Dr Agnelo Furtado BSc(Bombay) MSc(Bombay) PhD(UQ) My work at the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics (CPCG) has a strong research focus which essentially is to work with our collaborator to assess various genes and promoters in transgenic cereals. I have worked extensively to determine if the specificity of promoters can be transferred across cereals. I am keenly interested in controlling transgene expression in cereals with a view to define the specificity of available promoters across cereals. I am also responsible for managing the transformation of wheat at the Centre and service any internal and external research collaborators. Most of my time is assigned to duties relating to the Grains Food CRC in my capacity as Genomics Research Coordinator to deal with project management and research duties of GFCRC projects. I also manage 'Southern Cross Plant Improvement' (SCPI) which is one of the business units of the Centre. SCPI provides services such as general tissue culture of plants, cereal transformation, and tissue culture facilities involving tissue culture laboratories, growth rooms, growth cabinets, quarantine glasshouses and field research facilities. SCPI also provide services to screen GM plant material to detect transgenic DNA. I also carry out the necessary tasks in relation to GM projects and the OGTR in my capacity as the Chair of the Southern Cross University Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). Dr Furtado obtained his Bachelors and Masters degree in Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai, India, followed by a PhD degree from the University of Queensland, Australia. He has also completed the 'Graduate Certificate in Research Management', from Southern Cross University, Australia.
Journal articles
DNA banks and their role in facilitating the application of genomics to plant germplasm (with Nicole Rice, Giovanni M. Cordeiro, Mervyn Shepherd, Peter C. Bundock, Louis ME Bradbury, Toni Pacey-Miller, and Robert J. Henry), Plant Genetic Resources (2006)
Advances in genomics have provided technologies for high throughput analysis of plant genomes with potential...
DNA Banks and their role in facilitating the application of genomics to plant germplasm (with Nicole Rice, Giovanni M. Cordeiro, Mervyn Shepherd, Peter C. Bundock, Louis ME Bradbury, Loraine Watson, Allison C. Crawford, Toni Pacey-Miller, and Robert J. Henry), Plant Genetic Resources (2006)
Advances in genomics have provided technologies for high throughput analysis of plant genomes with potential...
The wheat Em promoter drives reporter gene expression in embryo and aleurone tissue of transgenic barley and rice (with Robert J. Henry), Plant Biotechnology Journal (2005)
The early methionine (Em) proteins are members of the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) group of...
The wheat Em promoter drives reporter gene expression in embryo and aleurone tissue of transgenic barley and rice (with Robert J. Henry), Plant Biotechnology Journal (2005)
The early methionine (Em) proteins are members of the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) group of...
The promoter of the asi gene directs expression in the maternal tissue of the seed in transgenic barley (with Robert J. Henry, Kenneth J. Scott, and Sarah B. Meech), Plant Molecular Biology (2003)
The bifunctional -amylase/subtilisin inhibitor (BASI) is an abundant protein in barley seeds, proposed to play...
Conference publications
Differential specificity of cereal promoters in homologous and heterologous cereals (with Robert J. Henry, Alessandro Pellegrineschi, Fumio Takaiwa, Carl Ramage, and German Spangenberg), Plant and Animal Genome Conference XV (2007)
Improving the cereal grain using a transgenic approach would require the use of specific gene/s...
Genomics approaches to analysis of genetic adaptation to climate in barley (with Robert J. Henry, J Cronin, Peter C. Bundock, and E Nevo), 13th Australian Barley Technical Symposium (2007)
Homology of the isa promoter from barley (Hordeum vulgare) and other cereals (with J Russell, Alessandro Pellegrineschi, and Robert J. Henry), 12th Australian Barley Technical Symposium (2005)
Tools for seed-specific expression leading to improved quality and defence of cereals (with Robert J. Henry), 5th International Rice Genetics Symposium (2005)
Control of seed-specific expression for improved quality and defence of cereals (with Robert J. Henry), 54th Cereal Chemistry Division Conference of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Cereals 2004: proceedings of the 54th Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference and 11th Wheat Breeders Assembly (2004)
Other
Use of bifunctional alpha-amylase subtilisin inhibitor promoter sequence of barley to confer expression in seeds (with Robert J. Henry and Kenneth J. Scott), School of Environmental Science and Management Papers (2000)
The present invention provides a novel promoter that is functional in the seeds of plants,...