Associate Professor Caitlin Byrt

A photograph of Caitlyn Byrt smiling and looking towards the camera.

Contacts

Associate Professor
Research School of Biology

Co-founder of Membrane Transporter Engineers (MTE). MTE develops protein components for highly specific element and nutrient separation from complex solutions and for crop improvement purposes. MTE have designed novel protein components and tested the function of hundreds of naturally occurring diverse membrane proteins using cutting-edge and highly specialised approaches. MTE engineers value-adding components for advancing membrane separation technologies and improving plant productivity in challenging environments. The components MTE creates can be embedded in membrane-based filtration systems for gaining new functions and used in critical mineral processing, and MTE deliver components that can be incorporated in plant cell membranes for improving crop performance.

  • Wege, S, Qiu, J, Byrt, C et al. 2021, 'A single residue deletion in the barley HKT1;5 P189 variant restores plasma membrane localisation but not Na+ conductance', Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Biomembranes, vol. 1863, no. 10.
  • McGaughey, S, Tyerman, S & Byrt, C 2021, 'An algal PIP-like aquaporin facilitates water transport and ionic conductance', Biochimica et Biophysica Acta: Biomembranes, vol. 1863, no. 10.
  • Munns, R, Day, D, Fricke, W et al 2020, 'Energy costs of salt tolerance in crop plants', New Phytologist, vol. 225, no. 3, pp. 1072-1090.
  • Houston, K, Qiu, J, Wege, S et al. 2020, 'Barley sodium content is regulated by natural variants of the Na+ transporter HvHKT1;5', Communications Biology, vol. 3, no. 258, pp. 1-9.
  • Munns, R, Passioura, J, Colmer, T et al. 2020, 'Osmotic adjustment and energy limitations to plant growth in saline soil', New Phytologist, vol. 225, no. 3, pp. 1091-1096.
  • Tran, S, Horie, T, Imran, S et al. 2020, 'A Survey of Barley PIP Aquaporin Ionic Conductance Reveals Ca2+-Sensitive HvPIP2;8 Na+ and K+ Conductance', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 21.
  • Hoai, P.T., Tyerman, S.D., Schnell, N., Tucker, M., McGaughey, S.A., Qiu, J., Groszmann, M.* and Byrt, C.S*., 2020. Deciphering aquaporin regulation and roles in seed biology. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(6), pp.1763-1773. *Joint senior and co-corresponding authors
  • Qiu, J., McGaughey, S.A., Groszmann, M., Tyerman, S.D. and Byrt, C.S., 2020. Phosphorylation influences water and ion channel function of AtPIP2; 1. Plant, Cell & Environment, 43(10), pp.2428-2442.
  • David, R, David, R, Byrt, C et al 2019, 'Roles of membrane transporters: connecting the dots from sequence to phenotype', Annals of Botany, vol. 124, no. 2, pp. 201-208.
  • David, R, David, R, Byrt, C et al 2019, 'Roles of membrane transporters: connecting the dots from sequence to phenotype', Annals of Botany, vol. 124, no. 2, pp. 201-208.
  • Tyerman, S, Munns, R, Fricke, W et al 2019, 'Energy costs of salinity tolerance in crop plants', New Phytologist, vol. 221, no. 1, pp. 25-29.
  • Amarasinghe, S, Watson-Haigh, N, Byrt, C et al 2019, 'Transcriptional variation is associated with differences in shoot sodium accumulation in distinct barley varieties', Environmental and Experimental Botany, vol. 166, no. 103812, pp. 1-15.
  • Xu, B, Waters, S, Byrt, C et al 2018, 'Structural variations in wheat HKT1;5 underpin differences in Na+ transport capacity', Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences, vol. 75, no. 6, pp. 1133-1144pp.
