Conference Program
 
Plant Molecular Biology
July 13-18, 2008
Holderness School
Holderness, NH
Chair:
Richard Amasino

Vice Chair:
Jonathan D. Jones

The Plant Molecular Biology Conference has traditionally covered a breadth of exciting topics and the 2008 conference will continue in that tradition. There will be sessions on metabolism; new methods to study genomes, proteomes and metabolomes; plant-microbe interactions; plant hormones; epigenetics. A new topic for the conference this year will be bioenergy. Thus this conference will bring together a range of disciplines to foster the exchange ideas and to permit the participants to learn of the latest developments and ideas in diverse areas of plant biology. The conference provides an excellent opportunity for individuals to discuss their research because additional speakers in each session will be selected from submitted abstracts. There will also be a poster session each day for a two-hour period prior to dinner.

The meeting will be held at Holderness School in New Hampshire. It is an outstanding site: a beautiful campus, state of the art meeting room, and a great staff.

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 11:00 pmArrival and Check-in
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 8:00 pmIntroductory Comments by GRC Site Staff and Welcome Address
by Chair Rick Amasino
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm BIOENERGY
8:00 pm - 8:45 pmKen Keegstra (Michigan State University)
"Problems and prospects for understanding plant cell wall biosynthesis"
8:45 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm Reception and Social
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:45 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pm BIOENERGY
Discussion Leader: Nick Carpita (Purdue University)
9:00 am - 9:25 amClint Chapple (Purdue University)
"Selaginella moellendorffii: new genes for biomass improvement from a highly divergent plant species"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 9:55 amHenrick Scheller (DOE Joint BioEnergy Institute at Berkeley)
"Biochemistry of cell wall biosynthesis and digestibility"
9:55 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am - 10:05 amSeema Singh (Sandia National Laboratories)
"Ionic liquids as a biomass pretreatment"
10:05 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:05 amRick Dixon (Noble Foundation)
"Molecular genetic approaches to overcoming biomass recalcitrance for liquid biofuel production"
11:05 am - 11:15 am Discussion
11:15 am - 11:40 amYair Shachar-Hill (Michigan State University)
"Metabolic flux analysis of plants to meet Bioenergy goals"
11:40 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Maura Cannon (University Of Massachusetts)
"Homing in on the extensin code"
12:00 pm - 12:05 pm Discussion
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm Ronan Sulpice (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm)
"Starch is a major integrator in the regulation of growth in Arabidopsis thaliana"
12:15 pm - 12:20 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm INTEGRATION AND REGULATION OF METABOLISM
Discussion Leader: Clint Chapple (Purdue University)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmMichael Sussman (University of Wisconsin)
"Metabolomics within a systems biology context"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:30 pmDean DellaPenna (Michigan State University )
"Manipulating Plant Metabolism to Benefit Human Health pathways"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:05 pmRobb Fraley (Monsanto)
"Enhancing Yield as a Key to Bioenergy Production"
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm Discussion
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm Sergei Storozhenko (Gent University)
"Folate fortification of rice by metabolic engineering"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm THE DYNAMIC GENOME
Discussion Leader: Michael Sussman (University of Wisconsin)
9:00 am - 9:25 amDaniel Zilberman (University of California-Berkeley )
"Genome-wide analysis of chromatin structure in Arabidopsis"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 amJoseph Petolino (Dow AgroSciences)
"Zinc finger nuclease-mediated gene targeting in plants"
10:00 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:05 amScott Michaels (Indiana University)
"Novel methyltransferases required for heterochromatin formation in Arabidopsis"
11:05 am - 11:15 am Discussion
11:15 am - 11:40 amJoe Ecker (Salk Institute)
"Induced, Natural and Epigenetic Variation in the Arabidopsis Genome"
11:40 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Brande Wulff (Universidad Politécnica De Valencia)
"Induced epigenetic variation and its impact on Arabidopsis phenotype"
12:00 pm - 12:05 pm Discussion
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm Ram Yadav (University Of California-Riverside)
