Improving production of essential oils from Australian trees

Industries that produce essential oils from plants are more dependent on small genetic variants than other primary industries. Therefore it makes sense for them to engage with some of the recent exciting discoveries about the biosynthesis of oils. We will identify variants in eucalypts and tea tree genes that lead to high value oils. In addition oil yield is a product of both oil concentration in the leaves (which is under strong genetic control) and plant biomass (which is only weakly heritable). We will identify gene variants associated with enhanced foliar oil yield and test a new approach to selecting faster growing and bigger plants. These approaches ensure the Sustainable use of Australia's Biodiversity.