Dr Peter Crisp
Dr

Peter Crisp

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 52141

Background

Dr Peter Crisp is an expert in crop genomics, epigenomics and molecular genetics. He is a Group Leader and Senior Lecturer in the School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability at The University of Queensland. Peter’s research program is focused on crop functional genomics, epigenetics and biotechnology, and has significantly advanced our understanding of the contribution of epigenetics to heritable phenotypic variation in plants.

His group has invented groundbreaking technologies for harnessing (epi)genetic variation and their discoveries have led to exciting new avenues for decoding genomes and for the rational engineering of gene regulation for trait improvement in plants. Having benefited immensely from brilliant mentors, Peter is passionate about training. He leads a budding group of talented students and researchers and is a Chief Investigator in the ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding and the International Research Training Group for Accelerating Crop Genetic Gain. Peter is also an affiliate of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture. His research group seeks to understand the contribution of epigenetics to heritable phenotypic variation in crop plants, focusing on cereals including barley, sorghum, wheat and maize. This includes the development of methods to harness epigenetic variation for crop improvement; understanding the role of epigenetics in environmental responses and using innovative epigenomic approaches to distill large genomes down to the relatively small fraction of regions that are functionally important for trait variation. Research in the Crisp Lab spans both wet lab and computational biology providing a powerful platform to integrate genetic, genomic and biotechnological approaches.

Peter is a former recipient of an ARC DECRA Fellowship and a UQ Amplify Fellowship and an ASPS Goldacre awardee.

Check out the CrispLab website here

Follow Dr Crisp on Bluesky: @pete-crisp.bsky.social, and Twitter: @pete_crisp

Availability

Dr Peter Crisp is:
Available for supervision

Fields of research

Agricultural biotechnology Agricultural molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences Biological Sciences Crop and pasture production Epigenetics (incl. genome methylation and epigenomics) Genetics Plant biology

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Australian National University

Research impacts

Read about Dr Crisp’s work on plant stress memory and epigenetics in New Scientist here

Search Professor Peter Crisp’s works on UQ eSpace

57 works between 2009 and 2025
All (57) Journal Article (53) Book Chapter (2) Other Outputs (2)

21 - 40 of 57 works

2022

Journal Article

Harnessing genetic variation at regulatory regions to fine-tune traits for climate resilient crops

Ganguly, Diep R., Hickey, Lee T. and Crisp, Peter A. (2022). Harnessing genetic variation at regulatory regions to fine-tune traits for climate resilient crops. Molecular Plant, 15 (2), 222-224. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2021.12.011

Harnessing genetic variation at regulatory regions to fine-tune traits for climate resilient crops

2022

Journal Article

Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future

Crisp, Peter A., Bhatnagar-Mathur, Pooja, Hundleby, Penny, Godwin, Ian D., Waterhouse, Peter M. and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 73, 88-94. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.07.008

Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future

2022

Journal Article

Epigenome guided crop improvement: current progress and future opportunities

Zhang, Yan, Andrews, Haylie, Eglitis-Sexton, Judith, Godwin, Ian, Tanurdžić, Miloš and Crisp, Peter A. (2022). Epigenome guided crop improvement: current progress and future opportunities. Emerging Topics in Life Sciences, 6 (2), 141-151. doi: 10.1042/etls20210258

Epigenome guided crop improvement: current progress and future opportunities

2022

Journal Article

Prediction of conserved and variable heat and cold stress response in maize using cis-regulatory information

Zhou, Peng, Enders, Tara A., Myers, Zachary A., Magnusson, Erika, Crisp, Peter A., Noshay, Jaclyn M., Gomez-Cano, Fabio, Liang, Zhikai, Grotewold, Erich, Greenham, Kathleen and Springer, Nathan M. (2022). Prediction of conserved and variable heat and cold stress response in maize using cis-regulatory information. The Plant Cell, 34 (1), 514-534. doi: 10.1093/plcell/koab267

Prediction of conserved and variable heat and cold stress response in maize using cis-regulatory information

2021

Other Outputs

Enzymes degraded under high light maintain proteostasis by transcriptional regulation in Arabidopsis

Li, Lei, Duncan, Owen, Ganguly, Diep R., Lee, Chun Pong, Crisp, Peter A., Wijerathna-Yapa, Akila, Salih, Karzan, Trösch, Josua, Pogson, Barry J. and Millar, A. Harvey (2021). Enzymes degraded under high light maintain proteostasis by transcriptional regulation in Arabidopsis.

