Dr Millicent Smith

Lecturer Crop Physiology

School of Agriculture and Food Sciences

Affiliate Research Fellow

Centre for Crop Science

millicent.smith@uq.edu.au

Researcher biography

Millicent Smith is a plant physiologist with expertise in the source-sink dynamics of grain crops. Her research is focused on understanding the physiological mechanisms that underpin yield stability and grain quality in pulses and cereals. Millicent is particularly interested in applying innovative phenotyping technologies from leaf to crop scales to accelerate selection in crop improvement programs. Her research funded by the Australian grains industry on high-value grain crop mungbean, is focused on developing UAV-based phenotyping platforms to dissect key physiological traits underpinning yield development. Millicent has a dual continuing appointment as a Lecturer in Crop Physiology within the School of Agriculture and Food Sciences and as a CI in the Centre for Crop Science, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation where she is building a research team focused on the improvement of tropical crops. Millicent is passionate about training the next generation of plant scientists and applies innovative teaching approaches to large undergraduate and specialised Masters courses.

Publications

Book Chapters (2)

Journal Articles (13)

Conference Papers (2)

Thesis (1)

Book Chapters

Smith, Millicent R. and Rao, Idupulapati M. (2021). Common bean. Crop physiology case histories for major crops. (pp. 384-406) London, United Kingdom: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-12-819194-1.00012-8

Dumschott, Kathryn, Merchant, Andrew and Smith, Millicent (2018). Metabolic adaptation and allocation of metabolites to phloem transport and regulation under stress. Metabolic adaptations in plants during abiotic stress. (pp. 21-26) edited by Akula Ramakrishna and Sarvajeet Singh Gill. Boca Raton, FL, United States: CRC Press. doi: 10.1201/b22206-2

Journal Articles

Geetika, Geetika, Hammer, Graeme, Smith, Millicent, Singh, Vijaya, Collins, Marisa, Mellor, Vincent, Wenham, Kylie and Rachaputi, Rao C.N. (2022). Quantifying physiological determinants of potential yield in mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wilczek). Field Crops Research, 287 108648, 1-14. doi: 10.1016/j.fcr.2022.108648

Barmukh, Rutwik, Roorkiwal, Manish, Dixit, Girish P., Bajaj, Prasad, Kholova, Jana, Smith, Millicent R., Chitikineni, Annapurna, Bharadwaj, Chellapilla, Sheshshayee, M. S., Rathore, Abhishek, Tripathi, Shailesh, Yasin, Mohammad, Vijayakumar, Adiveppa G., Sagurthi, Someswar Rao, Siddique, Kadambot H. M. and Varshney, Rajeev K. (2022). Characterization of 'QTL-hotspot' introgression lines reveals physiological mechanisms and candidate genes associated with drought adaptation in chickpea. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (22), 7255-7272. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erac348

Akinlade, Oluwaseun J., Voss-Fels, Kai, Costilla, Roy, Kholova, Jana, Choudhary, Sunita, Varshney, Rajeev K., Hickey, Lee T. and Smith, Millicent R. (2022). Designing chickpea for a hotter drier world. Euphytica, 218 (7) 100. doi: 10.1007/s10681-022-03048-2

Geetika, Geetika, Collins, Marisa, Singh, Vijaya, Hammer, Graeme, Mellor, Vincent, Smith, Millicent and Rachaputi, Rao C. N. (2022). Canopy and reproductive development in mungbean (Vigna radiata). Crop and Pasture Science, 73 (10), 1142-1155. doi: 10.1071/cp21209

Merchant, Andrew, Smith, Millicent and Windt, Carel (2022). In situ pod growth rate reveals contrasting diurnal sensitivity to water deficit in Phaseolus vulgaris. Journal of Experimental Botany, 73 (11), 3774-3786. doi: 10.1093/jxb/erac097

Smith, Millicent R., Dinglasan, Eric, Veneklaas, Erik, Polania, Jose, Rao, Idupulapati M., Beebe, Stephen E. and Merchant, Andrew (2022). Effect of Drought and Low P on Yield and Nutritional Content in Common Bean. Frontiers in Plant Science, 13 814325, 1-14. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.814325

Smith, Millicent R., Reis Hodecker, Barbara Elias, Fuentes, David and Merchant, Andrew (2022). Investigating nutrient supply effects on plant growth and seed nutrient content in common bean. Plants, 11 (6) 737, 737. doi: 10.3390/plants11060737

Bhatta, Madhav, Sandro, Pablo, Smith, Millicent R., Delaney, Oscar, Voss-Fels, Kai P., Gutierrez, Lucia and Hickey, Lee T. (2021). Need for speed: manipulating plant growth to accelerate breeding cycles. Current Opinion in Plant Biology, 60 101986, 101986. doi: 10.1016/j.pbi.2020.101986

Smith, Millicent R., Fuentes, David and Merchant, Andrew (2019). Chemical and isotopic markers detect water deficit and its influence on nutrient allocation in Phaseolus vulgaris. Physiologia Plantarum, 167 (3), 391-403. doi: 10.1111/ppl.12899

Smith, Millicent R., Veneklaas, Erik, Polania, Jose, Rao, Idupulapati M., Beebe, Stephen E. and Merchant, Andrew (2019). Field drought conditions impact yield but not nutritional quality of the seed in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). PLoS ONE, 14 (6). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217099

Smith, Millicent R., Rao, Idupulapati M. and Merchant, Andrew (2018). Source-sink relationships in crop plants and their Influence on yield development and nutritional quality. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2018.01889

Smith, Millicent R. and Merchant, A. (2018). Limitations to using phloem sap to assess tree water and nutrient status. Tree Physiology, 39 (2), 332-339. doi: 10.1093/treephys/tpy132

Smith, Millicent, Wild, Birgit, Richter, Andreas, Simonin, Kevin and Merchant, Andrew (2016). Carbon isotope composition of carbohydrates and polyols in leaf and phloem sap of Phaseolus vulgaris L. influences predictions of plant water use efficiency. Plant and Cell Physiology, 57 (8), 1756-1766. doi: 10.1093/pcp/pcw099

Conference Papers

Suresh Krishnasamy, Smith, Millicent R., Narayan, Edward, Abdul Aziz, Ammar and Hoffman, Eleanor W. (2022). Developing virtual field trips for Agriculture. The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, Perth, WA Australia, 28-30 September 2022. Sydney, Australia: The University of Sydney.

Williams, Alwyn, Wenham, Kylie, Smith, Millicent, Rachaputi, R. C. N. and Collins, Marisa (2022). Mungbean responses to elevated day- and night-time temperatures. System Solutions for Complex Problems, Toowoomba, QLD Australia, 18-22 September 2022. Toowoomba, QLD Australia: Australian Society of Agronomy.

Thesis

Smith, Millicent (2018). Novel techniques to improve yield quantity and quality in common bean. PhD Thesis, Faculty of Agriculture and the Environment, The University of Sydney.

Areas of research

Plant and soil sciences