The 2022 New Phytologist next generation scientists meeting took place from 19-22 July, at the Delta Centre in Tartu, Estonia and online! This was a fully funded, hybrid meeting designed for and by early career researchers. In-person delegates received free registration, accommodation and a contribution to their travel.
View the abstract book
Recordings of the lectures given at this event can be found in the speakers tab
Organisers
Scientific Organising Committee
Maarja Öpik (Organising Committee Lead)
Hanna Hõrak
Lauri Laanisto
Lena Neuenkamp
Ivika Ostonen
Kaido Soosaar
Leho Tedersoo
Tana Wuyun
New Phytologist Foundation organisation
Christine Phillips (Events & Promotion Manager)
Mike Whitfield (Development Coordinator)
Sarah Lennon (Executive Editor)
Keynote speakers
Name | Affiliation | Title |
Hongzhi Kong | Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences | The making of the elaborate Nigella petals |
Andre Kessler | Cornell University | Herbivore-induced volatile organic compounds: a chemical handshake mediating interaction contracts |
Marina Semchenko | University of Tartu | Plant functional traits and rhizosphere processes: from global patterns to local interactions |
Shuhua Yang | China Agricultural University | Molecular mechanisms of plant responses to cold stress |
Holger Puchta | Botanical Institute, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology | Applying CRISPR/Cas to Plants: From Gene Editing to Chromosome and Tissue Engineering |
Suayib Üstün | University of Tübingen and Ruhr-University of Bochum | How proteostasis shapes the plant response to environmental stimuli |
Teresa Fitzpatrick | University of Geneva | B vitamins as cogs of plant metabolism |
Carlos L. Ballaré | Universidad de Buenos Aires and CONICET | Growth-defense tradeoffs in plants: myths, facts, and some mechanisms |
Bala Chaudhary | Dartmouth College | Mycorrhizal fungal dispersal across spatial scales |
Wei-Cai Yang | Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences | The central role of the central cell in plant reproduction |
Selected talks
Name | Affiliation | Title |
Marybel Soto Gomez | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew | Characterizing the impact of genome size on plant extinction risk |
Vicky Spencer | University of Bristol | Redeployment of ancestral branching mechanisms in the evolution of lycophyte architecture |
Jamie Waterman | University of Bern | The importance of continuous herbivory and HIPV emission for plant–plant information transfer |
Ivan De la Cruz Arguello | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | Genomic basis of the evolution of resistance against its natural enemies in the poisonous and medicinal plant Datura stramonium (Solanaceae) |
Katherine Barragán-Fonseca | Wageningen University | Amending soil with insect exuviae improves plant growth, pollinator attraction and fitness of flowering plants |
Katy Faulkner | University of Warwick | High rainfall disturbs soil microbial structure and function in a mature temperate forest under elevated carbon dioxide |
Xuan Zhou | University of Eastern Finland | Microbial biodiversity contributes to soil carbon release: A case study on fire disturbed boreal forests |
Anna Sze Wai Tse | University of Cambridge | Production of nanobodies in Marchantia polymorpha |
Katie Stevens | University of Birmingham | he role of epigenetic in long-lasting post-harvest resistance in tomato |
Febri Doni | Universitas Padjadjaran | Isolation and molecular characterization of native Trichoderma isolates from West Java, Indonesia and the assessment of their roles for enhancing rice development and physiological traits |
Itumeleng Moroeyane | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Engineering plant–microbe interactions to promote host health and resilience |
Jian You (Eric) Wang | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | Zaxinone: discovery, application, and mode of action |
Julien Agneessens | Durham University | The Arabidopsis R-SNARE VAMP714 is essential for polarisation of PIN proteins and auxin responses |
Camille Delavaux | ETH Zurich | Global evidence for a symbiotic bacteria filter on N-fixing plant establishment on islands. |
Mathu Malar | University of Ottawa | The early branching arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Paraglomus occultum carries a small and repeat poor genome compared to relatives in the Glomeromycotina |
Anis Mahmud Khokon | University of Hamburg | Ectomycorrhizal diversity and community traits drive the N uptake of beech roots |
Besiana Sinanaj | University of Sheffield | New ecological insights on Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’ (MFRE): their impact on plant growth under low nutrient conditions |
Jiaqi Shi | University College Dublin | Morphological analysis of inflorescences and flower developmental stages in male and female hemp (Cannabis sativa) |