Enzymes degraded under high light maintain proteostasis by transcriptional regulation in Arabidopsis

2021

Journal Article

Stability of DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility in structurally diverse maize genomes

Noshay, Jaclyn M., Liang, Zhikai, Zhou, Peng, Crisp, Peter A., Marand, Alexandre P., Hirsch, Candice N., Schmitz, Robert J. and Springer, Nathan M. (2021). Stability of DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility in structurally diverse maize genomes. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 11 (8) jkab190. doi: 10.1093/g3journal/jkab190

Stability of DNA methylation and chromatin accessibility in structurally diverse maize genomes

2021

Journal Article

Science forum: a community-led initiative for training in reproducible research

Auer, Susann, Haelterman, Nele A., Weissgerber, Tracey L., Erlich, Jeffrey C., Susilaradeya, Damar, Julkowska, Magdalena, Gazda, Małgorzata Anna, Schwessinger, Benjamin, Jadavji, Nafisa M., Abitua, Angela, Niraulu, Anzela, Shahb, Aparna, Clyburne-Sherinb, April, Guiquel, Benoit, Alicea, Bradly, Lamanna, Caroline, Ganguly, Diep, Perkins, Eric, Jambor, Helena, Li, Ian Man Ho, Tsang, Jennifer, Kamens, Joanne, Teytelman, Lenny, Paul, Mariella, Cronin, Michelle, Schmelling, Nicolas, Crisp, Peter, Kutum, Rintu, Phuyal, Santosh ... Bachle, Susanna (2021). Science forum: a community-led initiative for training in reproducible research. eLife, 10 e64719. doi: 10.7554/eLife.64719

Science forum: a community-led initiative for training in reproducible research

2021

Journal Article

Current status and prospects of plant genome editing in Australia

Zhang, Yan, Restall, Jemma, Crisp, Peter, Godwin, Ian and Liu, Guoquan (2021). Current status and prospects of plant genome editing in Australia. In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology - Plant, 57 (4), 1-10. doi: 10.1007/s11627-021-10188-y

Current status and prospects of plant genome editing in Australia

2021

Journal Article

Genetic and epigenetic variation in transposable element expression responses to abiotic stress in maize

Liang, Zhikai, Anderson, Sarah N., Noshay, Jaclyn M., Crisp, Peter A., Enders, Tara A. and Springer, Nathan M. (2021). Genetic and epigenetic variation in transposable element expression responses to abiotic stress in maize. Plant Physiology, 186 (1), 1-14. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiab073

Genetic and epigenetic variation in transposable element expression responses to abiotic stress in maize

2021

Journal Article

Assessing the regulatory potential of transposable elements using chromatin accessibility profiles of maize transposons

Noshay, Jaclyn M., Marand, Alexandre P., Anderson, Sarah N., Zhou, Peng, Mejia Guerra, Maria Katherine, Lu, Zefu, O’Connor, Christine H., Crisp, Peter A., Hirsch, Candice N., Schmitz, Robert J. and Springer, Nathan M. (2021). Assessing the regulatory potential of transposable elements using chromatin accessibility profiles of maize transposons. Genetics, 217 (1) iyaa003, 1-13. doi: 10.1093/genetics/iyaa003

Assessing the regulatory potential of transposable elements using chromatin accessibility profiles of maize transposons

2020

Journal Article

Stable unmethylated DNA demarcates expressed genes and their cis-regulatory space in plant genomes

Crisp, Peter A., Marand, Alexandre P., Noshay, Jaclyn M., Zhou, Peng, Lu, Zefu, Schmitz, Robert J. and Springer, Nathan M. (2020). Stable unmethylated DNA demarcates expressed genes and their cis-regulatory space in plant genomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117 (38), 202010250-24000. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2010250117

Stable unmethylated DNA demarcates expressed genes and their cis-regulatory space in plant genomes

2020

Journal Article

Optimization of multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 system for highly efficient genome editing in Setaria viridis

Weiss, Trevor, Wang, Chunfang, Kang, Xiaojun, Zhao, Hui, Elena Gamo, Maria, Starker, Colby G., Crisp, Peter A., Zhou, Peng, Springer, Nathan M., Voytas, Daniel F. and Zhang, Feng (2020). Optimization of multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 system for highly efficient genome editing in Setaria viridis. Plant Journal, 104 (3) tpj.14949, 828-838. doi: 10.1111/tpj.14949

Optimization of multiplexed CRISPR/Cas9 system for highly efficient genome editing in Setaria viridis

2020

Journal Article

Meta Gene Regulatory Networks in Maize Highlight Functionally Relevant Regulatory Interactions

Zhou, Peng, Li, Zhi, Magnusson, Erika, Gomez Cano, Fabio, Crisp, Peter A., Noshay, Jaclyn M., Grotewold, Erich, Hirsch, Candice N., Briggs, Steven P. and Springer, Nathan M. (2020). Meta Gene Regulatory Networks in Maize Highlight Functionally Relevant Regulatory Interactions. The Plant Cell, 32 (5), 1377-1396. doi: 10.1105/tpc.20.00080

Meta Gene Regulatory Networks in Maize Highlight Functionally Relevant Regulatory Interactions

2020

Journal Article

Epigenetic regulation of ABA-induced transcriptional responses in maize

Vendramin, Stefania, Huang, Ji, Crisp, Peter A., Madzima, Thelma F. and McGinnis, Karen M. (2020). Epigenetic regulation of ABA-induced transcriptional responses in maize. G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, 10 (5), 1727-1743. doi: 10.1534/g3.119.400993

