Redesigning Plastids for Novel Functions

The 2019 Gordon Research Conference on Chloroplast Biotechnology will feature research to alter properties of chloroplasts to improve plant functioning or to produce useful molecules. Transgenes can now be incorporated into chloroplast genomes of a number of important crop plants and efforts to improve the technology further will be discussed. Because of the multiplicity of the plastid genome and therefore transgene number in each cell, proteins can be produced at levels higher than those usually achieved through nuclear transformation. Nevertheless, most of the proteins incorporated into plastids are encoded in the nucleus, thus manipulating nuclear genes that encode chloroplast proteins can also result in advantageous plant properties or production of novel compounds. The ability to engineer chloroplasts requires fundamental knowledge of chloroplast cell biology and genetics. In addition to sessions concerning applied aspects of chloroplast engineering, there will be a number of sessions covering transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of chloroplast gene expression. The conference will include relevant reports on cyanobacteria and algae as well as vascular plants. With the recognition of photosynthesis as an important target for crop improvement, several sessions will cover current attempts to improve the efficiency of carbon fixation or light capture. The conference will also include synthetic biology approaches to engineer plastids. As key pathways in plant metabolism occur in the chloroplast, and new pathways can be engineered into the organelle, sessions will also include manipulation of plastid metabolism.

Speakers with well-established research programs will join early-career investigators and trainees in this conference. Participants are encouraged to include poster abstracts in their applications, because some short talks will be selected from abstracts so that late-breaking results can be presented. Poster sessions will be scheduled daily to enhance interactions between the participants. This GRC is preceded by a GRS.