Rory Burke | University College Dublin | Death by transcription: RNA-Seq identifies novel regulators of programmed cell death in Arabidopsis |
Renato Braghiere | NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology | Global carbon cost of plant nitrogen and phosphorus acquisition |
Sirgi Saar | University of Tartu | Applying vegetation science concepts to crops: trait diversity across rice varieties increases complementarity effects and productivity |
Poster presenters
First name | Last name | Affiliation | Title |
Olusegun Olaitan | Akinyemi | University of Eastern Finland | Diurnal and within-crown variation of chlorophyll fluorescence kinetics in silver birch |
Galileo Estopare | Araguirang | University of Rostock | When Plants Paint Their Leaves Purple: Analyses of New Factors Involved in the Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis during High Light |
Acheampong | Atta-Boateng | University of Oxford | Pollination and physiological yield limitation in cacao: evidence from Western Ghana |
Peter | Beatrice | University of Insubria | Plants responses to a new biophilic lighting system |
James | Bedford | University of Southampton | Genomics of local adaptation in wild rice Oryza rufipogon |
Marko | Bertic | Helmholtz Zentrum Munich | Metabolomics deciphers the herbivory resistance of European oak |
Biplabi | Bhattarai | University of Tartu | Soil warming duration and magnitude affects dynamics of fine-roots and rhizomes and related C and N pools in belowground of subarctic grasslands |
Eleanor | Briggs | The University of Sheffield | The function of 1,3-ß glucan in Zymoseptoria tritici and the control of septoria leaf blotch |
Melanie | Brunn | University of Koblenz-Landau | Carbon allocation to root exudates is maintained in mature temperate tree species under drought |
Dora Luz | Cano Ramírez | University of Cambridge | Big regulates the circadian clock and development |
Bae Young | Choi | Chungnam National University | Studies on two transcription factors important for stress responses in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii |
Daniela | Cordeiro | University of Coimbra | Functional analysis of miR399 and miR827 involved in phosphate and sugar homeostasis during the loss of the embryogenic competence in Solanum betaceum Cav. |
Maeve | Dale | University of Bristol | cGMP signalling in Arabidopsis |
Margaux | Didion-Gency | Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSL | Impact of warmer and drier conditions on tree photosynthetic properties and the role of species interactions. |
Anastazija | Dimitrova | Department of Bioscience and Territory, University of Molise | Knowledge From Within: The Seasonal Dynamics of Root and Shoot Cambial Cells of Populus sibirica and Ulmus pumila Trees Used for Afforesting the Semi-arid Steppe of Mongolia |
Conrado Jr (Mico) | Dueñas | University of Pavia | Variation in germination behavior of Italian rice varieties in response to water stress, iron pulsing and PGA treatments |
Blessing | Durodola | University of Goettingen | Genotype impact on the response of Picea abies to the artificial inoculation of Heterobasidion parviporum |
Reinmar Stefan | Eggers | Graz University of Technology, Institute of Biochemistry | From Alcohol to Aldehyde: Characterization of Monolignol Oxidoreductases in Arabidopsis thaliana and Their Possible Involvement in the Extracellular Phenolics Pool |
Bethany | Eldridge | University of Bristol | Why are plants clingy? Characterising an ABC membrane transporter that affects root stickiness |
Eileen | Enderle | University of Amsterdam | Drought legacy effects on plant-soil interactions in grasslands |
Sanni | Färkkilä | University of Tartu | Shedding light on common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) with fluorescent nanoparticles (FNPs) |
Felícia M. | Fischer | Centro de Investigaciones sobre Desertificación | Designing communities for trait-based-biodiversity-experiments: new tools to explore functional trait effects on ecosystem stability |
Bastian | Franzisky | Geisenheim University | Guard cells under salt stress: early and late responses |
Bryony | Gardner | University of Bristol | Exploring root exudate traits for soil-free growing systems |
Manuel | Gonzalez Fuente | Center for Plant Molecular Biology (ZMBP) - University of Tübingen | Processing bodies as a novel hub in protein homeostasis during plant-pathogen interactions |
Berivan Ozlem | Gumus | Ege University | Interplay between circadian clock and endoplasmic reticulum stress in Arabidopsis thaliana |
Apoorva | Gupta | National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi, India | Deciphering the role of a HSF:miR169:NF-YA feedback loop in Arabidopsis and tomato thermotolerance |
Claire | Holden | Lancaster University | Regional differences in clonal Japanese knotweed revealed by chemometrics-linked Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy |
Shabana | Hoosein | Colorado State University | Exploring AM fungal and bacterial cooccurrence network interactions to elucidate patterns in plant-soil diversity feedbacks |
Andrew | Jablonski | University of Virginia | Examining the controls of the relationship between near-infrared reflectance and solar-induced chlorophyll fluorescence in temperate vegetation. |
Liina | Jakobson | Estonian Crop Research Institute | Genetic engineering of barley (Hordeum vulgare) strigolactone pathway to improve weed suppression |
Valentin | Journé | INRAE LESSEM | Globally, tree fecundity exceeds productivity gradients |
Makoto | Kanasugi | Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń | Fungal microbiome of perennial crop intermediate wheatgrass Thinopyrum intermedium for sustainable agricultural production |
Kaia | Kask | Estonian University of Life Sciences | Combined Acute Ozone and Water Stress Alters the Quantitative Relationships between O3 Uptake, Photosynthetic Characteristics and Volatile Emissions in Brassica nigra |
Yasin | Korkmaz | University of Freiburg | Invasive Pathogens responsible for Horse Chestnut (Aesculus spp.) disease symptoms in addition to Leaf Blotch |
Mohamed | Kouhen | University of Molise | Mechanical stress perceived by roots: status quo and perspectives |
Alisa | Krasnova | University of Tartu | The European 2018 heatwave impact on the CO2 fluxes of hemiboreal forest ecosystems |
Vithya | Krishnan | The University of Queensland | The effects of nitrogen form on the water use of Australian tropical tree seedlings |
Amit | Kumar | Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany | Distinct functional trait responses of wild and domesticated barley roots to soil biota |
Jinsu | Lee | Seoul national university | MSD2-mediated ROS metabolism fine-tunes the timing of floral organ abscission in Arabidopsis |
Jia Xuan | Leong | ZMBP University of Tübingen | Battle between bacterial effector and plant autophagy |
Hyungwoo | Lim | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | The impact of bark beetle outbreaks on forest carbon accumulation |
Roman Mathias | Link | University of Würzburg | Mutually inclusive mechanisms of drought-induced tree mortality |
Siqiao | Liu | Institute of Ecology and Earth Sciences, Department of Botany, University of Tartu | Herbicide addition and mechanical disturbance differ in their effects on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal communities |
Daijun | Liu | University of Vienna | Whether long-term drought manipulation shift post-fire recovery pathways of Mediterranean shrubland? |
Deirdre | Lynch | John Innes Centre | The effect of seed set temperature upon circadian clock-associated developmental and physiological phenotypes |
Emily | Magkourilou | The University of Sheffield | The role of a common mycorrhizal network in modulating the symbiosis of potato with cyst nematodes |
César | Marín | Universidad Santo Tomás, Chile | South American and Chilean research gaps in soil and mycorrhizal biodiversity and functioning |
Elsa | Matthus | Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) | The economic trade-off between root hairs and mycorrhizal partners along a land use gradient |
Yiming | Meng | University of Tartu | Phylogenetic conservatism and environmental conditions shape plant mycorrhizal traits across the world’s flora |
José Ángel | Morales Sánchez | Estonian University of Life Sciences | Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of bryophytes in a changing climate |
Juan Camilo | Moreno Beltran | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology | Single gene bioengineering as starting point to produce a new generation of super crops |
Yaseen | Mottiar | University of Helsinki | Lignin p-coumaroylation in eudicots may have arisen by convergent evolution |
Florian | Muthreich | University of Bergen | Pinus pollen chemistry response to UV |
Fonthip | Noothong | University of Bristol | Stomatal responses of the Arabidopsis cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase 1 mutant. |
Andrea | Pagano | University of Pavia | Proteomic profiling of Medicago truncatula seed priming: highlighting novel players in pre-germinative metabolism |
Helen | Parik | University of Tartu | Characterization of novel stomatal mutants identified in a large-scale mutant screen |
Nicola | Pavanetto | Estonian University of Life Sciences (Tartu, Estonia) | Trait trade-offs underlying abiotic stress tolerance strategies in woody plants |
Kerstin | Pierick | University of Göttingen | Trait integration along elevation in tropical montane forests |
Adéla | Přibylová | Charles University, Faculty of Science, Department of experimental plant biology | 5’ single-nucleotide microhomology-mediated DNA repair after CRISPR/Cas9 cut |
