, please use the following URL:
http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/amanda.able

Biography/ Background

• B.App.Science majoring in Plant Biology & Environmental Systems (USQ, 1993)
• B.App.Science (1st Class Honours) (USQ, 1994)
• PhD (USQ, 1998)
• Plant Physiologist, Queensland Dept Primary Industries (1998-2001)
• Lecturer in Plant Science, The University of Adelaide (2001-2004)
• Senior Lecturer in Plant Science, The University of Adelaide (2005-present)

Teaching Interests

Undergraduate teaching includes courses as diverse as Microbiology and Invertebrate Biology; Plant pathology; Biotechnology Practice III; Botany II and Plant Molecular Biology.

Amanda is also the coordinator for the Masters of Biotechnology (Plant Biotechnology).

Dr Able is passionate about educating the next generation of scientists. She was awarded the Executive Deans Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005 and is also the Education and Training Program Leader within the Molecular Plant Breeding CRC.

Dr Able currently has nine PhD students in her laboratory (three of these are due to complete in the next four months) with one PhD student successfully completed. In terms of Honours students, she is currently the chief supervisor of two students and has had six completed with first class Honours and four with a higher second class. She has also supervised the project of a course-work Graduate Diploma student to completion.

Research Interests

Dr Able's research focuses on understanding how a plant defends itself against disease, the impact of nutrition on plant disease and the postharvest physiology of fruits and vegetables. In addition, her laboratory is a world leader in understanding the physiological disorder of barley grain known as black point which can impact on malting and beer quality. During her PhD, Dr Able established herself within the research field of plant-pathogen interactions with particular expertise in the role of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the dynamics of their production during the hypersensitive response (a form of programmed cell death in plants). After a short period as a Postharvest Plant Physiologist at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries where Dr Able worked closely with Chinese scientists, Dr Able joined the University of Adelaide in early 2001 as a lecturer. In the past five years, Dr Able has secured close to 2 million dollars enabling the establishment of a laboratory with expertise in the aforementioned fields. More recently, Dr Able has also initiated research to examine the effect of educational processes on the public perception of biotechnology.

Specific areas of research in the Able laboratory include:

• Functional analysis of candidate genes in the defence response of barley to net blotch and leaf scald

• Behaviour of and toxin production by the net blotch pathogen Pyrenophora teres

• Effect of nutritional status on powdery mildew and grey mould of strawberry

• Effect of postharvest nutrition on nutritional status of apples

• Black point of barley grain: proteomics, QTL analysis, candidate gene expression, eQTLs, biochemistry, breeding for tolerance, germination

• Ripening behaviour of capsicum

• Effect of 1-methylcyclopropene on banana ripening especially with regards to maturity and time of harvest

• Effect of directed education on perceptions of genetically modified food

Publications

Ten career-best publications

1.Able, A.J., Guest, D.I. & Sutherland, M.W. (1998) Use of a new tetrazolium-based assay to study the production of superoxide radicals by tobacco cell cultures challenged with avirulent zoospores of Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae. Plant Physiology 117:491-499.

2.Able, A.J., Guest, D.I. & Sutherland, M.W. (2000) Hydrogen peroxide yields during the incompatible interaction of tobacco suspension cells inoculated with Phytophthora nicotianae. Plant Physiology 124:899-910.

3.Sarpeleh, A., Wallwork, H., Catcheside, D., Tate, M. & Able, A.J. (2007) Proteinaceous metabolites from Pyrenophora teres contribute to symptom development of barley net blotch. Phytopathology (in press).

4.Able, A.J., Guest, D.I. & Sutherland, M.W (2001) Relationship between transmembrane ion movements, production of reactive oxygen species and the hypersensitive response during the incompatible interaction of tobacco suspension cells inoculated with Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 58(5): 189-198.

5.Able, A.J., Sutherland, M.W & Guest, D.I. (2003) Production of reactive oxygen species during non-specific elicitation, non-host resistance and field resistance expression in cultured tobacco cells. Functional Plant Biology 30: 91-99.

6.Able, A.J. (2003) The role of reactive oxygen species in the response of barley to necrotrophic pathogens. Protoplasma 221: 137-143.

7.Able, A.J., Wong, L.S., Prasad, A. & O'Hare, T.J. (2005) The physiology of senescence in detached pak choy leaves (Brassica rapa var. chinensis) during storage at different temperatures. Postharvest Biology & Technology (35:271-278).

8.Able, A.J., Wong, L.S., Prasad, A. & O'Hare, T.J. (2003) The effects of 1-methylcyclopropene on the shelf-life of minimally processed leafy Asian vegetables. Postharvest Biology & Technology 27: 157-161.

9.Able, A.J., Wong, L.S., Prasad, A. & O'Hare, T.J. (2002) 1-MCP is more effective on a floral brassica (Brassica oleracea var. italica L.) than a leafy brassica (Brassica rapa var. chinensis). Postharvest Biology & Technology 26(2):147-155.

10.Dunn, J. & Able, A.J. (2005) Pre-harvest calcium effects on sensory quality and calcium mobility in strawberry fruit. Acta Horticulturae 708: 307-313.

Professional Interests

Prizes and Awards: SA Tall Poppy of the Year, 2006; SA Tall Poppy Award, 2006; CRCA Excellence and Innovation in Education Award, 2006; Faculty of Sciences Excellence in Teaching Prize, 2005; Australasian Plant Pathology Society, Allen Kerr Prize, 1999; Royal Society of Edinburgh International Bursary Prize, 1998; USQ Pro-Vice Chancellor Research and Higher Degree Award, 1995; USQ Faculty of Sciences Medal, 1994.

Other Professional Service: Education Program Leader, Molecular Plant Breeding CRC (MPB CRC), 2003-2007; Chair of 2007 conference organizing committee for Australasian Plant Pathology Society; Qld Councillor, Australasian Plant Pathology Society, 1999-2001; SA Councillor, Australasian Plant Pathology Society, 2001-present; Co-editor, Phytogen for Australian Society of Plant Scientists, 2001-2003; Member of Editorial Board, Annals of Applied Biology, 2002-2007; Member of Editorial Board, Acta Horticulturae 708; Assessor of Mutual Community Postgraduate Travel Grants, 2002-present.

Community Engagement

As Education Program Leader of the Molecular Plant Breeding CRC, Dr Able is heavily involved in the promotion of plant breeding and plant biotechnology to not only the wider community but to school students as well as tertiary training. She is also a member of the team that developed the award-winning Secondary School program, Get into Genes, and has been actively involved in science promotion through events such as Science in the Pub and Trust Me Im a Scientist during National Science Week. As SA Tall Poppy of the Year for 2006, her role in community engagement will be extended even further.

Expertise for Media Contact

Categories	Agriculture and farming, Science and technology
Expertise	Plant pathology; postharvest science; plant biotechnology
Notes	SA Tall Poppy of the Year 2006
After hours	08 8391 2918

Entry last updated: Sunday, 16 Nov 2008