exPlants

 

NSF Plant Genome Research Program Plant Transformation Workshop

 Plant transformation has been a bottleneck in advancing plant functional genomics study and genome editing. Transformation of recalcitrant cereal crop species has been challenging. The National Science Foundation – Plant Genome Research Program sponsors this training workshop. The goal of this workshop is to provide attendees with hands-on experience in Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of cereal crop species. Attendees will have the opportunity to walkthrough advanced protocols for transformation of cereal crops with focus on three recalcitrant cereal species; including Zea maysinbred lines, Sorghum bicolorpublic genotype, and Brachypodium distachyon public genotype. Trainees will have the opportunity to learn how to utilize plant morphorgenic regulator genes to transform B73 as well as the best practice for cereal transformation. In addition, the workshop will offer two lectures and host a discussion forum. The first lecture will focus on the mechanism of plant somatic embryogenesis whereas the second lecture will center on how to establish and implement cereal transformation systems. The Plant Transformation Core Facility at University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA, will host this workshop from July 30 to August 3, 2018. For workshop pre-registration (free), please visit Plant Transformation Core Facility website at  https://plantsciences.missouri.edu/muptcf/ workshop and for any workshop update. Seats are limited. Pre-registration is required by June 20, 2018 to secure your spot and facilitate our workshop organization. Please contact Dr. Zhanyuan J. Zhang for any workshop related questions.


Pon Samuel, received a life time achievement award from the Department of Plant Biology and Biotechnology, Madras Christian College, India for ten years of teaching during his earlier career, and establishment of an in vitro culture lab, and training under graduate, post graduate students and students in the doctoral research program.

Pon also recently transitioned his job from heritage Dow AgroSciences (hDAS) in Indianapolis to the new company, CORTEVA agriscienceTM, Agriculture Division of DowDuPontTM, in Johnston, IA 50131. He also Presented a keynote address entitled, “On the Recent Trends in Plant Sciences” at the National Symposium on current trends in plant sciences (February 22-23, 2018) which was organized by the Department of  Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Madras Christian College, University of Madras, Tambaram, Chennai – 600059, India

Pon is also organizing a Beckman Coulter sponsored one-day workshop on “Flow Cytometry for Genome Sizing, Editing, and Targeting” at the 2018 In Vitro Biology Meeting.  Remember to register separately if you plan on attending this workshop.

sciNews2

 

Kristina Martinez-Guryn (Assistant Professor, Biomedical Sciences Program, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL) published the article titled “Small Intestine Microbiota Regulate Host Digestive and Absorptive Adaptive Responses to Dietary Lipids” in Cell Host and Microbe (Martinez-Guryn K, Hubert N, Frazier K, Urlass S, Musch M, Ojeda P, Pierre JF, Miyoshi J, Sontag TJ, Cham CM, Reardon CA, Leone V, Chang EB. Small Intestine Microbiota Regulate Host Digestive and Absorptive Adaptive Responses to Dietary Lipids. Cell Host & Microbe, 23:458-469, 2018),

This publication is available on the publisher’s website:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2018.03.011.


Michael J. Fay (Professor and Biomedical Sciences Program Director, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL) and Lauren A.C. Alt (Laboratory Manager, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, IL) published the article titled “Cadmium nephrotoxicity is associated with altered microRNA expression in the rat renal cortex” in the journal Toxics(Fay MJ, Alt LAC, Ryba D, Salamah R, Peach R, Papaeliou A, Zawadzka S, Weiss A, Patel N, Rahman A, Stubbs-Russell Z, Lamar PC, Edwards JR, Prozialeck WC.  Cadmium Nephrotoxicity is associated with altered microRNA expression in the rat renal cortex. Toxics, 6(1):16, 2018).

This publication is available on the publisher’s website: http://www.mdpi.com/2305-6304/6/1/16.

Valerie Pence, of the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, was awarded a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for 3 years for the project, Establishing the Exceptional Plant Cryo Bank: Collaborative Research for the Ex Situ Conservation of Endangered Exceptional Plants.  Endangered exceptional plant species are those for which seed banking is not a workable method for ex situconservation, and alternative conservation methods for these species rely heavily on in vitroand cryopreservation methods.  The project has three major components:  1) CREW will partner with the Lyon Arboretum in Hawaii and the University of Cincinnati to cryopreserve in vitrocultures and analyze the genetic diversity of several critically imperiled Hawaiian species; 2) CREW will facilitate in vitroand cryopreservation research on exceptional species in 11 other institutions, with seed money from the grant; and 3) CREW will facilitate the Exceptional Plant Conservation Network (EPCN) through a website hosted by the CZBG that will provide informational resources for supporting research on exceptional species.  In addition, the grant is supporting a new travel award, the Exceptional Plant Research Award, to be offered by the SIVB for the next three years https://sivb.org/meetings/home/sivb-student-award-program-2.html.  Interested students working on in vitroor cryopreservation research that will benefit one or more endangered exceptional species are strongly encouraged to apply (deadline, January 31, 2018).

Rakhi Chaturvedi, Professor and Associate Dean at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG), would like to share the news of the upcoming 40thMeeting of the Plant Tissue Culture Association – India (PTCA-I) & National Conference on Trends in Plant Sciences and Agribiotechnology 2019 (ICTPA-2019).The Meeting will be held February 14-16, 2019 at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam, India.

More information on this meeting may be found at the links included below:

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