the ss-aspb · the undergraduate poster competitions (shown below) filled the sunday afternoon. all...
TRANSCRIPT
We had another exceptional annual meeting at the Watt Family Innovation Center at Clemson University from March 16th – 18th, 2019. Special thanks go to Dr. Magaly Rincón-Zachary (Secretary/Treasurer) and Dr. Julia Frugoli (local organizer). The 2019 Kriton Hatzios Symposium theme was “Foundational to Translational: The Impact of Plant Science Research” (organized by Dr. Aruna Kilaru, Vice-Chair). Dr. Toni M. Kutchan (Donald Danforth Plant Science Center), Dr. Anthony Kinney (DowDuPont), Dr. Henry Daniell (University of Pennsylvania) and Dr. Harry Klee (University of Florida) presented their latest discoveries in plant translational research. This year’s meeting was well attended and we experienced many excellent presentations from both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdocs. During the next few months we will have an election to select new SS-ASPB officers. We expect your participation in this election. Our 2020 annual meeting will be held at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). We look forward to another exceptional event organized by Dr. Mustafa Morsy (Secretary/Treasurer) and Dr. Shahid Mukhtar (local organizer). Hope to see you all in 2020.
Greetings from Dr. Shahid Mukhtar
2018-2019 SS-ASPB Chair
Greetings from the Chair
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SS-ASPB 2019 Meeting
2
2019 Kriton Hatzios
Symposium 5
SS-ASPB 2019 Student Award
Winners 8
SS-ASPB 2019 Sponsors
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ASPB 2019 SS-ASPB 2020
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SS-ASPB Officer Listing
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Inside this issue:
TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE THE GROWTH OF AND THE WELFARE AND
GOOD FELLOWSHIPS OF PLANT BIOLOGISTS GENERALLY...
The SS-ASPB June 2019
Newsletter of the Southern Section of the American Society of Plant Biologists
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The SS-ASPB
SS-ASPB 2019 Meeting Summary
Clemson University, Clemson, SC
March 16-18, 2019
The 2019 Annual Meeting of the SS-ASPB was held March 16-18 at the home of Clemson Tigers, Clemson University, South Carolina. Presentations and exhibitions took place in the Watt Family Innovation Center. One hundred and three attendees from 11 higher education institutions, two research centers and one federal government department gathered in this beautiful, state-of-the-art venue. Participants engaged in disseminating the most recent plant science advancements and discoveries in a total of 71 featured presentations.
Dr. Julia Frugoli, the local organizer, and her research laboratory team (pictured at right) handled registration Saturday afternoon and throughout the meeting. We are grateful for their job so well done. Our utmost thank you to Dr. Frugoli and her graduate students Diptee Chaulagain, Jacklyn Thomas and Yueyao Gao, undergraduate Cameron Corbett and lab manager Elise Schnabel.
After registering, some attendees embarked on a fun afternoon at the South Carolina Botanical Garden (pictured on left) and the Planetarium, both on the campus of Clemson University. Continued on page 3.
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Attendees gathered at the Best Western Plus for the Saturday Opening Night Mixer (pictured above) to enjoy an evening of vibrant conversations with colleagues, scientists, students and old and new friends while having delicious hors d’oeuvres.
Sunday morning, Dr. Shahid Mukhtar opened the meeting and Dr. Aruna Kilaru introduced the Kriton Hatzios Symposium Speakers. The General Session and then the Concurrent Sessions followed. The graduate student oral presentations and the undergraduate poster competitions (shown below) filled the Sunday afternoon. All presentations were outstanding and full of good science. The organizers extend special thanks to all volunteers who served as judges (Drs. Candance Haigler, Marylou Machingura, Mustafa Morsy, Andrew Palmer, Jay Shockey, Bao-Hua Song, Marc Cohn and Garry Sunter) and as moderators (Drs. Kent Chapman, Dharmasiri Nihal, Julia Frugoli, Aruna Kilaru, Mitra Mautusi, Shahid Mukhtar, Andrew Palmer, Jay Shockey and Bao-Hua Song).
Continued on page 4.
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The SS-ASPB
The traditional Sunday evening banquet (pictured above) took place at the Best Western Plus with a delicious dinner and drinks. Winners of the graduate oral presentations and of the undergraduate poster presentations were announced. Everyone had a great time!