  • Byrt, C, Munns, R, Burton, R et al 2018, 'Root cell wall solutions for crop plants in saline soils', Plant Science, vol. 269, pp. 47-55pp.
  • Martin, A, Brown, C, Nguyen, D et al 2017, 'Cell Wall Development in an Elongating Internode of Setaria', in Andrew Doust and Xianmin Diao (ed.), Genetics and Genomics of Setaria, Springer, Switzerland, pp. 211-238pp.
  • Jaime-Pérez, N, Pineda, B, García-Sogo, B et al 2017, 'The sodium transporter encoded by the HKT1;2 gene modulates sodium/potassium homeostasis in tomato shoots under salinity', Plant Cell and Environment, vol. 40, no. 5, pp. 658-671pp.
  • Kourghi, M, Nourmohammadi, S, Pei, J et al 2017, 'Divalent Cations Regulate the Ion Conductance Properties of Diverse Classes of Aquaporins
    ', International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 18, no. 2323, pp. 19pp.
  • Byrt, C, Zhao, M, Kourghi, M et al 2017, 'Non-selective cation channel activity of aquaporin AtPIP2;1 regulated by Ca 2+ and pH', Plant Cell and Environment, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 802-815pp.
  • Corbin, K, Betts, N, van Holst, N et al 2016, 'Low-Input Fermentations of Agave tequilana Leaf Juice Generate High Returns on Ethanol Yields', Bioenergy Research, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 1142-1154pp.
  • Li, B, Byrt, C, Qiu, J et al 2016, 'Identification of a stelar-localized transport protein that facilitates root-to-shoot transfer of chloride in arabidopsis', Plant Physiology, vol. 170, no. 2, pp. 1014-1029pp.
  • Byrt, C, Betts, N, Tan, H et al 2016, 'Prospecting for energy-rich renewable raw materials: Sorghum stem case study', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 20pp.
  • McGaughey, S, Osborn, H, Chen, L et al 2016, 'Roles of aquaporins in setaria viridis stem development and sugar storage', Frontiers in Plant Science, vol. 7, no. 1815, pp. 13pp.
  • Ermawar, R, Collins, H, Byrt, C et al 2015, 'Distribution, structure and biosynthetic gene families of (1,3;1,4)-β-glucan in Sorghum bicolor', Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, vol. 57, no. 4, pp. 429-445pp.
  • Corbin, K, Hsieh, Y, Betts, N et al 2015, 'Grape marc as a source of carbohydrates for bioethanol: Chemical composition, pre-treatment and saccharification', Bioresource Technology, vol. 193, pp. 76-83pp.
  • Ermawar, R, Collins, H, Byrt, C et al 2015, 'Genetics and physiology of cell wall polysaccharides in the model C4 grass, Setaria viridis spp', BMC Plant Biology, vol. 15, no. 236, pp. 18pp.
  • Corbin, K, Byrt, C, Bauer, S et al 2015, 'Prospecting for energy-rich renewable raw materials: Agave leaf case study', PLOS ONE (Public Library of Science), vol. 10, no. 8, pp. 23pp.
  • Byrt, C, Xu, B, Krishnan, M et al 2014, 'The Na+ transporter, TaHKT1;5-D, limits shoot Na+ accumulation in bread wheat', The Plant Journal, vol. 80, no. 3, pp. 516-526pp.
  • Grof, C, Byrt, C & Patrick, J 2014, 'Phloem Transport of Resources', in Paul Moore and Frederik Botha (ed.), Sugarcane: Physiology, Biochemistry, and Functional Biology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Oxford, United Kingdom, pp. 267-306pp.
  • Martin, A, Palmer, W, Byrt, C et al 2013, 'A holistic high-throughput screening framework for biofuel feedstock assessment that characterises variations in soluble sugars and cell wall composition in Sorghum bicolor', Biotechnology for Biofuels, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 186-186.
  • Byrt, C, Betts, N, Farrokhi, N et al. 2013, 'Deconstructing Plant Biomass: Cell Wall Structure and Novel Manipulation Strategies', in B Singh (ed.), Biofuel Crops: Production, Physiology and Genetics, CABI Publishing, UK, pp. 135-150.