2008 Gordon Research Conference on SALT & WATER STRESS IN PLANTS, September 7-12, 2008 Big Sky, MT

Gordon Research Conferences, East Greenwich RI

Investigators

Abstract

The requested funds will provide partial support for a Gordon Research Conference on SALT & WATER STRESS IN PLANTS that will be held on September 7-12, 2008 in Big Sky, MT to advance, integrate and disseminate cutting edge research results on plant responses to salinity and water-deficit stress. The conference will highlight novel approaches to study and understand the genetic and biochemical mechanisms and morphological and physiological processes used by various model and crop plant species to sense and trigger adaptive responses to high salinity and water-deficits. The award will cover, in part, the costs for registration and travel to promote and enable the attendance of 15-30 U.S. scientists at early stages in their scientific careers. Research results will be presented via oral and poster presentations and discussions will be on topic areas that include the identification and characterization of genes, proteins, processes, and/or networks and systems that contribute to environmental stress tolerance. Specific discussion session topics to be covered will include natural variation and evolutionary context, stress perception and signal transduction, transcriptional responses and networks, protein expression, modification and interaction, metabolic responses, ion and water homeostasis, oxidative stress, co-ordination of the whole plant response, and crop improvement for a changing global environment. The Conference is unique in that it will foster synergistic interactions and long-term collaborations among researchers from all over the world who conduct abiotic stress research at diverse scales of organization using molecular, biochemical, physiological, cellular, and whole plant approaches. The broader impacts of the Conference include the promotion of the participation of young, talented early career stage scientists, particularly from underrepresented groups. Increasing temperatures and greater variation in climate and precipitation patterns due to global warming are expected to negatively impact agricultural productivity. Society will benefit from basic and applied research exchange and discussion of strategies to design more robust crops of economic importance for the food, fuel, and fiber security of the U.S.