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A/Prof Rob Harding
Deputy Domain Leader
Science Research Centre
Faculty of Science, QUT
GPO Box 2434, Brisbane
QLD 4001
Phone:+61 7 3864 1379
Fax:+61 7 3864 1534
Email: r.harding@qut.edu.au
Profile
1989-1990
Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Life Sciences, QUT
1991-1996
Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, QUT
1997-2001
Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, QUT
1998-2004
Head of Microbiology, QUT
2001-present
Technical Founder, Farmacule Bioindustries Pty Ltd
2002-present
Associate Professor in Plant Biotechnology, QUTMember, CRC for Sugar Industry Innovation through Biotechnology Member, CRC for Diagnostics
Research
I have been involved in agricultural biotechnology research for more than 20 years. My research initially focussed on the characterisation and detection of plant viruses and virus-like agents infecting important tropical/subtropical crops including banana, sugarcane, avocado and taro. The major outcome of this work was the development of a suite of sensitive diagnostic tests, many of which are currently being used to screen germplasm in international virus indexing programs. As an extension of this research, I have been part of a team which has exploited several viruses for the development of a range of biotechnology methods and products for expressing genes in transgenic plants, several of which have been patented.
For the past 10 years, my research focus has been directed towards the control of important viral (potyviruses, geminiviruses, nanoviruses, reoviruses) and fungal (Mycosphaerella, Fusarium) pathogens affecting tropical/subtropical plants, particularly through the development of transgenic disease resistance. A variety of different strategies have been utilised including gene silencing (viruses), and the use of plant resistance genes and antifungal peptides. More recently, I have been involved in the development and exploitation of novel disease resistance mechanisms. I am a co-inventor of InPAct (In Plant Activation), an innovative technology for generating transgenic resistance against ssDNA viruses. These are an emerging group of viruses which are considered a major threat to Australiana and world agricultural production and for which current resistance strategies have proven ineffective. I am also part of team developing novel approaches to generate transgenic banana with resistance against the devastating fungal diseases, Panama Disease and Black/Yellow Sigatoka. These approaches are centred on the characterisation and manipulation of plant R genes and apoptosis-related genes.
More recently, my research interests have included the development of a molecular farming industry in Queensland, initially using tobacco, banana and sugarcane as production systems. Further, I am involved in the Grand Challenges in Global Health Project which aims to nutritionally enhance the nutritional value of Ugandan banana cultivars.
Teaching
I am also actively involved in the teaching of both undergraduate and postgraduate students. At the undergraduate level, I teach in several units within the Plant Biotechnology stream including Virology, Plant Molecular Biology and Plant Molecular Biotechnology. In terms of postgraduate training, I have supervised and/or co-supervised 13 PhD and 2 Masters students to completion.
Publications (2000-2005)
Harding, R.M., Burns, P., Geijskes, R.J., McQualter, R.M., and Dale, J.L. and Smith G.R. (2005) Molecular analysis of Fiji disease virus segments 2, 4 and 7 completes the genome sequence. Virus Genes In press.
Macanawai, A.R., Ebenebe, A.A., Hunter, D., Devitt, L.C., Hafner, G.J. and Harding, R.M. (2005) Investigations into the seed and mealybug transmission of Taro bacilliform virus. Australasian Plant Pathology 34:73-76.
Revill, P., Trinh, X., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2005) Taro vein chlorosis virus: characterisation and variability of a new nucleorhabdovirus. Journal of General Virology 86:491-499.
Revill, P.A., Jackson, G.V.H., Hafner, G.J., Yang, I., Maino, M.K., Dowling, M.L., Devitt, L.C., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2005) PCR-based surveys of taro viruses in the South Pacific Islands. Australasian Plant Pathology In press.
Geijskes, R.J., Braithwaite, K.S., Smith, G.R., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2004) Sugarcane bacilliform virus encapsidates genome concatamers and does not appear to integrate into the Saccharum officinarum genome. Archives of Virology 149:791-798
McQualter, R.B., Burns, P., Smith, G.R., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2004) Molecular analysis of Fiji disease virus genome segments 5, 6, 8 and 10. Archives of Virology 149:713-721
McQualter, R.B., Dale, J.L., Harding, R.M., McMahon, J.A. and Smith, G.R (2004) Production and evaluation of transgenic sugarcane containing a Fiji disease virus (FDV) segment 9-derived synthetic resistance gene. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55:139-145.
Van Rijswijk, B., Rodoni, B.C., Revill, P., Thomas, J, Moran, J.R and Harding, R.M. (2004). Analysis of variability in partial sequences of genomes of Tobacco yellow dwarf virus isolates. Australasian Plant Pathology 33:367-370.
Vetten, H.J., Chu, P.W.G., Dale, J.L., Harding, R.M., Hu, J., Katul, L., Kojima, M., Randles, J.W., Sano, Y. and Thomas, J.E. (2004) Nanoviridae. In: Virus Taxonomy, VIIIth Report of the ICTV (C.M. Fauquet, M.A. Mayo, J. Maniloff, U. Desselberger, and L.A. Ball, eds.), 343-352. Elsevier/Academic Press, London.
McQualter, R.B., Smith, G.R., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2003) Molecular analysis of Fiji diseasefijivirus genome segments 1 and 3. Virus Genes 26:283-289.
