Meeting: 6th Pan American Plant Membrane Biology Workshop, Vancouver, Canada, June 24-28, 2018

Washington State University, Pullman WA

Investigators

Abstract

Plants provide this planet with the air we breathe and the food we eat. We consume plants either directly, or by eating animals that have been fed with plants. Therefore, life on earth would simply not be possible without plants. The calories, amino acids, vitamins and mineral ions our bodies require are taken up by plants from the environment or they are made within plant cells after uptake of some of the building blocks. Plants use these nutrients for growth and the production of edible organs such as tubers and seeds. However, abiotic stresses, including soil mineral limitation, drought and high temperature, and biotic stresses such as pathogen and insect pest attacks provide a threat to plant food production. But how can plants achieve mineral ion uptake, even under stress, and how are they able to use the nutrients and produce the tissues and organs needed for the human food supply? Plants have evolved specific membrane proteins that can sense and transfer environmental signals, as well as recognize and transport mineral ions from the outside environment into the cell. Novel scientific approaches have revolutionized our understanding of the structure and function of plant membranes, and this workshop will address important breakthroughs in membrane biology with respect to signaling, nutrient transport and plant growth. We expect that the scientific interactions will promote discussions on how to meet the challenge of feeding the global community of tomorrow and will facilitate advances essential for food security. The 6th Pan American Membrane Biology Workshop will be held in Vancouver, BC, Canada from June 24-28th, 2018. It will focus on topics covering important breakthroughs in plant membrane biology and their importance for plant growth and adaption to environmental stresses. Given the importance of membrane biology and its potential to continue to make groundbreaking discoveries, there is pressing scientific demand for opportunities to communicate and interact. This meeting will be both stimulating and timely, and specific objectives are (1) to organize and support knowledge exchange and discussions on the latest scientific advances in membrane biology research, including in areas related to plant membrane structure, transport, protein trafficking, and signal transduction, (2) to promote interactions between scientists and trainees to share new discoveries in the field of membrane biology as it relates to plant growth, development and nutrition, and to enhance training and new collaborations that will move the field forward and (3) to directly involve newly independent scientists and trainees, with emphasis on diversity and gender. The workshop agenda will include discussions for trainee mentorship, publication strategies and emerging areas of plant membrane biology in a supportive setting to promote trainee and established researcher interactions. The broader impacts of this meeting are manifold. It will promote participation of groups underrepresented in science and support diversity in the plant biology community by connecting the trainees with senior scientist role models. It will further provide access to cutting edge science and advance knowledge in membrane biology essential for plant production. This workshop award is supported by the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems and the Division of Molecular and Cellular Biosciences. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.