Professor Tony Bacic

Research Interests

My major research interests are in the areas of:

• Structure, function and biosynthesis of complex carbohydrates in biological systems (cell walls, cell surfaces, extracellular matrices) including arabinogalactan-proteins, cellulose, 1,3;1,4-β-glucans and arabinoxylans.
• Biotechnological applications of polysaccharides.
  Functional genomics in the growth and end-use quality of cereals; cloning and expression of polysaccharide synthases / glycosyl transferases; proteomics of the Golgi and plasma membranes.
• Abiotic stress in cereals; applications of proteomics and metabolomics technologies to understanding boron tolerance in cereals and salt and frost tolerance in native gasses adapted to survival in salt marshes and Antarctic environments.
• Development of platform technologies (glycomics/ proteomics/ metabolomics) for functional genomics.

Research Groups

Agricultural Biotechnology

• Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, Director  (http://www.plantcell.unimelb.edu.au/)
• Cereal Functional Genomics Centre, Deputy Director
• Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, Research Leader (http://www.acpfg.com.au/)
• Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, Co-Chair (http://www.vcpfg.com/)
• Cooperative Research Centre for Bioproducts, Program Leader (http://www.bioproducts.org.au/)

Publications (last 5 years)

Books

• NOTHNAGEL EA, BACIC A, CLARKE AE (eds)  (2000) Cell and developmental biology of arabinogalactan-proteins. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishing Corp, NY, 301pp.

Chapters of Books

• BACIC A, CURRIE G, GILSON P, MAU S-L, OXLEY D, SCHULTZ C, SOMMER-KNUDSEN J, CLARKE AE (2000) Structural classes of arabinogalactan-proteins. In: EA Nothnagel, A Bacic, AE Clarke (eds)  Cell and developmental biology of arabinogalactan-proteins, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishing Corp, NY pp11-23.
• CLARKE AE, ,CURRIE G, GILSON P, MAU S-L, OXLEY D, SCHULTZ C, SOMMER-KNUDSEN J, BACIC A (2000) Arabinogalactan-proteins in reproductive tissues of flowering plants. A historical perspective of work from the Plant Cell Biology Research Centre, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. In: EA Nothnagel, A Bacic, AE Clarke (eds) Cell and developmental biology of arabinogalactan-proteins, Kluwer Academic /Plenum Publishing Corp, NY pp 121-131.
• JOHNSON K, JONES B, SCHULTZ CJ, BACIC A (2003) Non-enzymic cell wall (glyco)proteins. In: The Plant Cell Wall, J Rose (ed), Blackwell Publishing, UK, ch 4, pp. 111-154.
• DOBLIN MS, VERGARA CE, READ S, NEWBIGIN E, BACIC A (2003) Plant cell wall biosynthesis: making the bricks. In: The Plant Cell Wall, J Rose (ed), Blackwell Publishing, UK, ch 6, pp.183-222.
• OXLEY D, CURRIE GC, BACIC A (2004) Analysis of carbohydrate from  glycoproteins. In: Purifying proteins for proteomics: A laboratory manual, RJ Simpson (ed), Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York, USA, ch 25, pp 579-636.

Reviews

• LI H-J, BACIC A, READ SM (2000) Regulation of bacterial, yeast and plant polysaccharide synthases: implications for the regulation of pollen-tube callose synthase. Acta Botanica Sinica 42(8): 771-787.
• GASPAR YM, JOHNSON KL, MCKENNA JA, BACIC A, SCHULTZ C (2001) The complex structures of arabinogalactan-proteins and the journey towards understanding function. Plant Mol. Biol. 47: 161-176.
• CHIOVITTI A, KRAFT GT, BACIC A, LIAO M-L (2001) Gelling polysaccharides from Australian seaweeds: research and potential. Marine and Freshwater Research 52: 917-935.
• READ S, BACIC A (2002) Prime time for cellulose. Science 295: 59-60.
• TESTER M, BACIC A (2005) Abiotic stress tolerance in grasses – from model plants to crop plants. Plant Physiology 137: 791-793.
• BURTON RA, FARROKHI N, BACIC A, FINCHER GB (2005) Plant cell wall biosynthesis: real progress in the identification of participating genes. Planta (Progress Report) 221: 309-312.
• FARROKHI N, BURTON RA, BROWNFIELD L, HRMOVA M, WILSON SM, BACIC A, FINCHER GB (2005) Plant cell wall biosynthesis: Genetic, biochemical and functional genomics approaches to the identification of key genes. Plant Biotechnology J. (in press).

