Combined Biological Sciences Meeting

Qualifications

PhD, University of Melbourne, 1992

Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours), University of Melbourne, 1988

Summary of responsibilities

• Undergraduate teaching in plant science, genetics and molecular biology
• Postgraduate teaching in molecular genetics, tissue culture and Chinese medicinal botany
• Supervision of Masters and PhD students
• Member of a number of University committees

Research Interests

My main research focus is on the use of molecular (DNA/RNA) methodologies for accelerating the production of new plant varieties for agriculture. My research team is currently using DNA microarrays, genome maps and PCR-based diagnostics to detect and map genes responsible for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses in chickpea and vegetable Brassicas.Further, we are investigating quality aspects of food and medicinal plants using molecular tools, for example, the detection of the genes responsible for flavour development in strawberry (using microarrays) and the validation of the identity of Chinese medicinal herbs for quality assurance purposes.

I am a member of the Health Innovation Institute within RMIT, and a steering committee member for the establishment of a Chinese herbal farming industry in the City of Whittlesea.

I have successfully supervised over 10 PhD students, as well as 2 Masters by Research and 10 Honours students.

Research Areas

• Biotic and Abiotic Stress in Crop Legumes
• Flavour Development in Strawberry
• DNA Fingerprinting of Western and Chinese Medicinal Herbs

Specialty Expertise Areas

• Plant Breeding
• Marker-assisted Breeding
• Genome Mapping
• Genomics
• Microarray-based DNA Fingerprinting

Research Accomplishments

I have been awarded grants in excess of $1.5 million (cumulatively) by the ARC (Linkage scheme), Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), Horticulture Australia (HAL), and the Rural Industries Research Development Corporation (RIRDC). I have active collaborations with The City of Whittlesea, The Victorian Strawberry Growers Association, Hendersons Seeds, Mediherb, Botanical Resources Australia, and The University of Melbourne.

Teaching Activities

I am responsible for undergraduate teaching in plant science, genetics and molecular agriculture, and postgraduate teaching in molecular genetics, tissue culture and Chinese medicinal botany. I currently coordinate courses in cell and tissue culture and molecular agriculture.

Teaching Accomplishments

My main teaching innovations include:

The internationalization of our environmental conservation teaching, by partnering with The International Student Volunteers, Inc. to offer work-experience in conservation in a number of countries, including Costa Rica and Thailand.

The establishment of a teaching and research garden for Chinese Medicinal Botany on the Bundoora campus. This garden provides flexible learning opportunities through the use of a “museum-style” self-guided tour employing audio commentaries of each plant species.

Industry/professional/community involvement

• Certified Practising Agricultural Scientist (CPAG)
• Australian Institute of Agricultural Science & Technology 1995
• City of Whittlesea Steering Committee for Chinese Herbal Farming
• Frequent reviewer for a number of Australian, and international journals
• Frequent examiner of PhD and Masters theses
• International Student Volunteers- Project Leader
• School of Applied Science Higher Degrees Committee

Recent publications

Book Chapter

1. Pang. E.C.K., Croser, J.S., Imberger, K.T., McCutchan, J.S., and Taylor, P.W.J. (2000). Tissue Culture and Protoplast Fusion of Cool-Season Pulses: Pea (Pisum sativum L.) and Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L). In: Linking Research and Marketing Opportunities for Pulses in the 21st Century Current Plant Science and Biotechnology in Agriculture 34: pp. 429-437. Springer-Verlag, Germany. (ISBN 0-7923-5565-2 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              0-7923-5565-2      end_of_the_skype_highlighting)
2. Sheng, S.-J., Xue, C.C.l., Pang E., Story, D.F., and Li, C.-G. (2006). Organic production of medicinal herbs in Australia. In: Current Review of Chinese Medicine: Quality control of herbs and herbal material. Annals of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Vol. 2. pp. 73-86. World Scientific Publ. Co. USA. (ISBN 981-256-707-0 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              981-256-707-0      end_of_the_skype_highlighting)
3. Skiba, B., Gurung, A.M. and Pang, E.C.K. (2007). Genome mapping and molecular breeding in Lathyrus. In: Genome Mapping and Molecular Breeding. Volume 3. Pulse, Sugar and Tuber Crops. Chapter 7; pp 123-132. Ed C Kole. Springer-Verlag, USA. (ISBN: 3-540-34515-9).

