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Three UWA plant researchers – Professor Harvey Millar, Professor Steve Smith and Professor Jim Whelan – have been included in a list of highly cited plant scientists.

The list was drawn up by the American Society of Plant Biologists which publishes two leading international plant science journals – Plant Physiology and The Plant Cell.

The society analysed publications between 2004 and 2008 and drew up a list of its most highly cited and influential authors.

Twelve authors in the Australasian region were featured, including Professors Millar, Smith and Whelan who are Chief Investigators at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology.

Professor Millar’s study of plant stress responses has contributed both knowledge and new techniques to the field of proteomics, especially in the study of plant mitochondria and locating where proteins go after they are made in the cell.

“Our work provides tools for people to determine where proteins reside in plant cells, which helps explain how cells function,” he says.

Professor Whelan’s research focuses on RNA (ribonucleic acid copies of genes) and the characterisation of how proteins are imported and used in the development of plant organelles.

Professor Steve Smith’s contribution to plant science has included finding key roles for plant metabolism in plant growth and understanding responses of plants to environmental stresses.