Yue Ming

Theme 2

Synthesising and exploring a series of new compounds as NIs

Nitrogen fertilizer is applied in agricultural systems on a large scale to maximise crop yield, but approximately 50% of fertilizer nitrogen is lost mainly through ammonia volatilisation, nitrification and denitrification. Amending nitrogen fertilisers with nitrification inhibitors (NIs) is considered an efficient way to increase nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Most NIs are designed to retard nitrification process by inhibiting ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) activity as ammonia oxidation is both the first step and the rate-limiting step of nitrification. However, the effectiveness of current commercial inhibitors is inconsistent under different environmental conditions, and the validity period is limited. These limitations emphasise the importance of developing more sustainable and effective NIs.

Yue Ming has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Jilin University. During her undergraduate studies, she worked on reducing the computational complexity of zeolite molecular sieve structure prediction. She was subsequently awarded a Master of Science degree in Chemistry at the University of Melbourne. Her Master’s research focused on exploring combined use of different NIs using a commercial inhibitor, 3,4-dimethylepyrazole phosphate (DMPP), and some synthetic NIs developed by Theme 2, as well as developing new NIs.

Currently, Yue is continuing her research as a PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Uta Wille (Head of Chemistry at The University of Melbourne). Yue’s project will involve synthesising and exploring a series of new compounds as NIs, conducting further structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies and investigating the degradation of NIs.