Referred Journals

(2005 ISI Journal Impact Factor follows citation)

1. Nguyen, T.T., Taylor, P.W.J., Brouwer, JB, Pang, E.C.K. and Ford, R. (2001). A novel source of resistance to ascochyta blight (Ascochyta lentis) in lentil (Lens culinaris spp. culinaris). Australasian Plant Pathology 30: 211-215. JIF: 0.59
2. Collard, B.C.Y., Ades, P.K., Pang, E.C.K., Brouwer, JB, and Taylor, P.W.J. (2001). Prospecting for sources of resistance to ascochyta blight in wild Cicer species. Australasian Plant Pathology 30:271-276. JIF: 0.59
3. Gurung, A.M, Pang, E.C.K. and Taylor, P.W.J. (2002). Examination of the genus Lathyrus as a source of ascochyta blight (Mycosphaerella pinodes) resistance for field pea (Pisum sativum). Australasian Plant Pathology 31(1): 41-45. JIF: 0.59
4. Collard, B.C.Y., Pang, E.C.K., Brouwer, JB, and Taylor, P.W.J. (2002). Use of stem cuttings to generate populations for QTL mapping in chickpea. International Chickpea and Pigeonpea Newsletter 9: 30-32.
5. Collard, B.C.Y., Pang, E.C.K., and Taylor, P.W.J. (2003). Selection of wild Cicer accessions for the generation of mapping populations segregating for resistance to ascochyta blight. Euphytica 130: 1-9. JIF: 0.88
6. Flandez-Galvez, H., Ford, R., Pang, E.C.K. and Taylor, P.W.J. (2003). An intraspecific linkage map of the chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) genome based on sequence-tagged microsatellite site and resistance gene analog markers. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 106: 1447-1456. JIF: 3.06
7. Skiba, B., and Pang, E.C.K. (2003). Mating trials and genetic study of virulence in Ascochyta lentis to the Australian lentil cultivar “Northfield”. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 54: 453-460. JIF: 0.99
8. Mongkolporn, O., Kadkol, G.P., Pang, E.C.K., and Taylor, P.W.J. (2003). Identification of RAPD markers linked to recessive genes conferring siliqua shatter resistance in rapeseed. Plant Breeding 122: 1-6 JIF: 0.82
9. Collard, B.C.Y., Pang, E.C.K., and Taylor, P.W.J. (2003). Preliminary investigation of QTL associated with seedling resistance to ascochyta blight from Cicer echinospermum, a wild relative of chickpea. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 107: 719-729. JIF: 3.06
10. Flandez-Galvez, H., Ades, P.K., Ford, R., Pang, E.C.K. and Taylor, P.W.J. (2003). QTL analysis for ascochyta blight resistance in an intraspecific population of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.). Theoretical and Applied Genetics 107 (7): 1257-1265. JIF: 3.06
11. Skiba, B., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2003). Amplification and detection of sequence-tagged sites (STS) in Lathyrus sativus. Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 21 (4): 391-404. JIF: 1.03
12. Skiba, B., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2004). Genetics of resistance to Mycosphaerella pinodes in Lathyrus sativus. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 55 (9): 953-960. JIF: 0.99
13. Skiba, B., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2004). Construction of a linkage map based on a Lathyrus sativus backcross population and preliminary investigation of QTLs associated with resistance to ascochyta blight. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 109 (8): 1726-1735. JIF: 3.06
14. Williams, A., Ryan, D., Guasca, A.O., Marriott, P. and Pang, E. (2005). Analysis of strawberry volatiles using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography with headspace solid-phase microextraction. Journal of Chromatography B 817: 97-107. JIF: 2.39
15. Collard, B.C.Y., Jahufer, M.Z.Z., Brouwer, J-B, and Pang, E.C.K. (2005). An introduction to markers, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and marker-assisted selection for crop improvement: the basic concepts. Euphytica 142: 169-196. JIF: 0.88
16. Skiba, B., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2005). Construction of a cDNA library of Lathyrus sativus infected with Mycosphaerella pinodes and the identification of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 66: 55-67. JIF: 1.24
17. Coram, T.E., and Pang, E.C.K (2005). Isolation and analysis of candidate ascochyta blight resistance genes in chickpea. I. Generation and analysis of an expressed sequence tag (EST) library. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 66: 192-200. JIF: 1.24
18. Coram, T.E., and Pang, E.C.K (2005). Isolation and analysis of candidate ascochyta blight resistance genes in chickpea. II. Microarray analysis of putative defence-related ESTs. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology 66: 201-210. JIF: 1.24
19. Madhou, P., Wells, A., Pang, E.C.K. and Stevenson, T.W. (2005). Genetic variations in populations of Western Australian wild radish. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 56 (10):1079-1087. JIF: 0.99
20. Vaz Patto, M.C., Skiba, B., Pang, E.C.K., Ochatt, S. J., Lambein F. and Rubiales, S. (2006). Lathyrus improvement for resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses: from classical breeding to marker assisted selection. Euphytica 147: 133-147. JIF: 0.88
21. Coram, T.E., and Pang, E.C.K. (2006). Expression profiling of Chickpea genes differentially regulated during a resistance response to Ascochyta rabiei. Plant Biotechnology Journal 4(6): 647-666. JIF: 4.26
22. Coram, T.E. and Pang, E.C.K. (2007). Transcriptional profiling of chickpea genes differentially regulated by salicylic acid, methyl jasmonate, and aminocyclopropane carboxylic acid to reveal pathways of defence-related gene regulation. Functional Plant Biology 34:52-64. JIF: 2.50
23. Jayasinghe, R., Kong, S., Coram, T.E., Kaganovitch, J., Xue, C.C.L., Li, C.G., and Pang, E.C.K. (2007). Construction and validation of a novel microarray for efficient high-throughput genotyping of Angiosperms. Plant Biotechnology Journal 5(2): 282-289. JIF: 4.26
24. Bian, X.Y., Ford, R., Han, T.R., Coram, T.E., Pang, E.C.K, and Taylor, P.W.J. (2007). Approaching chickpea quantitative trait loci conditioning resistance to Ascochyta rabiei via comparative genomics. Australasian Plant Pathology 36: 419-423. JIF: 0.59
25. Coram, T. E., Mantri N., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2007). Functional Genomics in Chickpea: An Emerging Frontier for molecular-assisted breeding. Functional Plant Biology 34: 861-873. JIF: 2.50
26. Mantri N.L., Ford, R., Coram, T.E. and Pang, E.C.K. (2007). Transcriptional profiling of chickpea genes differentially regulated in response to high-salinity, cold and drought. BMC Genomics 8: 303. JIF: 4.03
27. Shen, Y., Li, C.G., Zhou S.F., Pang E.C.K., Story, D.F., and Xue, C.C.L. (2008). Chemistry and bioactivity of Flos Magnoliae, a chinese herb for rhinitis and sinusitis. Current Medicinal Chemistry 16: 1616-27.
28. Shen, Y., Pang E.C.K., Xue, C.C.L., Zhao Z.Z., Lin, J.G., and., Li, C.G., (2008). Inhibitions of mast cell-derived histamine release by different Flos Magnoliae species in rat peritoneal mast cells. Phytomedicine 15(10): 808-14.
29. Li, C.G. Sheng, S.-J. Pang, E.C.K., Marriott P., May, B., Zhou S.F.., Story, D., and Xue, C.C.L. (2009). Cultivar variations of Australia-grown Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza): Bioactive markers and root yields. Chemistry and Biodiversity 6:170-81.
30. Jayasinghe, R., Niu, L.-H., Kong, S., Coram, T.E., Kaganovitch, J., Xue, C.C.L., Li, C.G., and Pang, E.C.K. (2009). Effectiveness of an Innovative prototype Subtracted Diversity Array (SDA) for fingerprinting plant species of medicinal importance. Planta Medica 75: 1180-1185.
31. Sheng, S.-J., Pang, E.C.K., Xue, C.C.L., and Li, C.G. (2009). Seasonal variations in bioactive marker contents in Australian-grown Salvia miltiorrhiza roots. Chemistry & Biodiversity 6(4): 551-60.
32. Li, C.G. Sheng, S.-J. Pang, E.C.K., May, B., and Xue, C.C.L. (2009). HPLC profiles and biomarker contents of Australian-grown Salvia miltiorrhiza f. alba roots. Chemistry & Biodiversity 6(6): 1077-1086.
33. Mustafa, B.M., Coram, T.E., Pang, E.C.K., Taylor, P.W.J., and Ford, R. (2009). A cDNA microarray approach to decipher lentil (Lens culinaris) responses to Ascochyta lentis. .  Australasian Plant Pathology 38: 617-30

