B. Sc Hons I , Ph. D

Emeritus Professor Michael Djordjevic is at the forefront of understanding mechanisms underpinning how the nitrogen fixing symbiosis between rhizobia and legumes is established, how root system architecture is determined, and his research has focused on the function of plant peptide hormones in these processes. He has played a pivotal role in the past decade in identifying the functional roles of CEP and CLE family peptide hormones and their cognate receptors in the control of root nodule number, root system architecture and fecundity using genetic, physiological and molecular biology approaches. He developed techniques for the isolation of peptide hormones in vivo using mass spectrometry and demonstrated that CEPs play important systemic and local roles in the control of the growth of the root system. He identified genes downstream of the CEPR1 receptor that mediate the shoot to root component of systemic CEP signalling and showed that they are shared between CEP and cytokinin pathways. More recently he has explored the role of key transporters in the functionality of root nodules.