Dr Frances Shapter

Research Fellow

p: +61 2 6620 3466 / 0417 791 966
f: +61 2 6622 2080
e: frances.shapter@scu.edu.au

Education:
BAgSc (University of Queensland)
Grad. Dip. Business Admin - Research Management (Southern Cross University)
Post Grad. Dip. of Education (University of Queensland)
PhD in Molecular Genetics (Southern Cross University)

Research interests / background

As a research assistant Frances worked on projects developing the application of pyrosequencing to wheat microsatellites and allele specific PCR for SNP detection in Barley. During her PhD she identified novel genotypes and phenotypes within Australia's unique native grasses which may be exploited through introgression of wild material into cultivated crops or in their own right as new cereal species.

Since then Frances has been focussed primarily on an ARC-Linkage project developing a mutation protocol for an undomesticated polyploid Australian native grass and has characterised several genes associated with domestication in this species. A mutation population has been established and screened with 46 elite breeding lines being identified and rolled into a new RIRDC commercialisation trial of a native perennial grain.

The ARC linkage project also developed a new protocol for primer design in undomesticated grasses using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Additionally NGS was used to genomically screen the mutant population for beneficial polymorphisms, which have been confirmed using Sequanom technology. Frances has also successfully applied a modified application of NGS to the question of adaptive genetics in a wild grass species through an Australian Flora Foundation project.

Frances was appointed to the Federal Rural Research and Development Council in January 2009 and the Council have now released the National Strategic Rural R&D Investment Plan. She also has a keen interest in the development and facilitation of workshops to provide training for ECR's and PhD candidates in Project Management, IP and commercialisation and Leadership.

Other activities

• Council member in the federal advisory Rural R&D Council
• Primary Producer
• Research consultant and facilitator trading as Researchlink.

Recent invited lectures

• Shapter, FM, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ. (2010) 'Opportunities for next generation Genomics to assist accelerated domestication of wild grasses'. Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 11-12 November.
• Shapter, FM & Henry, RJ (2008) 'Accelerated domestication of Australian native grasses', Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 29 -30 October.
• Shapter, FM, Malory, S, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ (2008) 'Australian Wild Rice: an opportunity to develop new sustainable food crops', 1st Australian Wild Rice Symposium. Lismore, NSW, 17 July.

Research grants awarded in past 5 years

• 'Commercialisation of elite lines of Microlaena stipoides as a perennial grain' - RIRDC 2010 - $78 000 (CI)
• 'Nutritional and phytochemical characteristics of a new Australian native grain' - Southern Cross University Collaborative Research Grant, 2010 - $11 900 (CI)
• 'Impact of climate on the genetic diversity of native species using Microlaena stipoides as a model' - Australian Flora Foundation, 2008 - $10 400 (Collaborator)
• 'Accelerated domestication of Australian Grass species using molecular tools' - ARC Linkage with Native Seeds Pty Ltd, 2007 - $280000 (Collaborator)

Websites

• www.daff.gov.au/agriculture-food
• www.aff.org.au/AFF2_Henry_Microlaena_final_summary.htm

Media releases

• www.maff.gov.au/media_office/media_releases/Burke-media-releases/2009/february_2008/expert_group_to_help_steer_rural_research_and_development_investment2
• www.abc.net.au/landline/content/2006/s2170206.htm
• www.crcplantbiosecurity.com.au/phdworkshop
• www.scu.edu.au/news/media.php?item_id=969&action=show_item&type=M
• www.farnorthcoaster.com.au/news/52/frances-shapter-to-take-part-in-2020-summit/

Publications

Book Chapters

• Bhattacharya A, Rice N, Shapter FM, Norton SL, Henry RJ. (2011). Sorghum and its Wild Crop Relatives. In: Wild Crop Relatives: Genomic and Breeding Resources Cereals. Kole, C. (Ed.) ISBN: 978-3-642-14227-7 - Springer.

