Crop Updates - 2003 Oilseeds

This session covers fifteen papers from different authors ACKNOWLEDGMENTS VARIETIES Large scale canola varietal evaluation in WA, Peter Nelson, Oilseeds WA Performance of IT and TT canola varieties in the medium and high rainfall agzones of WA 2001-02, Graham Walton, Hasan Zaheer and Paul Carmody, Department of Agriculture QUALITY Reproductive biology, cotyledon development and oil accumulation in canola, J.A. Fortescue and D.W. Turner, School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia Plant and environmental factors affecting oil concentration in canola – a mini-review, D.W. Turner, School of Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia Potential benefits from interspecific crosses between canola and ‘near canola’ quality Indian mustard, Janet Wroth, School of Plant Biology, The University of Western Australia (UWA), Wallace Cowling, School of Plant Biology, UWA and CBWA Pty Ltd, Anh-Van Pham, School of Mathematics and Statistics, UWA NUTRITION, AGRONOMY AND MACHINERY Timing of nitrogen application for producing canola grain and oil, R. F. Brennan, Department of Agriculture Managing canola for soil type and moisture stress, Paul Carmody and Hasan Zaheer Department of Agriculture Machinery lessons from 2002 – canola establishment, Glen Riethmuller, Greg Hamilton and Jo Hawksley, Department of Agriculture Machinery lessons from 2002 – harvesting short crops, Glen Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture Does increasing canola seeding rate reduce the competitiveness of grass weeds? Zaicou-Kunesch, C.M., Zaheer, S.H. and Eksteen, D, Department of Agriculture PESTS AND DISEASES Aphid damage to canola – not all cultivars are equal, Françoise A. Berlandier and Christiaan Valentine, Department of Agriculture Should we be worried about developing insecticide resistance in aphids? Owain Edwards, CSIRO Entomology Benefits provided by treating canola seed with imidacloprid seed dressing, Roger Jones, Brenda Coutts, Lisa Smith and Jenny Hawkes, Department of Agriculture, and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture Blackleg levels in canola in 2002, Ravjit Khangura1, Moin Salam1, Art J Diggle1 and Martin J Barbetti1,2 1Department of Agriculture, 2University of Western Australia DBM in canola, Kevin Walden, Department of Agricultur

A fully human anti-Ep-CAM scFv-beta-glucuronidase fusion protein for selective chemotherapy with a glucuronide prodrug

Monoclonal antibodies against tumour-associated antigens could be useful to deliver enzymes selectively to the site of a tumour for activation of a non-toxic prodrug. A completely human fusion protein may be advantageous for repeated administration, as host immune responses may be avoided. We have constructed a fusion protein consisting of a human single chain Fv antibody, C28, against the epithelial cell adhesion molecule and the human enzyme β-glucuronidase. The sequences encoding C28 and human enzyme β-glucuronidase were joined by a sequence encoding a flexible linker, and were preceded by the IgGκ signal sequence for secretion of the fusion protein. A CHO cell line was engineered to secrete C28-β-glucuronidase fusion protein. Antibody specificity and enzyme activity were retained in the secreted fusion protein that had an apparent molecular mass of 100 kDa under denaturing conditions. The fusion protein was able to convert a non-toxic prodrug of doxorubicin, N-[4-doxorubicin-N-carbonyl(oxymethyl)phenyl]-O-β-glucuronyl carbamate to doxorubicin, resulting in cytotoxicity. A bystander effect was demonstrated, as doxorubicin was detected in all cells after N-[4-doxorubicin-N-carbonyl(oxymethyl)phenyl]-O-β-glucuronyl carbamate administration when only 10% of the cells expressed the fusion protein. This is the first fully human and functional fusion protein consisting of an scFv against epithelial cell adhesion molecule and human enzyme β-glucuronidase for future use in tumour-specific activation of a non-toxic glucuronide prodrug