Papers in Refereed Journals

• SIMS IM, MIDDLETON K, LANE AG, CAIRNS AJ, BACIC A (2000) Characterisation of extracellular polysaccharides from suspension cultures of members of the Poaceae. Planta 210: 261-268.
• SCHULTZ CJ, JOHNSON K, CURRIE G, BACIC A (2000) The classical arabinogalactan-protein gene family of Arabidopsis. Plant Cell 12: 1751-1768.
• BURTON RA, GIBEAUT DM, BACIC A, FINDLAY K, ROBERTS K, HAMILTON A, BAULCOMBE DC, FINCHER GB (2000) Virus-induced silencing of a plant cellulose synthase gene. Plant Cell 12: 691-705.
• GILSON P, GASPAR YM, OXLEY D, YOUL JJ, BACIC A (2001) NaAGP4 is an arabinogalactan-protein whose expression is suppressed by wounding and fungal infection in Nicotiana alata. Protoplasma 215: 128-139.
• DOBLIN  M, DE MELIS L, NEWBIGIN E, BACIC A, READ SM (2001) Pollen tubes of Nicotiana alata express two genes from different b-glucan synthase families. Plant Physiol. 125: 2040-2052.
• SCHMID F, STONE BA, MCDOUGALL M, BACIC A, MARTIN KL, BROWNLEE RTC, CHAI E, SEVIOUR RJ (2001) Structure of epiglucan, a highly side-chain branched (1-3;1-6)-b-glucan from the micro fungus Epicoccum nigrum Ehrenb. ex Schlecht. Carbohydr. Res. 331: 163-171.
• MATSUBARA K, MATSUURA Y, BACIC A, LIAO M-L, HORI K, MIYAZAWA K (2001) Anticoagluant properties of a sulfated galactan preparation from a marine green alga, Codium cylindricum. Int. J. Biol. Macromolecules 28: 395-399.
• PETTOLINO F, HOOGENRAAD NJ, FERGUSON C, BACIC A, JOHNSON E, STONE BA (2001) A (1-4)-b-mannan-specific monoclonal antibody and its use in the immunocytochemical location of galactomannans. Planta 214: 235-242.
• CHIOVITTI A, KRAFT GT, BACIC A, CRAIK DJ, LIAO M-L (2001) Chemistry, properties and phylogenetic implications of the methylated carrageenans from red algae of the genus Areschougia (Areschougiaceae, Gigartinales, Rhodophyta). J. Phycol. 37: 1127-1137.
• SCHULTZ CJ, RUMSEWICZ MR, JOHNSON KL, JONES BJ GASPAR Y, BACIC A (2002). Using genomic resources to guide research directions:  The arabinogalactan-protein gene family as a test case.  Plant Physiol. 129: 1448-1463.
• GRIFFITHS KM, BACIC A, HOWLETT BJ (2003) Sterol composition of mycelia of the plant pathogenic ascomycete Leptosphaeria maculans. Phytochemistry 62:147-153.
• CHIOVITTI A, HIGGINS MJ, HARPER RE, WETHERBEE R, BACIC A (2003) The complex polysaccharides of the raphid diatom Pinularia viridis (Bacillariophyceae) J. Phycol. 39(2): 543-554.
• TENG R, ANG C, McMANUS D, ARMSTRONG D, MAU S-L, BACIC A (2003) Regioselective acylation of ginsenosides by Novozyme 435. Tetrahedron Letters 44(30): 5661-5664.
• CHIOVITTI A, BACIC A, BURKE J, WETHERBEE R (2003) Heterogeneous xylose-rich glycans are associated with extracellular glycoconjugates from the biofouling diatom Craspedostauros australis (Bacillariophyceae). Eur. J. of Phycology 38: 351-360.
• JOHNSON KL, JONES BJ, BACIC A, SCHULTZ CJ (2003) The Fasciclin-like arabinogalactan-proteins of Arabidopsis: A multigene family of putative cell adhesion molecules.  Plant Physiol. 133: 1911-1925.
