Centre for Regional and Rural Futures (CeRRF)

The wound-inducible quinolinate phosphoribosyl transferase promoter from Nicotiana tabacum (NtQPT2) was assessed for its capacity to produce B-subunit of the heat-labile toxin (LTB) from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in transgenic plant tissues. Comparisons were made with the widely used and constitutive Cauliflower Mosaic Virus 35S (CaMV35S) promoter. The NtQPT2 promoter produced somewhat lower average concentrations of LTB protein per unit weight of hairy root tissue but allowed better growth thereby producing similar or higher overall average yields of LTB per culture batch. Transgenic tobacco plants containing the NtQPT2-LTB construct contained LTB protein in roots but not leaves. Moreover, wounding NtQPT2-LTB transgenic plants, by removal of apices, resulted in an approximate 500% increase in LTB levels in roots when analysed several days later. CaMV35S-LTB transgenic plants contained LTB protein in leaves and roots but wounding made no difference to their LTB content.

Antigen-specific antibody responses against a model antigen (the B subunit of the heat labile toxin of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, LTB) were studied in sheep following oral immunisation with plant-made and delivered vaccines. Delivery from a root-based vehicle resulted in antigen-specific immune responses in mucosal secretions of the abomasum and small intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes. Immune responses from the corresponding leaf-based vaccine were more robust and included stimulation of antigen-specific antibodies in mucosal secretions of the abomasum. These findings suggest that oral delivery of a plant bioencapsulated antigen can survive passage through the rumen to elicit mucosal and systemic immune responses in sheep. Moreover, the plant tissue used as the vaccine delivery vehicle affects the magnitude of these responses.

The benefits of increased safety and cost-effectiveness make vegetable crops appropriate systems for the production and delivery of pharmaceutical proteins. In particular, Solanaceae edible crops could be inexpensive biofactories for oral vaccines and other pharmaceutical proteins that can be ingested as minimally processed extracts or as partially purified products. The field of crop plant biotechnology is advancing rapidly due to novel developments in genetic and genomic tools being made available today for the scientific community. In this review, we briefly summarize data now available regarding genomic resources for the Solanaceae family. In addition, we describe novel strategies developed for the expression of foreign proteins in vegetable crops and the utilization of these techniques to manufacture pharmaceutical proteins.

This study investigated the site of release of a model vaccine antigen from plant cells and the corresponding induced immune response. Three plant tissues (leaf, fruit and hairy root) and two formulations (aqueous and lipid) were compared in two mouse trials. A developed technique that enabled detection of antigen release by plant cells determined antigen release occurred at early sites of the gastrointestinal tract when delivered in leaf material and at later sites when delivered in hairy roots. Lipid formulations delayed antigen release from all plant materials tested. While encapsulation in the plant cell provided some protection of the antigen in the gastrointestinal tract and influenced antigen release, formulation media was also an important consideration with regards to vaccine delivery and immunogenicity. Systemic immune responses induced from the orally delivered vaccine benefited from late release of antigen in the mouse gastrointestinal tract. The influences to the mucosal immune response induced by these vaccines were too complex to be determined by studies performed here with no clear trend regarding plant tissue site of release or formulation media. Expression and delivery of the model antigen in plant material prepared in an aqueous formulation provided the optimal systemic and mucosal, antigen-specific immune responses.

The gene encoding enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli B-subunit heat-labile toxin (LTB) antigen was co-transformed into hairy root cultures of Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco), Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) and Petunia parodii (petunia) under the CaMV35S promoter. Tobacco and petunia roots contained ~65–70 μg LTB g−1 tissue whilst hairy roots of tomato contained ~10 μg LTB g−1. Antigen at ~600 ng ml−1 was detected in growth medium of tobacco and petunia. Tobacco roots with higher LTB levels showed growth retardation of ~80% whereas petunia hairy roots with similar levels of LTB showed only ~35% growth retardation, relative to vector controls. Regeneration of plants from LTB-containing tobacco hairy roots was readily achieved and re-initiated hairy roots from greenhouse-grown plants showed similar growth and LTB production characteristics as the original hairy root cultures.

In today’s secular society, occult conceptions of architecture may seem somewhat anachronistic, but at the turn of the twentieth century the bourgeoisie, alongside society’s artistic and intellectual elite, were enthusiastically embracing a myriad of esoteric doctrines and mystical impulses. One of the most prominent and enduring examples of this cultural phenomenon is to be found in Rudolf Steiner’s quasi-philosophical system of Anthroposophy. As a path of spiritual development based on ancient mysteries of the occult, Anthroposophy offered people the belief that there existed a way out of the chaos and meaninglessness of modern industrialised society. Steiner used the medium of architecture as a way of repackaging the occult’s venerable secrets into a tangible, material form that made their hidden message more readily accessible to his contemporary audience. While he was striving towards creating a totally new architectural language appropriate to the modern age, he perceived architectural style as an evolutionary process that revealed its spiritual content in a particular way in every epoch. As such, Steiner made free use of historical and mythological precedents as archetypal references in his work, thus giving his architecture a genealogy that has, until now, remained largely undefined. By investigating Steiner’s indebtedness to ancient temples and the architecture of the baroque, a greater understanding of his architectural heritage is made possible, which not only helps to locate him within the cultural milieu of his day, but also within the broader context of architectural history. A spiritual thread runs through this history that demonstrates that Steiner’s architecture is not as idiosyncratic as it may initially seem, though whether his work represents an original step forward in the development of modern architecture, or is merely a hangover of nineteenth century eclecticism, must also be considered in order to determine the architectural value of Steiner’s esoteric ideas.