Crop Updates 2002 - Oilseeds

This session covers twenty seven papers from different authors: 1. Forward and acknowledgements, Dave Eksteen, ACTING MANAGER OILSEEDS PRODUCTIVITY AND INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT Department of Agriculture PLENARY SESSION 2. GMO canola - Track record in Canada, K. Neil Harker and George W. Clayton,Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lacombe Research Centre, Lacombe, Alberta, R. Keith Downey, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 3. GMO canola – Prospects in Western Australia farming systems, Keith Alcock, Crop Improvement Institute, Department of Agriculture 4. Diamondback moth (DBM) in canola, Kevin Walden, Department of Agriculture CANOLA AGRONOMY 5. Getting the best out of canola in the low rainfall central wheatbelt, Bevan Addison and Peter Carlton, Elders Ltd 6. Canola variety performance in Western Australia, Kevin Morthorpe, Stephen Addenbrooke and Alex Ford, Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia P/L 7. Relative performance of new canola varieties in Department of Agriculture variety trials in 2000 and 2001, S. Hasan Zaheer, GSARI, Department of Agriculture, G. Walton, Crop Improvement Institute, Department of Agriculture 8. Which canola cultivar should I sow? Imma Farré, CSIRO Plant Industry, Floreat, Bill Bowden,Western Australia Department of Agriculture 9. The effect of seed generation and seed source on yield and quality of canola, Paul Carmody, Department of Agriculture 10. The accumulation of oil in Brassica species, J.A. Fortescue and D.W. Turner, Plant Biology, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, B. Tan, PO Box 1249, South Perth 11. Potential and performance of alternative oilseeds in WA, Margaret C. Campbell, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 12. Comparison of oilseed crops in WA, Ian Pritchard and Paul Carmody, Department of Agriculture, Centre for Cropping Systems, Margaret Campbell, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 13. Identifying constraints to canola production, Dave Eksteen, Canola Development Officer, Department of Agriculture 14. Boron – should we be worried about it? Richard W. BellA, K. FrostA, Mike WongB, and Ross BrennanC , ASchool of Environmental Science, Murdoch University, BCSIRO Land and Water, CDepartment of Agriculture PEST AND DISEASE 15. Yield losses caused when Beet Western Yellows Virus infects canola, Roger Jones and Jenny Hawkes, Department of Agriculture, and Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture 16. Influence of climate on aphid outbreaks and virus epidemics in canola, Debbie Thackray, Jenny Hawkes and Roger Jones, Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture and Department of Agriculture 17. The annual shower of blackleg ascospores in canola: Can we predict and avoid it? Moin U. Salam, Ravjit K. Khangura, Art J. Diggle and Martin J. Barbetti, Department of Agriculture 18. Environmental influences on production and release of ascospores of blackleg and their implications in blackleg management in canola, Ravjit K. Khangura, Martin J. Barbetti , Moin U. Salam and Art J. Diggle, Department of Agriculture 19. WA blackleg resistance ratings on canola varieties form 2002, Ravjit Khangura, Martin J. Barbetti and Graham Walton, Department of Agriculture 20. Bronzed field beetle management in canola, Phil Michael, Department of Agriculture 21. DBM control in canola: Aerial versus boom application, Paul Carmody, Department of Agriculture 22. Effect of single or multiple spray trearments on the control of Diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and yield of canola at Wongan Hills, Françoise Berlandier, Paul Carmody and Christiaan Valentine, Department of Agriculture ESTABLISHMENT 23. GrainGuardÔ - A biosecurity plan for the canola industry, Greg Shea, Department of Agriculture 24. Large canola seed is best, particularly for deep sowing, Glen Riethmuller, Rafiul Alam, Greg Hamilton and Jo Hawksley, Department of Agriculture 25. Canola establishment with seed size, tines and discs, with and without stubble, Glen Riethmuller, Rafiul Alam, Greg Hamilton and Jo Hawksley, Department of Agriculture WEEDS 26. Role of Roundup ReadyÒ canola in the farming system, Art Diggle1, Patrick Smith2, Paul Neve3, Felicity Flugge4, Amir Abadi5, Stephen Powles3 1Department of Agriculture, 2CSIRO, Sustainable Ecosystems, 3Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia, 4Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, University of Western Australia, 5Touchstone Consulting, Mt Hawthorn FEED 27. Getting value from canola meals in the animal feed industries: Aquaculture, Brett Glencross and John Curnow, Department of Fisheries - Government of Western Australia and Wayne Hawkins, Department of Agricultur

