Dr Frances Shapter BAgSc(Qld), GradCert ResMgt, PostGradDipEd(UQ), PhD(SCU) Frances Shapter is a project leader on an Australian Research Council Linkage grant awarded to what was the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics and Native Seeds Pty Ltd for the accelerated domestication of Australian Native Grasses using molecular tools. Frances was awarded her PhD in molecular genetics in July 2008, having been funded by a Grain Foods CRC scholarship designed to determine the potential of utilising Australian native grasses as sources of novel germplasm for cereal improvement programs. Whilst undertaking her PhD Frances attained a Post Graduate Certificate in Research management and is currently enrolled in a Diploma of Business Administration. Frances completed a Bachelor of Agricultural Science in 1997 following which she taught secondary school science and agriculture, and had an extended period of overseas travel. Frances began working at the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics (now Southern Cross Plant Science) as a research assistant in March, 2003. She worked on the discovery of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes from wheat and barley using conventional sequencing and Pyrosequencing, and developing new genetic markers for barley, based on in silico data mining techniques. Frances has attended several international conferences since commencing her work with at SCU. In 2007 Frances was selected to represent Australia at the World Congress of Young Farmers in Buenos Aires and in 2008 attended the 2020 summit.
Journal articles
Analysis of adaptive ribosomal gene diversity in wild plant populations from contrasting climatic environments (with Tim L. Fitzgerald, Daniel LE Waters, Stuart McDonald, Ian H. Chivers, Eviatar Nevo, and Robert J. Henry), Plant Signaling and Behavior (2012)
Plant populations may contain variation that reflects adaptation to local environmental conditions. Clues to adaptive...
Characterising homologues of crop domestication genes in poorly described wild crop relatives by high throughput sequencing of whole genomes (with Sylvia Malory, Martin S. Elphinstone, Ian H. Chivers, and Robert J. Henry), Plant Biotechnology Journal (2011)
Wild crop relatives represent a source of novel alleles for crop genetic improvement. Screening biodiversity...
Genome diversity in wild grasses under environmental stress (with Timothy L. Fitzgerald, Stuart McDonald, Daniel LE Waters, Ian H. Chivers, Andre Drenth, Eviatar Nevo, and Robert J. Henry), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (2011)
Patterns of diversity distribution in the Isa defense locus in wild-barley populations suggest adaptive selection...
The endosperm morphology of rice and its wild relatives as observed by scanning electron microscopy (with Shabana Kasem, Nicole F. Rice, Daniel LE Waters, and Robert J. Henry), Rice (2011)
While cultivated rice, Oryza sativa, is arguably the world’s most important cereal crop, there is...
Whole grain morphology of Australian rice species (with Shabana Kasem, Daniel LE Waters, Nicole F. Rice, and Robert J. Henry), Plant Genetic Resources (2010)
The grain morphology of 17 wild rice relatives were studied by light and scanning electron...
Book chapters
Sorghum (with Anjanabha Bhattacharya, Nicole Rice, Sally L. Norton, and Robert J. Henry), Wild crop relatives: genomic and breeding resources : cereals (2011)
Sorghum is an important cereal and fodder crop, which is adaptable to extreme climatic conditions...
Conference publications
Mining homologues of rice domestication genes in an Australian wild grass species (with Sylvia Malory, Martin S. Elphinstone, Ian Chivers, and Robert J. Henry), Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference (2011)
Extensive sequencing and comparative mapping has established a high degree of conservation between rice and...
Utility of mutagenesis and next generation sequencing for accelerating the domestication of a new niche cereal (with Gary A. Ablett, Michael Cross, Silvia Malory, Martin S. Elphinstone, Ian H. Chivers, and Robert J. Henry), Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference (2011)
A native Australian perennial grass has been targeted for accelerated domestication utilising a combination of...
A new niche cereal may offer on-farm diversification that mitigates risks associated with climate variability (with Ian H. Chivers and Robert J. Henry), From passion to profit: New Rural Industries Australia Conference (2010)
An Australian native grass, Microlaena stipoides, has been targeted for accelerated domestication utilising a combination...
Genomics and metabolomics for new plant products (with Daniel LE Waters, Peter C. Bundock, Hans Wohlmuth, Myrna A. Deseo, Lei (Ben) Liu, and A Furtado), From passion to profit: New Rural Industries Australia Conference (2010)
Mining rice domestication related genes in in Microlaena stipoides (with S Malory, Martin S. Elphinstone, I H. Chivers, and Robert J. Henry), Molecular Farming Workshop (2010)
Microlaena stipoides, commonly known as weeping grass, is a distant relative of rice. It is...