Meeting attendees trying their hand at a
botanical virtual reality game (right).
Shortia galacifolia Torr. & A. Gray (Diapensiaceae),
also known as Oconee Bells, in bloom at the South
Carolina Botanical Garden. This rare plant’s native
range is restricted to a few counties in South Carolina,
North Carolina and Georgia. The genus name is in
honor of the 19th–century Kentucky botanist Dr.
Charles Wilkins Short.
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The SS-ASPB
2019 Kriton Hatzios Symposium
Foundational to Translational: The Impact of
Plant Science Research Hosted by Dr. Aruna Kilaru, SS-ASPB Vice-Chair
The 2019 Kriton Hatzios Symposium on “Foundational to Translational: The Impact of Plant Science
Research” was hosted by Dr. Kilaru, the vice-chair of SS-ASPB. Every year, the host of this symposium
selects the theme and invites leading scientists to address the topic. The symposium is held in memory of
Dr. Kriton Hatzios (1950-2003), who served as the Head of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station,
and Associate Dean for Research at Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The 2019
theme was befitting to Prof. Hatzios’ emphasis on “mission-oriented basic research that increased
fundamental knowledge yet helped to solve problems facing selected crop commodities...”.
The featured speakers were Drs. Harry Klee (University of Florida), Toni Kutchan (Donald Danforth
Plant Science Center), Henry Daniell (University of Pennsylvania) and Tony Kinney (Corteva,
Agriscience Division of DowDuPont). The speakers shared their academic journeys while illustrating
how their basic research was driven by the needs of the society. In discussing their translational research,
a key message that was emphasized, particularly to the rising young scientists, was the need for
multidisciplinary training and the ability to integrate diverse approaches to their research. Brief
summaries of their presentations are provided on pages six and seven.
The 2019 Kriton Hatzios symposium speakers Drs. Klee, Kinney, Kutchan and Daniell (from left to right) with their host and SS-ASPB Vice-Chair, Dr. Kilaru (center).
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The SS-ASPB
Dr. Harry Klee
University of Florida
“A Chemical Genetic Roadmap to Improved Tomato Flavor”
Modern commercial tomato varieties are substantially less flavorful than heirloom varieties. To understand and ultimately correct that deficiency, Dr. Klee’s group quantified flavor-associated chemicals in over 500 modern, heirloom and wild accessions. In evaluating a subset of those accessions and identifying the chemicals that contribute to flavor, Dr. Klee’s group relied on consumer panels and chemists. Dr. Klee’s talk further discussed how whole genome sequencing and genome-wide association studies allowed them to identify genetic loci affecting most of the target flavor chemicals, including sugars, acids and volatiles.
Dr. Toni M. Kutchan
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
“Medicines from Plants—A Nexus of Biodiversity and Biotechnology”
The chemical and functional diversity of plant natural products is extensive but understudied. Additionally, drug development can be often precluded due to their poor accumulation in plants and difficulty in cultivation. Dr. Kutchan discussed how natural products could be utilized for discovery of their biological function as well as development of a synthetic biology production platform. Dr. Kutchan also illustrated how the revolutionary combination of bioinformatics and next-generation sequencing can shorten the discovery of natural product pathway systems in non-model systems to enable the sustainable supply of a drug.
2019 Kriton Hatzios Symposium Summary
Continued on page 7.
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The SS-ASPB
Dr. Henry Daniell
University of Pennsylvania
“High Value Enzymes and Bio-Pharmaceuticals Made in Chloroplasts”
Chloroplasts are ideal bioreactors for production of enzymes and bio-pharmaceuticals. Dr. Daniell demonstrated how these bioreactors, in combination with synthetic biology approaches, were utilized to express various proteins of therapeutic and/or commercial value. His group was successful in achieving high level expression of human proteins and also removal of selectable marker genes when expressed in lettuce chloroplasts, to facilitate the regulatory approvals. Dr. Daniell also discussed development of tags to deliver protein drugs and low-cost leaf-production platforms to generate a variety of biological products for commercial purposes.
