WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10

 

 

7:00 am – 12:30 pm                                        Registration                                                             Foyer

 

 

FEEDSTOCK GENOMICS AND TRANSGENICS FOR CELLULOSIC ETHANOL

 

Convener:         Fredy Altpeter, University of Florida-IFAS

 

8:00 am – 10:00 pm                                  Plenary Symposium                                               Ballroom A

           

Plant biomass is expected to play a major role in the substitution of fossil fuels. To date, most ethanol is derived from sugar or starch crops by fermentation. The ability to produce ethanol from ligno-cellulosic biomass from perennial, low-input, non-food crops will be key in maximizing the environmental and economical benefits of biofuels. Cell wall recalcitrance has been identified as a major bottleneck for the economic production of ethanol from lignocellulosic plant biomass, resulting in low yield and high cost of the pretreatment/hydrolysis process. Speakers in this session will highlight recent advances in genomics and transgenic approaches to improve biofuel production from different biomass crops. 

 

8:00      PS-13     GMAX Yeast Background Strain Made from Industrial Tolerant Saccharomyces cerevisiae Engineered to Convert Sucrose, Starch and Cellulosic Sugars Universally to Ethanol Anaerobically with Concurrent Coproduct Expression

                          Stephen R. Hughes, USDA Agricultural Research Service, NCAUR, BBC

8:30      PS-14     Lowering the Cost of Biomass Conversion Through Expression of Cell Wall-degrading Enzymes in Transgenic Plants

                          Scott Betts, Syngenta Biotechnology

9:00      PS-15     Brachypodium distachyon: a New Model for Biomass Crops

                          John Vogel, USDA/ARS

9:30      PS-16     Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) Transformation for Altered Cell Wall Biosynthesis in the DOE Bioenergy Science Center

                          C. Neal Stewart, Jr., University of Tennessee

 

 

10:00 am  – 10:30 am                                     Coffee Break                                                            Foyer

 

 

ADVANCES IN ENHANCING TRANSGENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IN PLANTS USING NUCLEAR OR TRANSPLASTOMIC APPROACHES

 

Convener:         Kasi Azhakanandam, Syngenta Biotechnology, Inc.

 

10:30 am – 12:30 pm                                  Plant Symposium                                                Ballroom A

                                                                                                                                                           

Since the production of the first transgenic plants more than a quarter century ago, remarkable progress has been made in terms of expressing various transgenes for different purposes. However, demands for expressing heterologous proteins at high levels in different plants/crops are ever increasing as plants continue to gain recognition as an alternative and competitive expression system.  Consequently, novel approaches have been developed based on both nuclear and plastid transformation processes.  In this session, we have exciting talks lined up to highlight unconventional ways to enhance recombinant protein expression levels in plants.   

 

10:30               Introduction (K. Azhakanandam)

10:35    P-30    Strategies to Increase Enzyme Expression in Plants

                       Kasi Azhakanandam, Syngenta Biotechnology Inc.

11:10    P-31    Engineering of Transgenes for High-level Protein Expression in Chloroplasts

                       Pal Maliga, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

11:45    P-32    Deconstructing and Reconstructing Soybean Seed Protein Accumulation to Enhance Foreign Protein Yield

                       Eliot M. Herman, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

12:20               Discussion

 

 

HIGHLIGHTS IN PLANT BIOTECHNOLOGY IN THE SOUTHEAST

 

Convener:         Peggy Ozias-Akins, University of Georgia

 

10:30 am – 12:30 pm                                  Plant Symposium                                        Ballroom C1&C2

                                                                             

The annual Society for In Vitro Biology meeting rotates to a different region of the country each year.  With the 2009 meeting being held in Charleston, SC, a venue that is relatively easy to reach from the Atlantic coast states of the southeast, four of these states will participate in the session on highlights of plant biotechnology in the southeast.  Plant biotechnology industries, particularly those with strong agricultural divisions, are well represented in the southeast and rely on state universities to provide a part of their trained workforce.  Faculty from four research universities will give brief overviews of biotechnology expertise and opportunities at their respective institutions, then will provide specific examples of their own biotechnology-related research.

 

10:30               Introduction (P. Ozias-Akins)

10:35    P-33    Viral Suppression of RNA Silencing: Toward Mechanism

                       Vicki Vance, University of South Carolina 

11:00    P-34    The North Carolina Research Campus:  A Transdisciplinary Approach to the Science of Wellness

                       Mary Ann Lila, North Carolina State University and Kannapolis North Carolina Research Campus

11:25    P-35    Apomixis in Crops: Hope or Hype?

                       Peggy Ozias-Akins, University of Georgia

11:50    P-36    Generation and Risk Assessment of Apomictic, Transgenic Turf and Forage Grass (Paspalum notatum Flugge)

                       Fredy Altpeter, University of Florida

12:15               Discussion