• CHIOVITTI A, McMANUS LJ, KRAFT GT, BACIC A, LIAO M-L (2004) Extraction and characterization of agar from Australian Pterocladia lucida. J. Applied Phycology 16: 41-48.
• CHIOVITTI A, BACIC A, CRAIK DJ, KRAFT GT, LIAO M-L (2004) A nearly idealized 6'-O- methylated i-carrageenan from the red alga Claviclonium ovatum (Acrotylaceae, Gigartinales). Carbohydr. Res. 339: 1459-1466.124. 
• GILSON PR, VERGARA CE, KJER-NIELSEN L, TEASDALE R, BACIC A, GLEESON P (2004) Identification of a Golgi-localised GRIP domain protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. Planta 339:1459-1466.
• TENG R, ANG C, McMANUS D, ARMSTRONG D, MAU S-L, BACIC A (2004) Regioselective acylation of ginsenosides by Novozyme 435 to generate molecular diversity. Helv. Chim. Acta 87: 1860-1872.
• GASPAR YM, NAM J,  SCHULTZ CJ, LEE L-Y, GILSON PR, GELVIN SB, BACIC A (2004) Characterization of the Arabidopsis lysine-rich arabinogalactan-protein AtAGP17 mutant (rat1) that results in a decreased efficiency of Agrobacterium transformation. Plant Physiol. 135:2162-2171.        
• KREMER C, PETTOLINO F, BACIC A, DRINNAN A (2004) Distribution of cell wall components in Sphagnum hyaline cells and liverwort and hornwort elaters. Planta 219:1023-1035.
• GILSON PR, VERGARA CE, KJER-NIELSEN L, TEASDALE R, BACIC A, GLEESON P (2004) Identification of a Golgi-localised GRIP domain protein from Arabidopsis thaliana. Planta 219: 1050-1056.
• SCHULTZ CJ, FERGUSON KL, LAHNSTEIN J, BACIC A (2004) Post-translational modifications of arabinogalactan-peptides of Arabidopsis thaliana: ER and GPI-anchor signal cleavage sites and hydroxylation of proline. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 45503-45511.
• TULL D, VINCE JE, CALLAGHAN JM, NADERER T, SPURCK T, MCFADDEN GI, CURRIE G, FERGUSON K, BACIC A, McCONVILLE M (2004) SMP-1, a member of a new family of small myristoylated proteins in kinetoplastid parasites, is targeted to the flagellum membrane in Leishmania.  Mol. Biol. Cell 15: 4775-4786.
• CLASSEN B, MAU S-L, BACIC A. (2005) The arabinogalactan-proteins from pressed juice of Echinacea purpureabelong to the “hybrid” class of hydroxyproline-rich glycoproteins. Planta Medica 71: 59-66.
• GIBEAUT DM, PAULY M, BACIC A, FINCHER GB (2005) Changes in cell wall polysaccharides in developing barley (Hordeum vulgare) coleoptiles. Planta 221: 729-738.
• ZHU Y, PETTOLINO F, MAU S-L, BACIC A (2005) Characterization of cell wall polysaccharides from the medicinal plant Panax notoginseng. Phytochemistry 66(9): 1067-1076.
• TENG R, BUI A, McMANUS D, ARMSTRONG D, MAU S, BACIC A (2005) Regioselective acylation of several polyhydroxylated natural compounds by Candida antarctica Lipase B. Biocatalysis & Biotransformation 23: 109-116.
• CHIOVITTI A, HARPER RE, WILLIS A, BACIC A, MULVANEY P, WETHERBEE R (2005) Variations in the substituted 3-linked mannans closely associated with the silicified walls of diatoms. J. Phycol. (in press).
• LEE KJD, SAKATA Y, MAU S-L, BACIC A, QUATRANO RS, KNIGHT CD, KNOX JP (2005) Arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) are required for apical cell extension in the moss Physcomitrella patens. Plant Cell (in press).