Journal Articles

• Malory, S., F. M. Shapter, et al.(2011). "Characterising homologues of crop domestication genes in poorly described wild crop relatives by high throughput sequencing of whole genomes." Plant Biotechnology Journal: 1-10.
• Shapter, FM, Dawes, MP, Lee, LS & Henry, RJ. (2009). Aleurone and subaleurone morphology in native Australian wild cereal relatives. Australian Journal of Botany. 57(8:688-696.
• Kasem S, Waters DLE, Rice N, Shapter FM and Henry, RJ. (2009). Whole grain morphology of Australian rice species. Plant Genetic Resources. 8: 74-81.
• Shapter FM, Eggler P, Lee LS and Henry RJ. (2009) "Variation in Granule Bound Starch Synthase I (GBSSI) loci amongst Australian wild cereal relatives (Poaceae)". Journal of Cereal Science. 49: 4-11
• Shapter FM, Lee LS and Henry RJ. (2008) "Endosperm and starch granule morphology in wild cereal relatives". Plant Genetic Resources. 6: 85-97.
• Dillon SL, Shapter FM, Henry RJ, Cordeiro G, Izquierdo L and Lee LS. (2007) "Domestication to Crop Improvement: Genetic Resources for Sorghum and Saccharum (Andropogoneae)". Annals of Botany. 100: 975-989 (Invited Paper)
• Bundock P, Cross MJ, Shapter F and Henry RJ. (2006) Robust allele-specific PCR markers developed for SNP's in expressed barley sequences. Theoretical & Applied Genetics. 112:358-365

Conference Proceedings

• Malory, S., F. M. Shapter, et al. (2011). Mining homologues of rice domestication genes in an Australian wild grass species. Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference, San Diego, California.
• Shapter, F. M., G. A. Ablett, et al. (2011). Utility of mutagenesis and next generation sequencing for accelerating the domestication of a new niche cereal. . Plant and Animal Genome XIX Conference, San Diego, California.
• Malory, S., F. M. Shapter, et al. (2010). Mining Rice Domestication Related Genes in Microlaena stipoides. Molecular Farming Workshop, Monash University, Clayton, VIC.
• Shapter, F. M., I. H. Chivers, et al. (2010). A new niche cereal may offer on-farm diversification that mitigates risks associated with climate variability. New Rural Industries Australia 2010 Conference and Exposition, Jupiters, Gold Coast QLD.
• Malory, S., F. M. Shapter, et al. (2010). Towards the Domestication of a Wild Rice Relative, Microlaena stipoides Using Large Scale Gene Sequencing. OzBio 2010 The Molecules of Life - from Discovery to Biotechnology, Melbourne Convention and Conference Centre.
• Waters, D. L. E., P. C. Bundock, et al. (2010). Genomics and Metabolomics for New Plant Products. New Rural Industries Australia 2010 Conference and Exposition, Jupiters, Gold Coast QLD.
• Shapter, FM, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ. (2010). "Opportunities for next generation Genomics to assist accelerated domestication of wild grasses". Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 11-12 November. In press
• Shapter, FM, Malory, S, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ. (2009). 'Accelerated domestication of an Australian native grain utilising advances in molecular technology', paper presented to the 14th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference (APBC) held in conjunction with the 11th Society for the Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania (SABRAO) Congress, Cairns, Qld., 10-14 August.
• Shapter, F. M., S. Malory, et al. (2009). Accelerated domestication of an Australian native grain utilising advances in molecular technology. 14th Australasian Plant Breeding & 11th Society for the Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia & Oceania Conference, Cairns Convention Centre, Tropical North Queensland, Australia.
• Malory, S., R. J. Henry, et al. (2009). Domestication of a Wild Relative of Rice, Microlaena stipoides. Plant Genomics and Beyond, Evry, France.
• Shapter, F. M., R. J. Henry, et al. (2008). Domestication of Australian Grasses. Harlan II. An International Symposium BIODIVERSITY IN AGRICULTURE: Domestication, Evolution, & Sustainability . University of California, Davis.
• Shapter, F. M., R. J. Henry, et al. (2008). Domestication of Australian Grasses as Bioenergy Crops. ASPB Pan American congress on Plants & Bioenergy, Merida, Mexico.
• Shapter, F. M., S. Malory, et al. (2008). Accelerated domestication of Australian grasses as new sustainable food and fodder Crops. 58th Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference, Gold Coast QLD, Australia.
• Shapter, F. M., S. Malory, et al. (2008). Australian Wild Rice: An Opportunity to Develop New Sustainable Food Crops. 1st Australian Wild Rice Symposium: Australia, a major centre of diversity for rice, Lismore, NSW.
• Shapter, FM & Henry, RJ. (2008) "Accelerated domestication of Australian native grasses", Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 29 -30 October 2008
• Shapter FM, Eggler P, Lee LS and Henry RJ.(2006) A phylogenetic analysis of the Waxy gene in a selection of Australian native cereal species and their closest cereal relatives (Poaceae)". Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference. Christchurch - New Zealand.
• Ablett, GA, Shapter, FM, Bowen, S & Henry, RJ. (2003) 'SNP discovery in microsatellites and ESTs in hexaploid wheat using pryosequencing', paper presented to the 10th International Wheat Genetics Symposium, Paestum, Italy, 1-6 September.