Epigenetic regulation of ABA-induced transcriptional responses in maize

2020

Journal Article

Molecular and physiological responses during thermal acclimation of leaf photosynthesis and respiration in rice

Rashid, Fatimah Azzahra Ahmad, Crisp, Peter A., Zhang, You, Berkowitz, Oliver, Pogson, Barry J., Day, David A., Masle, Josette, Dewar, Roderick C., Whelan, James, Atkin, Owen K. and Scafaro, Andrew P. (2020). Molecular and physiological responses during thermal acclimation of leaf photosynthesis and respiration in rice. Plant Cell and Environment, 43 (3), 594-610. doi: 10.1111/pce.13706

Molecular and physiological responses during thermal acclimation of leaf photosynthesis and respiration in rice

2020

Journal Article

Variation and inheritance of small RNAs in maize inbreds and F1 hybrids

Crisp, Peter A., Hammond, Reza, Zhou, Peng, Vaillancourt, Brieanne, Lipzen, Anna, Daum, Chris, Barry, Kerrie, de Leon, Natalia, Buell, C Robin, Kaeppler, Shawn M., Meyers, Blake C., Hirsch, Candice N. and Springer, Nathan M. (2020). Variation and inheritance of small RNAs in maize inbreds and F1 hybrids. Plant Physiology, 182 (1), 318-331. doi: 10.1104/pp.19.00817

Variation and inheritance of small RNAs in maize inbreds and F1 hybrids

2019

Journal Article

Population-level analysis reveals the widespread occurrence and phenotypic consequence of DNA methylation variation not tagged by genetic variation in maize

Xu, Jing, Chen, Guo, Hermanson, Peter J., Xu, Qiang, Sun, Changshuo, Chen, Wenqing, Kan, Qiuxin, Li, Minqi, Crisp, Peter A., Yan, Jianbing, Li, Lin, Springer, Nathan M. and Li, Qing (2019). Population-level analysis reveals the widespread occurrence and phenotypic consequence of DNA methylation variation not tagged by genetic variation in maize. Genome Biology, 20 (1) 243. doi: 10.1186/s13059-019-1859-0

Population-level analysis reveals the widespread occurrence and phenotypic consequence of DNA methylation variation not tagged by genetic variation in maize

2019

Journal Article

Monitoring the interplay between transposable element families and DNA methylation in maize

Noshay, Jaclyn M., Anderson, Sarah N., Zhou, Peng, Ji, Lexiang, Ricci, William, Lu, Zefu, Stitzer, Michelle C., Crisp, Peter A., Hirsch, Candice N., Zhang, Xiaoyu, Schmitz, Robert J. and Springer, Nathan M. (2019). Monitoring the interplay between transposable element families and DNA methylation in maize. PLOS Genetics, 15 (9) e1008291, e1008291. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1008291

Monitoring the interplay between transposable element families and DNA methylation in maize

2019

Journal Article

Opportunities to Use DNA methylation to distil functional elements in large crop genomes

Crisp, Peter A., Noshay, Jaclyn M., Anderson, Sarah N. and Springer, Nathan M. (2019). Opportunities to Use DNA methylation to distil functional elements in large crop genomes. Molecular Plant, 12 (3), 282-284. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2019.02.006

Opportunities to Use DNA methylation to distil functional elements in large crop genomes

2019

Journal Article

Hybrid decay: A transgenerational epigenetic decline in vigor and viability triggered in backcross populations of teosinte with maize

Xue, Wei, Anderson, Sarah N., Wang, Xufeng, Yang, Liyan, Crisp, Peter A., Li, Qing, Noshay, Jaclyn, Albert, Patrice S., Birchler, James A., Bilinski, Paul, Stitzer, Michelle C., Ross-Ibarra, Jeffrey, Flint-Garcia, Sherry, Chen, Xuemei, Springer, Nathan M. and Doebley, John F. (2019). Hybrid decay: A transgenerational epigenetic decline in vigor and viability triggered in backcross populations of teosinte with maize. Genetics, 213 (1), 143-160. doi: 10.1534/genetics.119.302378

Hybrid decay: A transgenerational epigenetic decline in vigor and viability triggered in backcross populations of teosinte with maize

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2028
    Unlocking crop epigenomics to uncover and engineer hidden diversity
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2029
    ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding for Agricultural Futures
    ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2028
    Program 2 - Resistance Sources: Using 'FastStack' to develop effective durable net blotch resistance gene stacks
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    EpiGrape: Exploring intra-varietal variation in grapevine using epigenetics
    Universities Australia - Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2022
    An epigenetic blueprint for Queensland¿s sorghum crop of the future
    UQ Knowledge Exchange & Translation Fund
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    Discovering hidden control elements for crop improvement
    ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
    Open grant

Availability

Dr Peter Crisp is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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