Speaker

Scientist F, National Agri Food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali, India  

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In our lab, we employ functional genomics techniques to improve iron content and bioavailability in hexaploid wheat. We combine analytical and transcriptomics methods to investigate the regulatory mechanism governing iron deficiency tolerance, as well as strategies to enhance iron mobilization and storage in cereal grains. 

Laboratory of Plant Protection and Biotechnology, Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and the Medical University of Gdansk (IFB UG & MUG) 

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Dr. Anna Ihnatowicz is currently an assistant professor in the Laboratory of Plant Protection and Biotechnology at the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of the University of Gdansk and the Medical University of Gdansk, in Poland. Her research combines naturally occurring genetic variation in Arabidopsis thaliana with genomics, metabolomics, iononomics and mutational approaches to identify and characterize genes involved in coumarin biosynthesis and plant responses to various biotic and abiotic stress factors, in particular Fe deficiency and bacterial infection. 

Laboratory for Protein Functional and Structural Biology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa 230-0045, Japan 

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I am interested in elucidating the molecular mechanism of membrane transporters using cryo-electron micrography techniques. I am also interested in translating our structural information into practical applications of agriculture and drug design.  

Lab. Fisiologia Vegetal 
Facultad Biociencias 
Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain 

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Research in our group is focused on mechanisms of local adaptation to problem soils mainly using natural populations of Arabidopsis thaliana and other Brassicaceae. Current primary topics are tolerance to bicarbonate/micronutrient deficiency and neutral versus alkaline salinity. In both cases iron is a key element. 

Institute for Plant Sciences of Montpellier (IPSiM), Mineral Nutrition and Oxidative Stress Group, Université Montpellier, CNRS, INRAE, Institut Agro, Montpellier, France

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Christian Dubos is a research director at the INRAE. His group at the Institute for Plant Sciences of Montpellier (IPSiM) aims at decrypting the molecular mechanisms that govern iron homeostasis in plants, from the uptake of iron from soil by the root system to its assimilation via the biogenesis of iron-sulfur clusters, as well as the transcriptional regulation of these mechanisms.

National Key Laboratory of Plant Molecular Genetics, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

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Daiyin Chao is a Professor in the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences at the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology.
The Chao lab focuses on plant ionomics and its role in environmental adaptation. With combination of high throughput ion profiling technology, genetics, genomics and cell biology, we aim to reveal the molecular mechanisms that plants regulate ion homeostasis and the genetic basis that plants adapt to diverse edaphic environments. The research objects are mainly, but not limited to, Arabidopsis thaliana and rice.

Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil 

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My main interests are how iron homeostasis interacts with other nutrients and trace-elements that are part of plants' ionome; how iron distribution can be manipulated to for crop biofortification; and how iron uptake mechanisms evolved in the plant lineage.  

Plant Mineral Nutrition Group 
Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yunnan, China. 

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My group has been dedicated to dissecting how plants sense the fluctuation of Fe status, how plants modulate their transcriptional changes to maintain Fe homeostasis, and the differences of Fe signaling pathways between gramineous and non-gramineous plants.  

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Dr. Kirti Shekhawat received her PhD in Biotechnology from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. In 2019, she joined Professor Heribert Hirt’s group as a Postdoctoral Fellow at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia. Currently, her research primarily focuses on unraveling the complex mechanisms of plant-microbial interactions under various abiotic stresses, including iron deficiency, heat stress, and high light intensity. Specifically, she investigates how these microbes reprogram plant transcriptomic and epitranscriptomic responses to promote plant growth in extreme environmental conditions.

Plant Breeding, SARChI Chair 
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences 
University of the Free State 
Bloemfontein, Republic of South Africa 

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Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, United States

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The Vatamaniuk lab studies the molecular mechanisms of trace metal transport, its regulation, signaling and utilization in plant development. The lab focuses on essential micronutrients iron, copper, and an environmental toxin, cadmium, because of the importance of these elements for the future of food security and human nutrition and health. Her lab uses functional genomics approaches, including CRISPR/CAS9-mediated genome editing, scanning electron microscopy, and Synchrotron-X-Ray Fluorescence imaging of metals for the identification of mechanisms controlling metal transport processes and utilization in Arabidopsis thaliana, Brachypodium distachyon, and Triticum aestivum.

Institute of soil science, Chinese Academy of Science (ISSCAS) Nanjing, China 

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My research is focusing on how plants respond to nutrient deficiency, particularly on iron and phosphate deficiencies, by combining omics techniques and molecular genetics.  

Department of Biochemistry
School of Life Sciences
Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer

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Prof. Sanjib Kumar Panda has obtained his Ph. D., and D. Sc. degrees from Utkal University, India. After completing post doctoral research from University of California, Riverside & IPRS, Okayama University, Japan he has been pursuing an active research in the field of Plant Molecular Biology, Functional genomics and gene editing to understand the intriguing molecular mechanisms of abiotic stress-mediated signal transduction, and to develop stress-resilient crop plants for a sustainable agricultural productivity. 

Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell, CNRS Gif-sur-Yvette, France

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Sébastien Thomine is a senior scientist at the CNRS and associate professor at the Ecole Polytechnique. His team at the Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (Gif-sur-Yvette, France) focuses on membrane transporters and channels from their molecular mechanism to their integrated function in the whole plant. His main line of research is the study of the molecular mechanisms of metal transport and homeostasis in plants. His current projects include
(i) the development of microfluidics coupled to genetically encoded nanosensors to study zinc homeostasis, (ii) the study of metal transport and metabolomic response to iron deficiency in poplar and
(iii) the cross talk between metal homeostasis and plant immunity. 

Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE) of Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy 

Stefania Astolfi is Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural and Forest Sciences (DAFNE) of Tuscia University (Viterbo, Italy). The department is currently one of 120 ltalian Departments of Excellence. She received her Ph.D. degree in Agricultural Chemistry in 2000. Her research focuses on plant physiological responses to nutrient deficiencies (mainly S and Fe), heavy metals (mainly cadmium and copper), drought and salinity. She is Associate Editor of “Frontiers in Plant Science” Section Plant Nutrition. 

North Carolina State University, Department of Plant and Microbial Biology 

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Our research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms that plants use to uptake, transport, and utilize iron, and respond to low iron conditions. We use genomics, molecular biology and genetics to identify transcriptional regulatory networks that regulate physiological alterations associated with iron deprivation primarily in the model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana.