Dr Alex Wu is an early career researcher and worked in the ARC CoE for Translational Photosynthesis on plant physiology and crop modelling, advancing phenotypic prediction capabilities for supporting crop improvement. His breakthrough work in plant/crop modelling is underpinned by the development of a cross-scale model linking detailed photosynthetic processes at the leaf level with growth and development dynamics at the whole-crop level. Alex’s modelling research is used to unravel the link between key photosynthetic mechanisms and crop yield, and assess photosynthesis and crop designs for boosting yield across environments.
Alex is a recipient of the Australian Society of Plant Scientists premier Peter Goldacre Award, his canopy photosynthesis modelling paper has won a Functional Plant Biology Best Paper Award. Alex has been recently awarded an ARC DECRA on advancing a new physiology-modelling method to understand how interactions between different physiological processes, plant attributes, and the prevailing environment determine productivity.
Qualifications
- Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Applied Science with Honours Class Hon, The University of Queensland
- Bachelor of Science, The University of Queensland
Journal Articles
Li, Changfeng, Wu, Alex and Gilbert, Robert G. (2023). Critical examination of the characterization techniques, and the evidence, for the existence of extra‐long amylopectin chains. Comprehensive Reviews in Food Science and Food Safety, 22 (5), 4053-4073. doi: 10.1111/1541-4337.13212
Wu, Alex (2023). Modelling plants across scales of biological organisation for guiding crop improvement. Functional Plant Biology, 50 (6), 435-454. doi: 10.1071/fp23010
Wu, Alex, Brider, Jason, Busch, Florian A., Chen, Min, Chenu, Karine, Clarke, Victoria C., Collins, Brian, Ermakova, Maria, Evans, John R., Farquhar, Graham D., Forster, Britta, Furbank, Robert T., Gorszmann, Michael, Hernandez, Miguel A., Long, Benedict M., Mclean, Greg, Potgieter, Andries, Dean Price, G., Sharwood, Robert E., Stower, Michael, van Oosterom, Erik, von Caemmerer, Susanne, Whitney, Spencer M. and Hammer, Graeme L. (2023). A cross‐scale analysis to understand and quantify effects of photosynthetic enhancement on crop growth and yield across environments. Plant, Cell & Environment, 46 (1), 23-44. doi: 10.1111/pce.14453
Wu, Alex, Brider, Jason, Busch, Florian A., Chen, Min, Chenu, Karine, Clarke, Victoria C., Collins, Brian, Ermakova, Maria, Evans, John R., Farquhar, Graham D., Forster, Britta, Furbank, Robert T., Groszmann, Michael, Hernandez‐Prieto, Miguel A., Long, Benedict M., Mclean, Greg, Potgieter, Andries, Price, G. Dean, Sharwood, Robert E., Stower, Michael, van Oosterom, Erik, von Caemmerer, Susanne, Whitney, Spencer M. and Hammer, Graeme L. (2022). Cover Image. Plant, Cell & Environment, 46 (1). doi: 10.1111/pce.14512
Zhi, Xiaoyu, Hammer, Graeme, Borrell, Andrew, Tao, Yongfu, Wu, Alex, Hunt, Colleen, van Oosterom, Erik, Massey-Reed, Sean Reynolds, Cruickshank, Alan, Potgieter, Andries B., Jordan, David, Mace, Emma and George-Jaeggli, Barbara (2022). Genetic basis of sorghum leaf width and its potential as a surrogate for transpiration efficiency. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 135 (9), 3057-3071. doi: 10.1007/s00122-022-04167-z
Zhi, Xiaoyu, Massey-Reed, Sean Reynolds, Wu, Alex, Potgieter, Andries, Borrell, Andrew, Hunt, Colleen, Jordan, David, Zhao, Yan, Chapman, Scott, Hammer, Graeme and George-Jaeggli, Barbara (2022). Estimating photosynthetic attributes from high-throughput canopy hyperspectral sensing in sorghum. Plant Phenomics, 2022 9768502, 1-18. doi: 10.34133/2022/9768502
Zhi, Xiaoyu, Tao, Yongfu, Jordan, David, Borrell, Andrew, Hunt, Colleen, Cruickshank, Alan, Potgieter, Andries, Wu, Alex, Hammer, Graeme, George-Jaeggli, Barbara and Mace, Emma (2021). Genetic control of leaf angle in sorghum and its effect on light interception. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (3) erab467, 801-816. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erab467
van Oosterom, E. J., Kulathunga, M. R. D. L., Deifel, K. S., McLean, G. B., Barrasso, C., Wu, A., Messina, C. and Hammer, G. L. (2021). Dissecting and modelling the comparative adaptation to water limitation of sorghum and maize: role of transpiration efficiency, transpiration rate and height. In Silico Plants, 3 (1) diaa012, 1-12. doi: 10.1093/insilicoplants/diaa012
Li, Cheng, Wu, Alex, Yu, Wenwen, Hu, Yiming, Li, Enpeng, Zhang, Changquan and Liu, Qiaoquan (2020). Parameterizing starch chain-length distributions for structure-property relations. Carbohydrate Polymers, 241 116390, 116390. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2020.116390
Peng, Bin, Guan, Kaiyu, Tang, Jinyun, Ainsworth, Elizabeth A., Asseng, Senthold, Bernacchi, Carl J., Cooper, Mark, Delucia, Evan H., Elliott, Joshua W., Ewert, Frank, Grant, Robert F., Gustafson, David I, Hammer, Graeme L., Jin, Zhenong, Jones, James W., Kimm, Hyungsuk, Lawrence, David M., Li, Yan, Lombardozzi, Danica L., Marshall-Colon, Amy, Messina, Carlos D., Ort, Donald R., Schnable, James C., Vallejos, C. Eduardo, Wu, Alex, Yin, Xinyou and Zhou, Wang (2020). Towards a multiscale crop modelling framework for climate change adaptation assessment. Nature Plants, 6 (4), 338-348. doi: 10.1038/s41477-020-0625-3
Yu, Shiyao, Du, Dengxiang, Wu, Alex C., Bai, Yeming, Wu, Peng, Li, Cheng and Gilbert, Robert G. (2020). Effects of nonstarch genetic modifications on starch structure and properties. Foods, 9 (2) 9020222, 222. doi: 10.3390/foods9020222
Hammer, Graeme. L., McLean, Greg, van Oosterom, Erik, Chapman, Scott, Zheng, Bangyou, Wu, Alex, Doherty, Alastair and Jordan, David (2020). Designing crops for adaptation to the drought and high-temperature risks anticipated in future climates. Crop Science, 60 (2), 605-621. doi: 10.1002/csc2.20110
Wang, Kai, Vilaplana, Francisco, Wu, Alex, Hasjim, Jovin and Gilbert, Robert G. (2019). The size dependence of the average number of branches in amylose. Carbohydrate Polymers, 223 115134, 115134. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.115134
Wu, Alex, Hammer, Graeme L., Doherty, Al, von Caemmerer, Susanne and Farquhar, Graham D. (2019). Quantifying impacts of enhancing photosynthesis on crop yield. Nature Plants, 5 (4), 380-388. doi: 10.1038/s41477-019-0398-8
Leakey, Andrew D. B., Ferguson, John N., Pignon, Charles P., Wu, Alex, Jin, Zhenong, Hammer, Graeme L. and Lobell, David B. (2019). Water use efficiency as a constraint and target for improving the resilience and productivity of C3 and C4 crops. Annual Review of Plant Biology, 70 (1), 781-808. doi: 10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040305
Hammer, Graeme, Messina, Charlie, Wu, Alex and Cooper, Mark (2019). Biological reality and parsimony in crop models—why we need both in crop improvement!. In Silico Plants, 1 (1), 1-21. doi: 10.1093/insilicoplants/diz010
Earles, J. Mason, Buckley, Thomas N., Brodersen, Craig R., Busch, Florian A., Cano, F. Javier, Choat, Brendan, Evans, John R., Farquhar, Graham D., Harwood, Richard, Huynh, Minh, John, Grace P., Miller, Megan L., Rockwell, Fulton E., Sack, Lawren, Scoffoni, Christine, Struik, Paul C., Wu, Alex, Yin, Xinyou and Barbour, Margaret M. (2018). Embracing 3D complexity in leaf carbon–water exchange. Trends in Plant Science, 24 (1), 15-24. doi: 10.1016/j.tplants.2018.09.005
Wu, Alex, Doherty, Al, Farquhar, Graham D. and Haammer, Graeme L. (2017). Simulating daily field crop canopy photosynthesis: an integrated software package. Functional Plant Biology, 45 (3), 362-377. doi: 10.1071/FP17225
Wu, Alex, Song, Youhong, Van Oosterom, Erik J. and Hammer, Graeme L. (2016). Connecting biochemical photosynthesis models with crop models to support crop improvement. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7 (OCTOBER2016) 1518. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2016.01518
Wang, Kai, Wambugu, Peterson W., Zhang, Bin, Wu, Alex Chi, Henry, Robert J. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2015). The biosynthesis, structure and gelatinization properties of starches from wild and cultivated African rice species (Oryza barthii and Oryza glaberrima). Carbohydrate Polymers, 129, 92-100. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.04.035