Dr. Anthony Kinney
Corteva Agriscience Division of DowDuPont
“Biotechnology and Gene Editing Approaches to Improving the Protein and Oil Content of Oilseed Crops”
Output traits such as protein and oil content in seeds can create value for growers, processors, food companies and consumers. Dr. Kinney discussed how Corteva's oil seed output trait research program is focused to create highly differentiated soybeans, canola and other oil seeds. Dr. Kinney explained their metabolic engineering efforts to manipulate the expression of key genes in the developing soybean embryo to increase both the protein and oil content of the bean, at the expense of undesirable carbohydrates. Dr. Kinney showed the utility of gene editing techniques to further extend these improvements to other oil seeds, such as canola.
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The SS-ASPB
Marc Cohn Graduate Student Oral Presentation Competition
First Place
Neha Mittal University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Accumulation of Iso-Flavonoids and Phenolic Acid Conjugates in
Response to Soybean Cyst Nematode in Wild Soybean (Glycine soja)
Second Place
Sean James University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Determining the Role and Regulatory Control of POLTERGEIST
and POLTERGEIST-LIKE1 in Plant Stem Cells
Third Place
Timothy C. Howton University of Alabama at Birmingham
The Exploitation of the Glyoxylate Cycle in Arabidopsis thaliana by Pseudomonas syringae for Glucose Procurement
Honorable Mention
Amanda Askins University of South Carolina Aiken
Development and Analysis of an Activation Tagging
System in Wheat
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The SS-ASPB
Aubrey Naylor Undergraduate Student Poster Competition
First Place
Joseph Goode Florida Institute of Technology
Isolating an Autoinducer that Regulates Quorum Sensing in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii
Second Place
Frances Lowder Western Carolina University
Exploring a Potential Interaction between α-Amylase 3 and the Catalytically Inactive ß-Amylase 9 in
Arabidopsis thaliana
Third Place
Minye Seok
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Natural Variation and Stress Tolerance of IRE1a Gene of Arabidopsis thaliana
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The SS-ASPB
Thank you to the SS-ASPB 2019 Sponsors!
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The SS-ASPB
ASPB 2019
August 3-7, 2019
San Jose, CA
Standard registration is open now
through July 31, 2019. More infor-
mation on the meeting, including ab-
stract submission, registration and
schedule of events, can be found at
http://plantbiology.aspb.org/.
SS-ASPB 2020
Birmingham, AL
March 14-16, 2020
It is exciting that the SS-ASPB 2020 meeting will take place at the University of Alabama at Birmingham campus. Dr. Mustafa Morsy, 2019-2020 Secretary/Treasurer, and Dr. Shahid Mukhtar, local organizer, will be organizing the 2020 meeting. The meeting will feature the Kriton Hatzios Symposium themed as “Evolution of Signaling Mechanisms in Plants” with an outstanding lineup of internationally renowned speakers. We hope to see you all in Birmingham to enjoy great science and “Sweet Home Alabama”!
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We’re on the web!
http://ss-aspb.org/
2018-2019 SS-ASPB Officers
Chair Dr. Shahid Mukhtar Assistant Professor Department of Biology University of Alabama Birmingham Birmingham, AL 35294 (205) 934-8335 [email protected] Vice-Chair Dr. Aruna Kilaru Associate Professor, Biology East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN 37614 Office: 423-439-6931 Fax: 423-439-5958 [email protected] Secretary/Treasurer Dr. Magaly Rincón-Zachary Professor of Biology Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, Texas 76308-2099 Office 940-397-4254 [email protected] ASPB Student Ambassador Imdadul Haq East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN 37614 [email protected]
Executive Committee Members Dr. Nihal Dharmasiri
Associate Professor Department of Biology Texas State University San Marcos, TX 78666
512-245-4911 [email protected]
Dr. Ken Korth
Professor of Plant Pathology University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, AR 72701 479-575-5191
Dr. Rick Turley Research Plant Physiologist
USDA-ARS, Jamie Whitten Delta States Research Center
Stoneville, MS 38776 662-686-5268
Dr. Ashlee McCaskill 2017-2020 Southern Section Representative to
ASPB Executive Committee Editor, SS-ASPB Newsletter
Associate Professor of Plant Biology University of North Georgia
Dahlonega, GA 30597 706-864-1954