EpCAM (CD326) finding its role in cancer

Although epithelial cell adhesion/activating molecule (EpCAM/CD326) is one of the first tumour-associated antigens identified, it has never received the same level of attention as other target proteins for therapy of cancer. It is also striking that ever since its discovery in the late 1970s the actual contribution of EpCAM to carcinogenesis remained unexplored until very recently. With a First International Symposium on EpCAM Biology and Clinical Application this is now changing. Key topics discussed at the meeting were the frequency and level of EpCAM expression on various cancers and its prognostic potential, the role of EpCAM as an oncogenic signalling molecule for cancer cells, recent progress on EpCAM-directed immunotherapeutic approaches in clinical development and the interaction of EpCAM with other proteins, which may provide a basis for a therapeutic window and repression of its growth-promoting signalling in carcinoma. Future research on EpCAM may benefit from a unified nomenclature and more frequent exchange among those who have been working on this cancer target during the past 30 years and will do so in the future

Crop Updates 2001 - Pulses

This session covers sixty six papers from different authors: 1. Pulse Industry Highlights 2. CONTRIBUTORS 3. BACKGROUND 4. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS RESULTS 2000 REGIONAL ROUNDUP 5. Northern agricultural Region, M. Harries, W. O’Neill, Agriculture Western Australia 6. Central Agricultural Region, R. French, Agriculture Western Australia 7. Great Southern and Lakes,N. Brandon, N. Runciman and S. White,Agriculture Western Australia 8. Esperance, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia PULSE PRODUCTION AGRONOMY AND GENETIC IMPROVEMENT Faba bean: 9. germplasm evaluation, 10. Variety evaluation, 11. Sowing rate and time of sowing, Variation in root morphology, P. White and T. Pope, Agriculture Western Australia Desi chickpea: 12. Breeding highlights, 13. Variety evaluation, 14. Seed discolouration, C. Veitch, Agriculture Western Australia, 15. Performance under drought stress, J. Berger, N.C. Turner, CLIMA and CSIRO Plant Industry , K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia & CLIMA, 16. Resistance to chilling at flowering and to budworm, H. Clarke, CLIMA, 17. Effect of row spacing, sowing rate and orientation on growth and seed yield, G. Riethmuller, W. MacLeod, Agriculture Western Australia Kabuli chickpea, 18. variety and germplasm evaluation, 19. Premium quality kabuli chickpea development in the ORIA, 20. International screening for ascochyta blight resistance, 21. Evaluation of ascochyta resistant germplasm in Australia Field pea 22. Breeding highlights, 23. Variety evaluation, 24. Agronomic and varietal effects on seed quality, R. French, J. Millar and T.N. Khan, Agriculture Western Australia, 25. Seed yield and quality in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, N. Brown and S. White,Agriculture Western Australia, 26. Herbicide tolerance of new varieties and lines, Esperance region, M. Seymour,Agriculture Western Australia, 27. Mullewa, H. Dhammu and T. Piper, D. Nicholson, M. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia 28. Herbicide tolerance of Cooke on marginal soil, H. Dhammu and T. Piper, D.Nicholson, M. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia, 29. Post emergent weed control using Raptor® Lentil 30. Variety evaluation 31. Evaluation of advanced breeding lines from CIPAL 32. Elite germplasm from ICARDA and ACIAR project, K. Regan,Agriculture Western Australia, J. Clements and K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia and CLIMA, C. Francis CLIMA 33. Single row evaluation of F3/F4 breeding lines, K. Regan,Agriculture Western Australia, J. Clements, Agriculture Western Australia and CLIMA Vetch 34. Germplasm evaluation 35. Time of sowing x fungicide, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 36. Tolerance to post emergent application of Sniper® M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 37. Herbicide tolerance Narbon bean 38. Germplasm evaluation, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 39. Herbicide tolerance, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 40. Post emergent use of knockdown herbicides, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia Albus lupin 41. Time of sowing, N. Brandon and R. Beermier, Agriculture Western Australia Lathyrus development 42. Field evaluation, C. Hanbury and K.H.M. Siddique, CLIMA and Agriculture Western Australia 43. Animal feeding trials, C. Hanbury and K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia, C. White, CSIRO, B. Mullan, Agriculture Western Australia, B. Hughes, SARDI, South Australia Species comparison 44. Time of sowing 45. Seed moisture of pulse species at harvest, G.P. Riethmuller and R.J. French Agriculture Western Australia 46.Rotational benefits of pulses on grey clay soils, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, R. Bowie, J. Warburton, Agriculture Western Australia P. Fisher, NRE, Victoria, M. Braimbridge, UWA Centre for Land Rehabilitation , F. Hoyle and W. Bowden, Agriculture Western Australia 47. Pulse species response to phosphorus and zinc, S. Lawrence, Z. Rengel, UWA, S.P. Loss, CSBP futurefarm M.D.A. Bolland, K.H.M. Siddique, W. Bowden, R. Brennan, Agriculture Western Australia 48. The effect of soil applied lime and lime pelleting on pulses, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 49. Antitranspirants 50. Mapping soils for pulses in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, P. Tille, N. Schoknecht, Agriculture Western Australia DEMONSTRATION OF PULSES IN THE FARMING SYSTEM 51. New field pea and faba bean varieties in the Great Southern 52. Harvesting methods for field pea in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia DISEASE AND PEST MANAGEMENT 53.Ascochyta blight of chickpea 54. Seed dressing and sowing depth 55. Foliar fungicide sprays 56. The ascochyta management package for 2001 57. Initiation ascochyta disease from infected stubble, J. Galloway and W. MacLeod, Agriculture Western Australia 58. Black spot of field pea 59. Ascochyta blight of chickpea 60. Ascochyta blight of faba bean 61. Pulse disease diagnostics, D. Wright and N. Burges Agriculture Western Australia Viruses in pulses 62. Virus infection causes seed discolouration and poor seed quality R. Jones and L. Latham, Agriculture Western Australia Insect pests 63. Aphid ecology in pulses, O. Edwards, J. Ridsdill-Smith and R. Horbury, CSIRO Entomology 64. Evaluation of transgenic field pea against pea weevils (Bruchus pisorum), Ms M.J. de Sousa Majer, Curtin University of Technology; N.C. Turner, CSIRO Plant Industry and D. Hardie, Agriculture Western Australia 65. Searching for markers for resistance to pea weevil, O. Byrne, CLIMA and Plant Sciences, UWA, N. Galwey, Plant Sciences, UWA, D. Hardie,Agriculture Western Australia and P. Smith, Botany, UWA 66. Improved stored grain fumigation on-farm with Phoscard®, R. Emery and E. Kostas, Agriculture Western Australia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PUBLICATIONS BY PULSE PRODUCTIVITY PROJECT STAFF VARIETIES PRODUCED AND COMMERCIALLY RELEASE

EpCAM an immunotherapeutic target for gastrointestinal malignancy: current experience and future challenges

Despite advances in surgery and adjuvant regimes, gastrointestinal malignancy remains a major cause of neoplastic mortality. Immunotherapy is an emerging and now successful treatment modality for numerous cancers that relies on the manipulation of the immune system and its effector functions to eradicate tumour cells. The discovery that the pan-epithelial homotypic cell adhesion molecule EpCAM is differentially expressed on gastrointestinal tumours has made this a viable target for immunotherapy. Clinical trials using naked anti EpCAM antibody, immunoconjugates, anti-idiotypic and dendritic cell vaccines have met variable success. The murine IgG2a Edrecolomab was shown to reduce mortality and morbidity at a level slightly lower than treatment with 5FU and Levamisole when administered to patients with advanced colorectal carcinoma in a large randomised controlled trial. Fully human and trifunctional antibodies that specifically recruit CD3-positive lymphocytes are now being tested clinically in the treatment of minimal residual disease and ascites. Although clinical trials are in their infancy, the future may bring forth an EpCAM mediated approach for the effective activation and harnessing of the immune system to destroy a pathological aberrance that has otherwise largely escaped its attention