Empathy and abstraction were dominant themes in nineteenth century German aesthetics that played a major role in shaping the theoretical objectives of artists and architects at the turn of the twentieth century.  These concepts represented a significant shift from the classical idea of imitating nature and began to offer a new way of understanding the relationship between nature, art and architecture.  Since 1907, when Wilhelm Worringer published his highly influential doctoral dissertation Abstraction and Empathy, there has been a general tendency to explicate these two concepts as strictly antithetical. The theory of empathy has espoused the oneness of nature, while abstraction has been seen as a withdrawal from nature.  This perception that empathy and abstraction respond to opposing relationships between human beings and the external world has often led to interpretations of art and architecture that emphasise the role of one or the other, failing to recognise that each contains an intimation of the other. An alternative perspective to this seemingly antithetical outlook can be revealed however in the work of Austrian philosopher, Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925).  Steiner broke down the polarity between empathy and abstraction, to reveal a complimentary relationship that looked to nature as its mentor.  Steiner’s concept of nature was defined in anthroposophical terms that rejected the conventional materialistic understanding of nature and instead acknowledged the reality of a spiritual dimension.  This notion captured the imagination of avant-garde artists and architects such as Wassily Kandinsky and Erich Mendelsohn, hence making Steiner a significant figure in the growth and dispersal of Expressionist ideals.

The philosophy and architecture of Rudolf Steiner both aim to give formal expression to his esoteric worldview, however, the means of articulating this worldview fundamentally differ within each discipline. Philosophy and architecture are separated by both process and product, and while an interdisciplinary reading of Steiner’s work does make certain connections between them evident, the incorporeal nature of thinking and the physical reality of building inevitably require different skills of their author, as well as different standards by which to assess them. Although he had no formal training as an architect, Steiner believed that his system of Anthroposophy provided a conceptual framework that would inspire a new style of modern architecture imbued with a spiritual dimension. As such, architecture provided Steiner with a means of visually expressing what words could not, and was therefore a necessary and important part of his philosophical pursuit.  This paper explores the tension that exists between Steiner’s philosophy and architecture in its translation from theoretical ideas into built form.  Steiner’s approach to architectural design was less concerned with the methods and techniques of the craft than with achieving what he saw as architecture’s true purpose - namely to give voice to the inner spiritual content of the work.  However, in order to achieve this ultimate goal, a certain level of architectural competence is required. Therefore, Steiner’s ability as an architect to articulate such lofty ideals will also be assessed.  Conceived on the edge of theory and practice, Steiner’s work serves to demonstrate the richness and depth that such an approach has to offer the field of architecture.

Eighty per cent of Australians now live within 50 kilometres of the coast.1 While most of the population remains concentrated in the large capital cities, some people have chosen small coastal towns as their permanent and or second-home destination. Greater mobility and income has increased the feasibility and attractiveness of living in these once overlooked and forgotten towns. The arrival of these new residents has changed the towns in both positive and negative ways. Declining traditional industries have been replaced by tourism and service sectors, providing a much-needed economic revival. The expectations of new residents, both permanent and non-permanent, however, have also brought challenges to the towns. Metropolitan value systems sometimes impact negatively on the unique sense of place and neighbourhood character of these towns. This paper presents both quantitative and qualitative evidence of the impact on character and sense of place in two historic coastal towns, Queenscliff and Sorrento, in southern Victoria. Census data shows how employment and the number of permanent residents have changed radically over the last 50-60 years, altering the social fabric of the towns. An analysis of the building footprint over a similar timeframe shows a growth in building size as larger houses become more common, and a growth in planning appeals for the towns is indicative of a clash of expectations between the council, long-time and new residents. While these indicators demonstrate the impact on the character of the towns as defined by their built environment, some oral accounts of local residents are used to show the emotional impact of these changes on the traditional sense of place associated with these towns. Some specific examples of changes to the built environment are provided to demonstrate that local planning schemes are not always successful in protecting neighbourhood character and that further measures are required in order to safeguard the uniqueness of coastal towns from the negative aspects of development.

Talented young Deakin researchers Fiona Gray and Chris Hindson are the winners of the Neil Archbold Memorial Travel Awards and Medals for 2010.

The award caps off a successful month for Fiona Gray – she took the people’s prize at Deakin University’s inaugural Three-Minute Thesis competition.

Fiona’s research focuses on the architecture of Rudolf Steiner, seeking to determine whether he was an occult crank or an architectural mastermind.