"A gene expression map of shoot apical meristem stem-cell niche of Arabidopsis thaliana"
12:15 pm - 12:20 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm THE PROTEOME
Discussion Leader: Mary Lou Guerinot (Dartmouth University)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmSteve Briggs (University of California San Diego )
"Observations of the proteome during defense signaling"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:30 pmBonnie Bartel (Rice University)
"Turnover of peroxisomal matrix proteins"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:05 pmKatja Bärenfaller (University of Zurich)
"Genome-Scale Proteome Dynamics and Gene Models"
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm Discussion
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm Youngsook Lee (Pohang University Of Science And Technology)
"ROP small G proteins function as molecular switches in diverse signaling processes"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm PLANT PATHOGEN INTERACTIONS
Discussion Leader: Pam Green (University of Delaware)
9:00 am - 9:25 amMary Beth Mudgett (Stanford)
"Xanthomonas XopN effector targets an atypical LRR-RLK involved in defense and development in tomato"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 amJonathan Jones (The Sainsbury Laboratory)
"Monitoring and manipulating information flow at the host/pathogen interface"
10:00 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:00 amMarcel Wiermer (University of British Columbia)
"Nucleocytoplasmic protein trafficking in plant immunity"
11:00 am - 11:10 am Discussion
11:10 am - 11:30 amBrody DeYoung (Indiana University)
"Molecular Mechanisms Underlying Pathogen Recognition in Plants"
11:30 am - 11:40 am Discussion
11:40 am - 11:55 am Sarah M. Collier (Cornell)
"Signal initiation by the Rx disease resistance protein"
11:55 am - 12:00 pm Discussion
12:00 pm - 12:15 pm Sebastien Cunnac (Cornell University)
"Pseudomonas syringae pv tomato type III effector proteins binding partners"
12:15 pm - 12:20 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm ION HOMEOSTASIS AND SIGNALING
Discussion Leader: Jonathan Jones (The Sainsbury Laboratory)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmMary Lou Guerinot (Dartmouth University)
"The role and regulation of reductases and transporters of iron uptake"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:30 pmJeff Harper (University of Nevada)
"Calcium signal-transduction pathways"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:05 pmMike Haydon (University of Heidelberg)
"Comparative functional genomics of adaptation for metal tolerance in A. halleri versus A. thaliana"
9:05 pm - 9:15 pm Discussion
9:15 pm - 9:25 pm Jose Dinneny (National University Of Singapore)
"Cell identity mediates the response of roots to salt stress"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm THE SMALL RNA UNIVERSE IN PLANTS
Discussion Leader: Steve Briggs (University of California San Diego)
9:00 am - 9:25 amTaiowa Montgomery (Oregon State University)
"Small RNA-Directed Pathways in Plants"
9:25 am - 9:35 am Discussion
9:35 am - 10:00 amPam Green (University of Delaware)
"Genome-wide analysis of miRNA and their targets"
10:00 am - 10:10 am Discussion
10:10 am Coffee Break
10:40 am - 11:05 amJian-Kang Zhu (University of California-Riverside)
"Small RNAs in abiotic stress responses"
11:05 am - 11:15 am Discussion
11:15 am - 11:40 amOlivier Voinnet (Institut de Biologie Moléculaire des Plantes, CNRS)
"Small RNAs in defense responses"
11:40 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Rebecca Mosher (Cambridge University)
"PolIV-dependent siRNAs in Arabidopsis"
12:00 pm - 12:05 pm Discussion
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm Alicja Ziemienowicz (University of Lethbridge)
"Genetics and epigenetics of transgenerational response to stress"
12:15 pm - 12:20 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm PLANT HORMONE SIGNALING
Discussion Leader: Bonnie Bartel (Rice University)
7:30 pm - 7:55 pmJennifer Nemhauser (University of Washington)
"Manipulation and Dissection of Plant Growth Control Networks"
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm Discussion
8:05 pm - 8:15 pm Liang-Jwu Chen (Institute Of Molecular Biology, Taiwan)
"A Novel Class of Gibberellin 2-Oxidases Controls Rice Architecture"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:30 pmMinjung Kim (Danforth Center)
"A novel nuclear factor regulates abscisic acid responses in Arabidopsis"
8:30 pm - 8:35 pm Discussion
8:35 pm - 8:50 pmSunghwa Choe (Seoul National University)
"Brassinosteroid biosynthesis and its regulation"
8:50 pm - 8:55 pm Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:20 pmTai-Ping Sun (Duke University)
"A DELLAcate balance in gibberellin signaling"
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture