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Plant Cell Walls

Gordon Research Conference

July 30 - August 4, 2006
Chair
Vice Chair

Conference Description

Cell walls constrain the final sizes and shapes of plant cells, and therefore the stature and form of plants. Plants invest over 10% of their genomes in building their cell walls. This conference will address the major advances in our understanding of the composition, synthesis, and architecture of plant cell walls and their dynamics during growth and differentiation. This meeting will bring together international scientists from academia, industry and government labs to share the latest fundamental scientific breakthroughs in plant cell wall biology. As cell walls are an enormously important source of food, feed and fiber for humans and animals, a special session will focus on the advances made in the practical uses of plant cell walls for human society.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 11:00 pmArrival and Check-in
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:00 pmOPENING KEYNOTE LECTURE
Session Chair: Nick Carpita (Purdue University)
7:30 pm - 7:45 pmNick Carpita (Purdue University)
"Welcome and introductory comments"
7:45 pm - 8:45 pm Keynote Lecture: J.S. Grant Reid (University of Stirling, Scotland)
"Seeds of promise in hemicellulose biosynthesis and metabolism"
8:45 pm - 9:00 pmDiscussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:30 amGroup Photograph
9:00 am - 10:40 amEVOLUTION OF THE CELL WALL
9:00 am - 9:20 amSession Chair: Alison Roberts (University of Rhode Island)
"Evolution of the CesA Superfamily"
9:20 am - 9:40 amWilliam York (CCRC, University of Georgia)
"Structural, genetic, and bioinformatic analyses of the evolution of plant cell walls"
9:40 am - 10:00 amMalcolm O’Neill (CCRC, University of Georgia)
"Cell walls and the evolution of land plants"
10:00 am - 10:20 amMarcos Buckeridge (University of São Paulo, Brasil)
"The mechanism of transference of function and the evolution of the plant cell wall"
10:20 am - 10:40 amFree discussion
10:40 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pmPOLYSACCHARIDE STRUCTURE AND ARCHITECTURE
11:00 am - 11:15 amSession Chair: Fons Voragen (Wageningen Agricultural University)
"Introductory comments: What’s new in structure and architecture"
11:15 am - 11:35 amHenk Schols (Wageningen Agricultural University)
"Rhamnogalacturonan as scaffold for homogalacturonans"
11:35 am - 11:55 amJohn Brady (Cornell University)
"Molecular dynamics simulations on cellulose conformation in aqueous solutions"
11:55 am - 12:05 pm Michael Gidley (University of Queensland, Australia)
"Effects of galactose content on xyloglucan network formation with and without cellulose"
12:05 pm - 12:15 pm María J. Peña (Complex Carbohydrate Research Center)
"A model for xylan biosynthesis during secondary cell wall formation based on the structural defects in the xylan of three Arabidopsis mutants"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pmFree discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmPLANT CELL WALLS IN PLANT-MICROBE INTERACTIONS
7:30 pm - 7:50 pmSession Chair: Shauna Somerville (Carnegie Institute of Washington)
"Mutational analysis of disease susceptibility highlights the importance of the cell wall in plant-pathogen interactions"
7:50 pm - 8:10 pm Felice Cervone (University of Rome, Italy)
"Pectin integrity is important for plant resistance to microorganisms"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm Jocelyn Rose (Cornell University)
"Exploring the dynamics of the plant cell wall proteome during plant-pathogen interactions"
8:30 pm - 9:00 pmFree discussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 10:40 amBIOSYNTHESIS I
9:00 am - 9:15 amSession Chair: Ken Keegstra (Michigan State University)
"Introductory comments: Polysaccharide biosynthesis"
9:15 am - 9:35 amWolf-Dieter Reiter (University of Connecticut)
"The nucleotide-sugar interconversion pathway"
9:35 am - 9:55 am Olivier Lerouxel (Michigan State University)
"CslC Genes from Arabidopsis and Nasturtium Encode a Glucan Synthase Activity Involved in Xyloglucan Biosynthesis"
9:55 am - 10:15 am Melani Atmodjo (Complex Carbohydrate Research Center)
"Evidence for an Arabidopsis pectin homogalacturonan galacturonosyltransferase complex"
10:15 am - 10:35 amFree discussion
10:35 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pmBIOSYNTHESIS II
10:55 am - 11:10 amSession Chair: Kanwarpal Dhugga (Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl.)
"Introductory comments: Mechanisms of polysaccharide biosynthesis"
11:10 am - 11:30 amVincent Bulone (University of Lyon)
"Recent developments in the biosynthesis of callose and cellulose in poplar"
11:30 am - 11:50 am Geoff Fincher (University of Adelaide, Australia)
"(1->3),(1->4)-ß-Glucan and arabinoxylan synthesis and re-modelling in walls of the grasses and cereals"
11:50 am - 12:10 pmMick Held (Purdue University)
"The maize mixed-linkage (1->3),(1->4)-ß-glucan synthase"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pmFree discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmBIOSYNTHESIS III
7:30 pm - 7:50 pmSession Chair: Chris Somerville (Carnegie Institute of Washington)
"Live cell imaging of cellulose synthase and cortical microtubules"
7:50 pm - 8:10 pmSimon Turner (University of Manchester)
"Secondary cell wall synthesis in Arabidopsis xylem"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm Henrik Scheller (Royal Agricultural University, Denmark)
"Characterization of GT47 glycosyltransferases involved in pectin biosynthesis"
8:30 pm - 8:40 pm Ken Matsuoka (Riken Plant Science Institute, Japan)
"Role of basic amino acid residues in the cytosolic region of Type II membrane proteins on Golgi localization in plant cells"
8:40 pm - 9:10 pmFree discussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 10:40 amGROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT I
9:00 am - 9:15 amSession Chair: Dan Cosgrove (Penn State University)
"Introductory comments: The many dimensions of cell wall loosening"
9:15 am - 9:35 am Janet Braam (Rice University)
"Roles of Arabidopsis XTHs in environmental responses"
9:35 am - 9:55 am Javier Sampedro (Penn State University)
"Expansins in Arabidopsis: expression patterns in an evolutionary perspective"
9:55 am - 10:05 am Christoph Ringli (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
"The Arabidopsis root hair cell wall formation mutant lrx1 is suppressed by mutations in the RHM1 gene encoding a UDP-L-rhamnose synthase"
10:05 am - 10:15 am Kian Hématy (INRA-Versailles, France)
"A novel receptor kinase may act as a cell wall integrity sensor"
10:15 am - 10:35 amFree discussion
10:35 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pmGROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT II
10:55 am - 11:10 amSession Chair: Maureen McCann (Purdue University)
"The cell wall gene network"
11:10 am - 11:30 amMarkus Pauly (Max Plank Institute, Germany)
"The role of xyloglucan in growth and development: Insights through Arabidopsis mutants"
11:30 am -11:50 am Carolyn Schultz (University of Adelaide, Australia)
"Unravelling the form, function and biosynthesis of arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs"
11:50 am - 12:00 pm Gillian Dean (University of Vancouver, Canada)
"Investigation of the role of the MUM2 gene in Arabidopsis seed coat development"
12:00 pm - 12:10 pm Kevin Vaughn (USDA-ARS, Stoneville)
"Gelatinous fibers control coiling of tendrils and twining of vines"
12:10 pm - 12:30 pmFree discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 9:00 pmWOOD FORMATION
7:30 pm - 7:50 pmSession Chair: Tuula Teeri (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm)
"Introductory comments: Wood biotechnology"
7:50 pm - 8:10 pmZheng-Hua Ye (University of Georgia)
"Molecular dissection of secondary wall formation in fibers"
8:10 pm - 8:30 pm Taku Demura (Riken Plant Science Center, Japan)
"Transcriptional regulation of xylem cell formation"
8:30 pm - 9:00 pmFree discussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 10:40 pmNEW TECHNOLOGIES IN GLYCOBIOLOGY
9:00 am - 9:15 amSession Chair: Michael Hahn (CCRC, University of Georgia)
"Introductory comments: New technologies in glycobiology"
9:15 am - 9:35 amRichard Alvarez (Selexys Pharmaceuticals)
"Glycan MicroArrays - Emerging technology to determine carbohydrate binding specificity"
9:35 am - 9:55 am Marcia Kieliszewski (Ohio University)
"Synthetic glycosylation-signal genes for use in developmental biology"
9:55 am - 10:15 am Harry Brumer (Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden)
"Chemo-enzymatic methods for the modification of cellulose-based materials"
10:15 am - 10:35 amFree discussion
10:35 amCoffee Break
11:00 am - 12:30 pmBIOMEDICAL USES OF CELL-WALL POLYSACCHARIDES
10:50 am - 11:00 amSession Co-Chair: Debra Mohnen (CCRC, University of Georgia) and Peter Ulvskov (Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Copenhagen)
"Introductory comments: Cell wall polysaccharides in medicine"
11:00 am - 11:20 amHaruki Yamada (Kitasato University, Tokyo)
"Structure and mechanism of action of plant cell wall polysaccharides having immunomodulating activity"
11:20 am -11:40 amYan Chang (GlycoGenesys, Inc, Boston)
"GCS-100, a Galectin 3 antagonist, is a novel caspase-9 apoptosis activating agent for the treatment of indolent B-cell malignancies"
11:40 am - 11:50 am Session Co-Chair: Peter Ulvskov (Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Denmark)
"TBA"
11:50 am -12:10 pmMarco Morra (Nobil Bio Ricerche Villafranca d'Asti, Italy)
"Surface-linked polysaccharides for biomedical uses"
12:10 pm -12:30 pmFree discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmCLOSING KEYNOTE LECTURE
7:30 pm - 7:45 pmSession Chair: Bruce Stone (LaTrobe University, Australia)
"Introductory comments"
7:45 pm - 8:45 pmKeynote Lecturer: L. Andrew Staehelin (University of Colorado)
"How plant cells make cell walls - a cell biological perspective"
8:45 pm - 9:00 pmDiscussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDeparture

Contributors

National Science Foundation Plant Genome Program
U.S. Department of Agriculture
U.S. Department of Energy
Pioneer Hi-Bred International
Dionex Corporation

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Conference History
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