The Ecology of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi

Home page

Organisation

Programme

Invited Participants

Ectomycorrhizal system of Suillus variegatus on Pinus sylvestris

Krigged map of the relative abundance of Cortinarius mycorrhizas in a 20m x 20m area of Scots pine

Sporocarps of Amanita regalis growing in mixed forest in central Sweden

Piloderma fallax ectomycorrhizas and extraradical mycelium on Pinus sylvestris

Abstract submission deadline - 3 October 2008

The number of posters are limited and so will be restricted to one poster per presenting author and be subject to a selection procedure based on submitted abstracts. Preference will be given to new unpublished, or recently published, work. Please send your abstracts according to the guidelines below by 3 October 2008. You will receive an email by 10 October 2008 informing you whether or not your abstract has been accepted as a poster. Note there will be prizes awarded for the best posters.

Poster abstracts will be published in the symposium program and will be made available on the symposium website.

Grants

Grant submission deadline - 15 August 2008

We have a number of travel grants available for students and early-stage career scientists (researchers in their first post-doctoral position) wishing to attend. Each grant will consist of a free registration plus a contribution towards travel expenses. If you wish to apply for a grant please accompany your poster abstract submission with a brief (no more than 200 word) statement indicating your position (graduate student/postdoc), reasons for wishing to attend and a supporting statement from a scientist who has agreed to act as a referee for your application, usually your group leader (please include their contact details). Decisions will be notified by the 22 August 2008.

Abstract guidelines

Format

Abstracts should be no more than 200 words and should fill a space no larger than half an A4 page
Single spacing, Arial font, 10 point
First line: title in bold lower case
Second line: the author(s)' name(s) in upper case. Underline the name of the author presenting the work
Third line: full address of the institution(s) where the work was carried out, in italic lower case
Leave a single line space after the address
Main text: provide concise details of the background and objective(s) of the investigation, methods used, results and conclusions

Example abstract:

The origin of Helianthus deserticola: survival and selection in a desert habitat
GROSS, BRIANA L., KANE, NOLAN C., LEXER, CHRISTIAN & RIESEBERG, LOREN H.
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Jordan Hall 142, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

The diploid hybrid species Helianthus deserticola inhabits an extreme environment relative to its parental species H. annuus and H. petiolaris. Adaptation to the arid desert floor may have occurred via the acquisition of novel phenotypes resulting from transgressive segregation in early hybrids. We have explored this possibility through a field experiment designed to test the direction and intensity of phenotypic selection, using crosses between the parental species as proxies for the ancestral genotype of the ancient hybrid species. Helianthus deserticola, H. annuus, H. petiolaris, and early-generation hybrids between H. annuus and H. petiolaris were all grown in native H. deserticola habitat, and a selection analysis revealed that several traits were subject to strong selective pressures. Several of the traits under selection were also extreme or transgressive in H. deserticola, and the range of variation present in BC2 hybrids suggests that many aspects of the H. deserticola phenotype are easily recreated. Thus, transgressive segregation may have contributed to the adaptation of H. deserticola to the desert habitat.

Submission

Abstracts should be formatted as .DOC or .RTF documents and emailed as an attachment to Holly Slater (newphytsymp@lancaster.ac.uk). In the subject header of the email write 21th NPS Abstract – followed by the name of the author presenting the work (e.g. 21th NPS Abstract – I. Alexander).
Receipt of abstracts will be notified by email.
Decision on abstract will be sent by email by the 10th October 2008 informing you whether or not your abstract has been accepted and whether it has been accepted as a poster.

Poster guidelines

Posters should be no larger than A0 size, portrait (118 cm high x 84 cm wide)

Mycorrhizal ecology logo produced by APPS. Illustrations: Ectomycorrhizal system of Suillus variegatus on Pinus sylvestris courtesy of Andy Taylor. Krigged map of the relative abundance of Cortinarius mycorrhizas in a 20m x 20m area of Scots pine courtesy of Brian Pickles. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) profiles for partial fungal internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences from Bastias et al., 2006. Sporocarps of Amanita regalis growing in mixed forest in central Sweden courtesy of Andy Taylor. Piloderma fallax ectomycorrhizas and extraradical mycelium on Pinus sylvestris courtesy of Andy Taylor. Relationship between genet distribution of sporocarps and ectomycorrhizas of Suillus pictus from Hirose et al., 2004.