Referred Conference Publications

1. Kennedy, B., Collard, B.C.Y, Brouwer, J.B., Taylor, P.W.J. and Pang, E.C.K. (2002). Doubled haploid production in chickpea via anther culture. Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference, Perth, Australia, 15-20th September 2002. pp. 84-87.
2. Coram, T., and Pang, E. (2002). Ascochyta blight of chickpea - searching for resistance gene analogues and characterising an enriched EST library. Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference, “Plant Breeding for the 11th Millenium”. Perth, W. Australia, 15-20th September 2002. pp. 17-22. JA McComb (Ed.).
3. Skiba, B., Ford, R., Brouwer, JB, and Pang, E. (2002). Characterisation of defence-related Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) of grasspea (Lathyrus sativus) infected with Mycosphaerella pinodes. Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference, “Plant Breeding for the 11th Millenium”. Perth, W. Australia, 15-20th September 2002. pp. 103-105. JA McComb (Ed.).
4. Flandez-Galvez H., Ford, R., Pang, E., and Taylor, P. (2002). Linkage map of chickpea (Cicer arietinum) and identification of QTL for ascochyta blight resistance. Page 152. In Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Plant Breeding for the 11th Millennium’. 15-20 September 2002, Hyatt Regency Perth, Western Australia. pp. 392-394.
5. Taylor, P., Phan, H., Galvez, H., Collard, B., Ades, P., Pang, E. and Ford, R. (2002). Mapping ascochyta blight resistance genes in chickpea. Page 72. In Proceedings of the 12th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Plant Breeding for the 11th Millennium’. 15-20 September 2002, Hyatt Regency Perth, Western Australia. pp.355-361.
6. Coram, T. and Pang, E. (2004). Discovering and characterising the genetic mechanism controlling the resistance response to Ascochyta blight (Ascochyta rabiei) in chickpea (Cicer arietinum) In Proceedings of the 4th International Crop Science Congress, 26 Sep.- 1 October, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland, Australia. pp. ISBN 1 920842 21 7
7. Coram, T. and Pang, E. (2006). Identifying and characterizing the patterns of gene expression upon infection of chickpea plants by Ascochyta Blight.. In Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action’. 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-86476-167-8
8. Mantri, N., Coram, T., Ford, R., De Vicente, C., Mal, B., and Pang, E. (2006). Gene expression profiling of chickpea responses to drought, cold and salinity. In Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action’. 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-86476-167-8
9. Kong, S., Lawrie, A., Lee, K., and Pang, E. (2006). Phenotyping of Plasmodiophora brassicae isolates using the European Clubroot Differential set. In Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action’. 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-86476-167-8
10. Jayasinghe, R., Kong, K., T., Kaganovitch, J., Xue, C.C.L., Li, C.G., and Pang, E. (2006). A novel subtracted diversity array for the authentication of Chinese medicinal herbs. In Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference ‘Breeding for Success: Diversity in Action’. 18-21 April 2006, Christchurch, New Zealand. ISBN 978-0-86476-167-8
11. Shen, Y., Xue, C., Pang, E., Zhao, Z. Z., Li, C. G. (2006). Inhibition of mast cell-derived histamine release by Flos Magnoliae. Acta Pharmalogica Sinica 27: 340-341, Suppl. 1. JIF: 1.12.
12. Shen, S., Li, C. G., Pang, E., Xue, C. (2006). Quality assessment of Radix Salviae Miltiorrhizae. Acta Pharmalogica Sinica 27: 343-343 Suppl. 1. JIF: 1.12.

Accepted/In Press Manuscripts

1. Collard, B.C.Y., Jahufer, M.Z.Z., Brouwer, J-B, and Pang, E.C.K. (2005). An introduction to markers, quantitative trait loci (QTL) mapping and marker-assisted selection for crop improvement: the basic concepts. Euphytica Review (Accepted Jan 2005).
2. Skiba, B., Ford, R. and Pang, E.C.K. (2005).Construction of a cDNA library of Lathyrus sativus infected with Mycosphaerella pinodes and the identification of Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) associated with resistance. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology, (Accepted Jan 2005).
3. Vaz Patto, M.C., Skiba, B., Pang, E.C.K., Ochatt, S. J., Lambein F. and Rubiales, S. (2005). Lathyrus improvement for resistance against biotic and abiotic stresses: from classical breeding to marker assisted selection. Euphytica Review (Accepted Feb 2005).