Crop Updates 2010 - Farming Systems

This session covers twenty papers from different authors: Pests and Disease 1. Preserving phosphine for use in Grain Storage Industry, Christopher R Newman, Department of Agriculture and Food Farming Systems Research 2. Demonstrating the benefits of grazing canola in Western Australia, Jonathan England, Stephen Gherardi and Mohammad Amjad, Department of Agriculture and Food 3. Buloke barley yield when pasture-cropped across subtropical perennial pastures, David Ferris, Department of Agriculture and Food, Phil Ward and Roger Lawes, CSIRO 4. Is pasture cropping viable in WA? Grower perceptions and EverCrop initiatives to evaluate, David Ferris, Tim Wiley, Perry Dolling, Department of Agriculture and Food, Philip Barrett-Lennard, Evergreen farming 5. Best-bet management for dual-purpose canola, John Kirkegaard, Susan Sprague, Hugh Dove and Walter Kelman, CSIRO, Canberra, Peter Hamblin, Agritech Research, Young, NSW 6. Pasture in cropping systems – with and without sheep, Brad Nutt and Angelo Loi, Department of Agriculture and Food 7. Can technology substitute for a lupin break? Wayne Parker, Department of Agriculture and Food 8. Canola row spacing with and without long term stubble retention on a sandy clay loam at Merredin, Glen Riethmuller, Department of Agriculture and Food 9. Impact of stubble retention on water balance and crop yield, Phil Ward1, Ken Flower2,3, Neil Cordingley2 and Shayne Micin1, 1CSIRO, Wembley, Western Australia, 2Western Australian No-Till Farmers Association, 3University of Western Australia Analysis and Modelling 10. Using POAMA rainfall forecasts for crop management in South-West WA, Senthold Asseng1, Peter McIntosh2,3, Mike Pook2,3, James Risbey2,3, Guomin Wang3, Oscar Alves3, Ian Foster4, Imma Farre4 and Nirav Khimashia1, 1CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth, 2CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, Hobart, 3Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), A partnership between the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, Melbourne, 4Department of Agriculture and Food 11. Adaption to changing climates and variability – results of the Agribusiness Changing Climates regional workshop, Anderson W3, Beard D3, Blake J3, Grieve R1, Lang M3, Lemon J3, McTaggart R3, Gray D3, Price M2 and Stephens D3, 1Roderick Grieve Farm Management Consultants, 2Coffey International P/L, 3Department of Agriculture and Food 12. Farmers’ management of seasonal variability and climate change in WA, DA Beard, DM Gray, P Carmody, Department of Agriculture and Food 13. Is there a value in having a frost forecast for wheat in South-West WA? Imma Farre1, Senthold Asseng2, Ian Foster1 and Doug Abrecht3, 1Department of Agriculture and Food, CSIRO, Floreat, 2CSIRO Plant Industry, Perth 3Department of Agriculture and Food, Centre for Cropping Systems 14. Does buying rainfall pay? Greg Kirk, Planfarm Agricultural Consultants 15. Which region in the WA wheatbelt makes best use of rainfall? Peter Rowe, Bankwest Agribusiness 16. POAMA – the Predictive Ocean-Atmosphere Model for Australia, Guomin Wang and Oscar Alves, Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research (CAWCR), A partnership between the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO, Melbourne 17. Exploring the link between water use efficiency and farm profitability, Cameron Weeks, Planfarm and Peter Tozer, PRT Consulting Precision Agriculture 18. A plethora of paddock information is available – how does it stack up? Derk Bakker, Department of Agriculture and Food 18. Variable rate prescription mapping for lime inputs based on electromagnetic surveying and deep soil testing, Frank D’Emden, Quenten Knight and Luke Marquis, Precision Agronomics, Australia 19. Trial design and analysis using precision agriculture and farmer’s equipment, Roger Lawes, CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems, Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Floreat 20. Farmer perspectives of precision agriculture in Western Australia: Issues and the way forward, Dr Roger Mandel, Curtin Universit