Conference Abstracts

• Shapter, FM, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ. (2010). "Opportunities for next generation Genomics to assist accelerated domestication of wild grasses". Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 11-12 November. In press
• Malory, S, Henry, RJ, Shapter, FM & Chivers, I. (2009) 'Domestication of a wild relative of rice, Microlaena stipoides', paper presented to Plant Genomics and Beyond, Evry, France, 5-8 July.
• Shapter, FM, Malory, S, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ. (2009) 'Accelerated domestication of an Australian native grain utilising advances in molecular technology', paper presented to the 14th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference (APBC) held in conjunction with the 11th Society for the Advancement of Breeding Research in Asia and Oceania (SABRAO) Congress, Cairns, Qld., 10-14 August.
• Shapter, FM, Henry, RJ, Malory, S & Chivers, I. (2008) "Domestication of Australian grasses as bioenergy crops", ASPB Pan American Congress on Plants & Bioenergy, Merida, Mexico, 22-25 June.
• Shapter, FM, Henry, RJ, Malory, S & Chivers, I. (2008) "Domestication of Australian grasses", Harlan II. An International Symposium BIODIVERSITY IN AGRICULTURE: Domestication, Evolution, & Sustainability, University of California, Davis, 14 - 18 September.
• Shapter, FM & Henry, RJ (2008) "Accelerated domestication of Australian native grasses", Native Grasses Workshop, Melbourne, 29 -30 October.
• Shapter FM, Malory S, Chivers I and Henry RJ. (2008) Accelerated domestication of Australian grasses as new sustainable food and fodder Crops. Proceedings of the 58th Australian Cereal Chemistry Conference, Gold Coast QLD, Australia, 31 August - 4 September 2008.
• Shapter, FM, Malory, S, Chivers, I & Henry, RJ (2008) "Australian Wild Rice: an opportunity to develop new sustainable food crops", 1st Australian Wild Rice Symposium: Australia, a major centre of diversity for rice, Lismore, NSW, 17 July.
• Shapter, FM, Henry, RJ, Malory, S & Chivers, I. (2008) "Domestication of Australian grasses as bioenergy crops", Bioenergy Australia - Sustainable Bioenergy Opportunities for Australia, Melbourne Vic, 8-9 December.
• Shapter, FM, Henry, RJ, Malory, S & Chivers, I (2008) 'Domestication of Australian grasses as bioenergy crops', 6th National Native Grasslands Conference - Regenerative Native Grassland Management for Profitable, Ecological and Social Gains, Horscham, Victoria, 9-11 November.
• Henry RJ, Shapter FM, Malory S and Chivers I. (2008) "Domestication of Australian Grasses as Bioenergy Crops". STIPA conference
• Henry, RJ, Bradbury, LMT, Bundock, PC, Cordeiro, GM, Cross, MJ, Crawford, AC, Fitzgerald, TL, Izquierdo, L, Kennedy, BG, Lee, LS, McIntosh, SR, Pacey-Miller, T, Rice, N, Shapter, FM, Watson, L, White, JF & Waters, DLE (2006) 'Mining genomes for improved product quality and human nutrition', Plant and Animal Genomes Conference XIV, San Diego, California, USA, 14-18 January.
• Shapter, FM, Lee, LS & Henry, RJ (2006) 'An analysis of the variation in the waxy gene in Australian native grass species', Plant and Animal Genomes Conference XIV, San Diego, California, USA, 14-18 January.
• Shapter, FM, Dawes, MP, Lee, LS & Henry, RJ (2005) 'A scanning electron microscope study of endosperm morphology in native grains', Connect 2005: chemical challenges for the 21st century: the 12th Royal Australian Chemical Institute Convention, Sydney, NSW, 3-7 July.
• Bundock, P, Cross, M, Shapter, F and Henry, RJ (2005) Allele Specific PCR Markers for Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Barley. 12th Australian Barley Technical Symposium. Hobart, Australia. 10-13 September 2005.
• Bundock, PC, Cross, M, Shapter, F and Henry, RJ (2005) Development of Robust Allele Specific PCR based SNP Markers for Barley. Plant and Animal Genomes Conference XIII. San Diego, USA. 15-19 January 2005.

Thesis

• Shapter, F. M. (2008). An analysis of the potential of Australian native grasses to provide useful genetic and phenotypic variation for cereal improvement programs. Lismore, Australia, Southern Cross University. 194

Updated: 06 December 2012