Chris Hindson will use his travel award for an extended stay at the University of Queensland.

Chris was recently accredited with an astonishing breakthrough in the area of chemiluminescence, elucidating for the first time in 100 years the light-producing reaction between the permanganate ion and both organic and inorganic substrates.

Deakin University’s Higher Degrees by ResearchExecutive Officer, Mr Grant Michie, said that in the three years it had been running, the Neil Archbold Memorial Travel Award had proven a great success.

“I first want to congratulate Fiona and Chris,” he said.  “They are both worthy recipients of the award.

“When I look at what they have achieved since gaining the award, there is clear evidence that it has boosted the research careers of previous winners Dr Alison Carver, Ben Allardyce, Liza John and Sally Percival Wood.”

The Neil Archbold Memorial Travel Awards and Medals honour the memory of Professor Neil Archbold, one of Deakin’s finest researchers.

Professor Archbold was actively involved in all facets of research and research training at Deakin.

He was Professor and Personal Chair in Palaeontology at the School of Ecology and Environment and the coordinator of Earth Sciences at Deakin University.

He was also the author of 160 scholarly publications, was awarded Australian Research Council grants of over $1m and was a long-standing member of the Royal Society of Victoria and that body’s president from 2001 to 2004.

From 2003 until his death in 2005, he was the Chair of the University’s Higher Degrees by Research Committee.

“Professor Archbold was not just a wonderful researcher, he was universally loved,”?Grant Michie said.

“His death in 2005 was a tremendous loss for Deakin and for his many, many friends around the world.

“This travel award and medal is keeping his name alive. It is also demonstrably doing something Neil himself would have loved to see, helping young researchers get out into the world.”

Change has engulfed the coastal fringe of Australia. In balancing the built and natural environment, community needs, cultural significance and economic sustainability, planners aim to improve quality of life and create vibrant communities. Yet managing place change, particularly in coastal areas, is fraught with tensions. Most planning discussions about the rapidity of change, the impact of the Sea Change process and increased development have focused upon the extensiveness of residential expansion and the housing styles that challenge the essence of the character of these coastal towns. Character and sense of place qualities are the very reasons that sea changers desire to engage with and reside within these communities. One aspect missing from this discussion and analysis is the impact that large-scale transformations of iconic buildings are having upon these places. This paper examines the consequences that major commercial development projects have upon the communities of Sorrento and Queenscliff. It considers changes (proposed or realised) to four landmark historic hotels: The Koonya and Continental in Sorrento; and the Ozone and Vue Grand in Queenscliff. This paper focuses on issues of planning, social engagement and community debate.

Palmer et al. (1997) identified four governing principles underlying sustainable development from the sustainability literature. These were: futurity, environment, equity and participation. How do these principles relate to heritage and its conservation? This paper critically considers how the above framework can be used to assess the changes and challenges occurring in the historic town of Queenscliff in southern Victoria, Australia. The town was initially a settlement site for strategic reasons and soon became a tourist destination for the early settlers in Melbourne, the state’s capital city. In their urban conservation study of the town, Allom et al. (1994) identified over 90 historic and/or heritage buildings, ranging from grand hotels to simple settler cottages. These historic buildings, together with the town’s unique topographical and environmental surroundings, have drawn growing numbers of tourists to the town, which has become increasingly reliant on this sector for its economic survival. Pressure on the heritage values of the town has increased significantly over the last twenty years from development proposals. In this paper, specific examples are used to illustrate how a failure to see sustainable development in a holistic way has compromised the town’s long term future.

Market Square was a public reserve located in the centre of the Victorian regional city of Geelong. It was established by Governor Sir George Gipps during the initial surveying of the area in 1838. The square later became a produce market, before being progressively built upon for public and commercial purposes. Today the modern Market Square Shopping Centre occupies a substantial portion of the original site. Opened in 1985 by the City of Geelong, the complex initially drew high rental incomes for the Council. However by the early 1990s revenue began to decline after the collapse of the Pyramid Building Society and competition from the new Bay City Plaza shopping centre (now Westfield) that was built directly opposite. In 1993 the city council decided to sell the complex. Today it remains privately owned and while it adjoins the Little Malop Street Mall which was also part of the original public square, its connection with the surrounding urban environment is poor.

The introverted architectural nature of Geelong’s two large retail shopping complexes has significantly altered the city’s spatial dynamic. The traditional intimate urban structure and streetscape has been fragmented. This has led to a deterioration of the city’s social cohesion, sense of place and economic prosperity. This paper chronicles the myriad errors of judgement by the institution of local government that have contributed to this situation. Heeding past mistakes, it explores ways in which the Council might work with private landowners to improve the permeability of the city’s public urban spaces and internalised retail centres for improved use, integration, functionality and resilience. Achieving a shared culture of concern for the city’s urban fabric presents some significant challenges. How might ‘big box’ shopping centres be reconsidered to make a positive contribution to the city’s urban spatial network while remaining commercially viable? The built environment has an important role to play in addressing the problem by presenting opportunities for these new urban institutions to also benefit from stronger connections between the public and private realm.