Randles, J.W., Rezaian, A., Hanold, D, Harding, R.M., Skrzeczkowski, L. and Whattam, M. (2003) Mapping of geographical distribution and epidemiology of viroids: Viroids in Australasia. In Viroids. Edited by A. Hadidi, R. Flores, J.W. Randles and J.S. Semancik. CSIRO Publishing.
Yang, I.C., Hafner, G.J., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2003) Genomic characterisation of Taro bacilliform virus. Archives of Virology 148:937-949.
Yang, I.C., Hafner, G.J., Revill, P.A., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2003) Sequence diversity of South Pacific isolates of Taro bacilliform virus and the development of a PCR-based diagnostic test. Archives of Virology 148:1957-1968.
Yang, I.C., Iommarini, J.P., Becker, D.K., Hafner, G.J., Dale, J.L. and Harding, R.M. (2003) A promoter from Taro bacilliform badnavirus drives strong gene expression in transgenic banana and tobacco. Plant Cell Reports 21:1199-1206.
Geijskes, R.J., Braithwaite, K.S., Dale, J.L., Harding, R.M.and Smith, G.R. (2002) Sequence analysis of an Australian isolate of Sugarcane bacilliform badnavirus. Archives of Virology 147:2393-2404.
Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2002) Genus Fijivirus (Reoviridae). In The Springer Index of Viruses. Edited by C.A. Tidona and G. Darai. Springer-Verlag.
Harding, R.M. (2002) Foliar, fruit and soilborne diseases. In The Avocado: Botany, Production and Uses. Edited by A.W. Whiley, B. Schaffer and B.N. Wolstenholme. CAB International.
Dugdale, B., Becker, D., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2001) Intron-mediated enhancement of the banana bunchy top virus DNA-6 promoter in banana (Musa spp) embryogenic cells and plants. Plant Cell Reports 20:220-226.
Handley, J.A., Smith, G.R. and Harding, R.M. (2001) Current concepts of the taxonomy and variation of sugarcane-infecting potyviruses. In Current Trends in Sugarcane Pathology Vol.II, Virus and Phytoplasma Diseases. Edited by R.E. Ford, G.P. Rao, D.S. Teakle and M. Tosic. Science Publishers Inc, New Hampshire USA pp 73-81.
Hermann, S.R., Becker, D.K., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2001) Promoters derived from banana bunchy top virus-associated components S1 and S2 drive transgene expression in both tobacco and banana. Plant Cell Reports 20:642-646.
Hermann, S.R., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2001) The banana actin 1 promoter drives near-constitutive transgene expression in vegetative tissues of banana (Musa spp.). Plant Cell Reports 20:525-530.
Horser, C., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2001) Banana bunchy top nanovirus DNA-1 encodes the viral “master” replication initiation protein. Journal of General Virology 82:459-464.
Horser, C., Karan, M., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2001) Additional Rep-encoding DNAs associated with banana bunchy top virus. Archives of Virology 146:71-86.
Smith, G.R. and Harding, R.M. (2001) Genetic engineering for virus resistance in sugarcane. In Current Trends in Sugarcane Pathology Vol.II, Virus and Phytoplasma Diseases. Edited by R.E. Ford, G.P. Rao, D.S. Teakle and M. Tosic. Science Publishers Inc, New Hampshire USA. Pp 335-365.
Becker, D.K., Dugdale, B., Smith, M.K., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2000) Genetic transformation of Cavendish banana (Musa spp. AAA group) cv ‘Grand Nain’ via microprojectile bombardment. Plant Cell Reports 19, 229-234.
Dugdale, B., Becker, D., Beetham, P., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2000) Promoters derived from banana bunchy top virus DNA-1 to 5 direct vascular associated expression in transgenic banana (Musa spp). Plant Cell Reports 19:810-814.
Harding, R.M., Bahieldin, A, Sadik, A.S. and Dale, J.L. (2000). A sensitive detection of banana bunchy top nanovirus using molecular genetic approaches. Arab Journal of Biotechnology 3:103-114.
Hermann, S.R., Miller, J.A.C., O’Neill, S., Tsao, T.T., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2000) Single-primer amplification of flanking sequences. BioTechniques 29:1176-1181.
Randles, J.W., Chu, P.W.G., Dale, J.L., Harding, R.M., Hu, J., Katul, L., Kojima, M., Makkouk, K.M., Sano, Y., Thomas, J.E. and Vetten, H.J. (2000) Genus Nanovirus. In Virus Taxonomy - Classification and Nomenclature of Viruses. Edited by van Regenmortel, M.H.V., Fauquet, C.M., Bishop, D.H.L., Carstens, E.B., Estes, M.K., Lemon, S.M., Maniloff, J., Mayo, M.A., Mc Geoch, D.J., Pringle, C.R. and Wickner, R.B. Academic Press, San Diego.
Wanitchakorn, R., Hafner, G.J., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2000) Functional analysis of proteins encoded by banana bunchy top virus DNA-4 to –6. Journal of General Virology 81:299-306.
Wanitchakorn, R., Harding, R.M. and Dale, J.L. (2000) Sequence variability in the coat protein gene of two groups of banana bunchy top virus isolates. Archives of Virology 145:593-602.
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