Wang, Kai, Hasjim, Jovin, Wu, Alex Chi, Li, Enpeng, Henry, Robert J. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2015). Roles of GBSSI and SSIIa in determining amylose fine structure. Carbohydrate Polymers, 127, 264-274. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2015.03.081
Li, Enpeng, Wu, Alex Chi, Li, Juan, Liu, Qiaoquan and Gilbert, Robert G. (2015). Improved understanding of rice amylose biosynthesis from advanced starch structural characterization. Rice, 8 (1) 20, 1-8. doi: 10.1186/s12284-015-0055-4
Deng, Bin, Sullivan, Mitchell A., Wu, Alex Chi, Li, Jialun, Chen, Cheng and Gilbert, Robert G. (2015). The mechanism for stopping chain and total-molecule growth in complex branched polymers, exemplified by glycogen. Biomacromolecules, 16 (6), 1870-1872. doi: 10.1021/acs.biomac.5b00459
Li, Cheng, Wu, Alex Chi, Go, Rob Marc, Malouf, Jacob, Turner, Mark S., Malde, Alpeshkumar K., Mark, Alan E. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2015). The characterization of modified starch branching enzymes: toward the vontrol of starch chain-length distributions. PLoS One, 10 (4) e0125507, 1-21. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0125507
Wu, Alex Chi, Li, EnPeng and Gilbert, Robert G. (2014). Exploring extraction/dissolution procedures for analysis of starch chain-length distributions. Carbohydrate Polymers, 114, 36-42. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2014.08.001
Wu, Alex Chi, Ral, Jean-Philippe, Morell, Matthew K. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2014). New perspectives on the role of α- and β-amylases in transient starch synthesis. PLoS One, 9 (6) e100498, e100498.1-e100498.10. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0100498
Wang, Kai, Hasjim, Jovin, Chi Wu, Alex, Henry, Robert J. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2014). Variation in amylose fine structure of starches from different botanical sources. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 62 (19), 4443-4453. doi: 10.1021/jf5011676
Gilbert, Robert G., Wu, Alex C., Sullivan, Mitchell A., Sumarriva, Gonzalo E., Ersch, Natascha and Hasjim, Jovin (2013). Improving human health through understanding the complex structure of glucose polymers. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 405 (28), 8969-8980. doi: 10.1007/s00216-013-7129-1
Wu, Alex C., Witt, Torsten and Gilbert, Robert G. (2013). Characterization methods for starch-based materials: state of the art and perspectives. Australian Journal of Chemistry, 66 (12), 1550-1563. doi: 10.1071/CH13397
Wu, Alex Chi, Morell, Matthew K. and Gilbert, Robert G. (2013). A parameterized model of amylopectin synthesis provides key insights into the synthesis of granular starch. PLoS One, 8 (6) e65768, e65768.1-e65768.12. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0065768
Wu, Alex Chi and Gilbert, Robert G. (2010). Molecular weight distributions of starch branches reveal genetic constraints on biosynthesis. Biomacromolecules, 11 (12), 3539-3547. doi: 10.1021/bm1010189
Conference Papers
B, Potgieter A., C, Camino, T, Poblete, X, Zhi, S, Reynolds-Massey-Reed, Y, Zhao, A, Belwalkar, J, Ruizhu, B, George-Jaeggli, S, Chapman, D, Jordan, A, Wu, L, Hammer G. and J, Zarco-Tejada P. (2023). Advances in the Study of Biochemical, Morphological and Physiological Traits of Wheat and Sorghum Crops in Australia Using Hyperspectral Data and Machine Learning. IEEE. doi: 10.1109/igarss52108.2023.10282230
George-Jaeggli, Barbara, Wu, Alex, McLean, Greg, Zhi, Xiaoyu, Reynolds Massey-Reed, Sean, Jordan, David and Hammer, Graeme (2022). Exploiting the variability and heritability of leaf angle in sorghum to design optimal canopies for different target environments. System Solutions for Complex Problems 20th Australian Agronomy Conference, Toowoomba, QLD Australia, 18-22 September 2022. Toowoomba, QLD Australia: Australian Society of Agronomy.
Data Collection
Wu, Alex (2023). Leaf photosynthetic response curves. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.48610/603a0d3
Thesis
Wu, Chung-Chi (2015). Theory of starch biosynthesis and their structures for the rational design of starches: a mathematical modelling approach. PhD Thesis, Queensland Alliance for Agricultural and Food Innovation, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2015.604