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Professor Peter Gresshoff

Professor Gresshoff is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Integrative Legume Research. Furthermore he is member of the editorial boards of several international journals (among others Molecular Plant, J. Plant Physiology, Symbiosis), a member of the the Advisory Committee of the OGTR, as well as a member of the Biofuel and Bioenergy Committee of RIRDC.


Current Research

Professor Peter Gresshoff’s main research interests are the following areas:

1) Functional genomic analysis of nodulation and nitrogen fixation in legumes:

  • Molecular components of the control of nodulation (AON) in soybean and Lotus japonicus
  • Analysis of ethylene and ABA insensitive legume mutants and transgenics
  • Genetic transformation of soybean and Lotus
  • Transcription analysis of legumes
  • Analysis of acid soil effect on nodulation
  • Analysis of Nodulation factor receptors NFR1 and NFR5 in soybean
  • Mutational analysis of the GmNARK receptor kinase  

2) Sustainable Biofuel Production from the Legume Tree Pongamia pinnata:

  • Analysis of genetic stability
  • Fatty acid analysis
  • Field trials
  • Clonal propagation
  • Gene and promoter discovery
  • Functional genomics
  • Genetic transformation



Academic Qualifications

DSc The Australian National University (Molecular genetics of legumes; 1989)

PhD The Australian National University (Plant somatic cell genetics;1973)

BSc University of Alberta, Edmonton (Biochem./Genetics; 1970)


Relevant Employment History

2000-02 Head of School of Life Sciences, UQ; Professor of Botany

1999-2000 Professor and Head of the Department of Botany, University of Queensland

1999-present Professor of Botany, University of Queensland

1988-99 Professor and Endowed Chair Plant Molecular Genetics, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA

1979-87 Senior Lecturer in Genetics, Australian National University, Canberra


Recent Significant Publications

Kinkema, M., and Gresshoff, P.M. (2008) Identification of downstream signals for the soybean autoregulation of nodulation receptor kinase GmNARK. Mol. Plant Microbe Interactions 10:1337-1348.

Miyahara, A., Hirani, T. A., Oakes, M., Kereszt, A., Kobe, B., Djordjevic, M.A. and Gresshoff, P.M. (2008) Soybean nodule autoregulation receptor kinase interacts with two kinase-associated protein phosphatases in vitro. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 25381-25391.

Kereszt, A., Dong-Xue, Li, Indrasumunar, A., Nyugen, C., Nontachaiyapoom, S., and Gresshoff, P.M (2007) Testing gene function in transgenic soybean roots. Nature Protocols 2: 948-952.

Nontachaiyapoom, S., Kinkema, M., Scott, P.T., Schenk, P.M., Men, A.E., and Gresshoff, P.M. (2007) Promoters of orthologous soybean and Lotus japonicus nodulation autoregulation genes interchangeably drive phloem-specific expression in transgenic plants. Mol. Plant Microbe. Interact. 20:769-790.

Chen, S-K., Kurdyukov., S, Kereszt, A., Wang, X-D., Gresshoff, P.M. and Rose, R.J. (2009).The association of homeobox gene expression with stem cell formation and morphogenesis in cultured Medicago truncatula. Planta 230: 827-840.

Gresshoff, P.M., Lohar, D., Chan, P.K., Biswas, B., Jiang, Q., Reid, D., Ferguson, B., and Stacey, G. (2009) Genetic analysis of ethylene regulation of legume nodulation. Plant Signaling < Behavior 4: 9.

Yan, J., Cai, X., Luo, J., Sato, S., Jiang, Q., Yang, J., Cao, X., Hu, X., Tabata, S., Gresshoff, P.M., and Luo, D. (2009). The REDUCED LEAFLET genes encode key components of the trans-acting siRNA pathway and regulate compound leaf and flower development in Lotus japonicus. Plant Physiol. (in press).

Scott, P.T., Pregelj, L., Chen, N., Hadler, J.S., Djordjevic, M.A., and Gresshoff, P.M. (2008) Pongamia pinnata: an untapped resource for the biofuels industry of the future. BioEnergy Research 1:2-11.

Bassam, B.J. and Gresshoff, P.M. (2007) Silver staining DNA in polyacrylamide gels. NATURE Protocols 2: 2649-2654.


Additional Four Career-best Publications

Carroll B.J, McNeil D.L. and Gresshoff P.M. (1985) “Isolation and properties of soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) mutants that nodulate in the presence of high nitrate concentrations.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA), 82: 4162-4166.

Bassam B.J., Caetano-Anollès G. and Gresshoff P.M. (1991). “A fast and sensitive silver-staining for DNA in polyacrylamide gels.” Analytical Biochemistry, 196: 80-83.

Caetano-Anollès G and Gresshoff P.M. (1991) “Plant genetic control of nodulation.” Ann. Rev. Microbiol., 45: 345-382.

Caetano-Anollés G., Bassam B.J. and Gresshoff P.M. (1991) “DNA amplification fingerprinting using very short arbitrary oligonucleotide primers.” Bio/Technology, 9: 553-557. (first arbitrary primed DNA fingerprinting method)