About
the Centre
The Centre for Phenomics and Bioinformatics Research is an exciting new
initiative in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. The Centre,
established in 2008, has a research agenda spanning several discipline
areas including bioinformatics, phenomics, biostatistics, experimental
design, molecular biology, plant science, genomics, systems biology,
mathematical and numerical modelling, computational and mathematical
biology and dynamical system simulation. The underlying theme is the
application of advanced theoretical techniques in mathematics,
statistics and informatics for the handling, study, quantitative
analysis and interpretation of very large scale data sets derived from
genetic, biochemical and physiological studies of plant and animal
systems.
The skills and expertise of researchers in the Centre seek to bridge the
disciplines of biology, statistics and mathematics and create a research
infrastructure that supports a comprehensive approach to the analysis of
large datasets and interpretation of experimental data and thus aid in
deriving an understanding of genetic factors responsible for plant or
animal (human) physiology.
Initial Focus on Plant Phenomics
The science of genomics is accelerating rapidly and currently exceeds
the capacity to measure the effects of genome manipulations (‘phenomics’).
The initial research remit of the Phenomics and Bioinformatics Research
Centre seeks to establish a novel research capability that will meet the
needs of the plant functional phenotyping of cereals, such as wheat and
barley, being conducted by researchers at the
Australian Centre
for Plant Functional Genomics Pty Ltd (ACPFG). The PBRC aims to be a
core research concentration able to extract and integrate information
from complex phenotypic and molecular datasets to build testable models
of cereal plant responses to abiotic stresses.
The research team focuses its efforts on developing tools and methods
for using large phenotypic datasets to extract biological meaningful
information that will feed into the planning of a range of functional
genomics experiments. In particular, the group will explore methods for
making effective use of information generated through the
Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF)
(see “Projects” link)