enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase and identified the regulatory motifs controlling its expression in response to the lack of oxygen. She also was involved in the research showing that all plants contain haemoglobin and that this molecule protects the plant against oxygen deprivation stress Plant flowering Understanding how flowering is regulated in plants is another research area she successfully tackled. Her team worked on genes that represses flowering (FLC and FLF, FLOWERING LOCUS C and FLOWERING LOCUS F) and showed that their effect is down-regulated by vernalisation. They also observed that a reduction in DNA methylation plays an important role in this response to cold. The mechanism involves histone de-acetylation at FLC and methylation of FLC in vernalised plants, both reactions performed by a single protein complex. Molecular bases of heterosis Her more recent work is dedicated to understanding the phenomenon of heterosis or hybrid vigour, i.e. the increased biomass of hybrids as compared with their parents. Factors involved in this regulation are small RNA molecules (sRNA), DNA methylation and histone modification. Honours a Senior Scholar Fulbright Fellowship, 1982 Fellow of Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, 1987 Pharmacia LKB/Biotechnology Medal of the Australian Biochemical Society, 1988 Fellow of Australian Academy of Science, 1995 Avon Spirit of Achievement Award, 1997 Lemberg Medal of the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1998 Prime Minister's Science Prize, 2000 Fellow of the American Society for the Advancement of Science, 2002 Farrer Memorial Trust Medal, 2014 Companion of the Order of Australia, 2019 Member of National Academy of Sciences, 2021 Ruby Payne-Scott Medal and Lecture awarded by the Australian Academy of Science, 2022 Past Chairman of the Multinational Arabidopsis Genome Project President of the Australian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1992–94) Director of the International Society of Plant Molecular Biology from 1990–93 References External links Dr Liz Dennis: researching plant genomics | CSIRO 1943 births Living people Scientists from Sydney Australian women scientists Women molecular biologists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science University of Sydney alumni Australian National University faculty Farrer Medal recipients Fellows of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Companions of the Order of Australia Foreign associates of the National Academy of Sciences