Giacomo | Puglielli | Estonian University of Life Sciences | Tackling the multiple dimensions of woody plant adaptations to tolerate abiotic stresses |
Shumaila | Rasool | Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) | Unravelling plant-fungus alliances against herbivores |
Erin | Ritchie | ZMBP, University of Tübingen | Translational regulation of arginine decarboxylase transcripts by an ancient cis-element and its role in plant disease development |
Jordan | Robson | University of Nottingham | Illuminating the genetic basis of Photosynthetic Heat Tolerance in Rice, through Chlorophyll Fluorescence and Genome Wide Association Studies |
Paloma | Ruiz de Diego | Real Jardin Botanico - CSIC | The Odd Man Out pattern: a model-clade approach to a classic biogeographic riddle |
Dinesh | Sanka Loganatha Chetti | United Arab Emirates University | Date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) root and bulk soil associated bacterial communities are distinct and structured by irrigation water salinity |
Muhammad Kamil | Sardar Ali | University of Tartu | Fluxes of CO2, CH4, and N2O from drained nutrient-rich organic soils |
Philipp | Schwenk | University of Freiburg | Cytosolic phytochrome A mediates the disassembly of processing bodies in far-red light |
Marili | Sell | University of Tartu | Using mobile phones and teaching AI to measure fine root growth dynamics |
Upasana | Sharma | Estonian University of Life Sciences | Photosynthetic acclimation of five macrolichens to canopy light gradients: resolving structural and physiological controls |
Kishwar | Shethi | University of Sheffield | How does elevated CO2 regulate the Stomatal aperture? Is it a balancing act? |
Margaryta | Shtin | University of Rome La Sapienza | Unraveling the molecular circuit governing the Lateral Root Cap Programmed Cell Death events |
Minerva | Singh | Imperial College London | Changes in Mangrove Carbon Stocks and Exposure to Sea Level Rise (SLR) under Future Climate Scenarios |
Miranda | Sinnott-Armstrong | University of Cambridge & University of Colorado-Boulder | Structural color, cell walls, and the evolution of Viburnum fruits |
Zsofia Reka | Stangl | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences | Contrasting strategies of photosynthetic light induction in upper- and lower canopy leaves of Fagus sylvatica |
Sebastian | Stroud | University of Leeds | Botanical University Challenge; connecting and creating the next botanical community |
Hassan Yusuf | Sulaiman | Estonian University of Life Sciences | Crown rust (Puccinia coronata) infection is more virulent in the primary host Avena sativa than in the alternate host Rhamnus frangula |
Ferenz | Sustek Sanchez | Tallinn University of Technology | Gene editing in the important forage grass species Lolium perenne L. |
Andrea | Tafuri | Institute of Agricultural Biology and Biotechnology, University of Tuscia | Genome wide association study of free asparagine content in durum wheat grain |
Mauricio | Tejera-Nieves | Michigan State University | Leaf-level 13C-CO2 labeling revels increased fluxes through photorespiration and the TCA cycle in the C4 perennial grass under drought. |
Oguz | Top | Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich | Regulation of embryogenesis and sporophyte development by specific AGO1-dependent small RNA pathways in Physcomitrium patens |
Enrico | Tordoni | University of Tartu | A synthetic evaluation of global plant diversity facets highlights the relative roles of historical, environmental and anthropogenic factors |
DIego | Trindade | University of Tartu | Observed and dark diversity dynamics over millennial time-scales: fast-life history traits linked to expansion lags of plants in Northern Europe |
Ayesh | Wipulasena | University of Tartu | A high throughput analysis method for soil phospholipid and neutral lipid-derived fatty acids |
Aline | Yochikawa | University of Bristol | UV-B negatively regulates PHYTOCHROME INTERACTING FACTOR (PIF) transcription in Arabidopsis |
Ziyue | Zeng | NIAB | Diversity, pathogenicity and stability of Pseudomonas population over distance, time and environment |
Yanmin | Zhou | University of Sheffield | Stomatal responses to a fluctuating environment: depend on photosynthetic pathways and guard cell size? |
Lingping | Zhu | Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland | Polyketide reductases in gerbera parasorboside biosynthesis: Recruitment from ancient sporopollenin biosynthesis |
Xudan | Zhu | University of Eastern Finland | The role of terrestrial productivity and hydrology in regulating aquatic dissolved organic carbon concentrations in boreal catchments |
Shanshuo | Zhu | ZMBP | Studying the role of autophagy at cell-type specific resolution |
Poster prize winners
In-person posters:
Congratulations to the winner Galileo Estopare Araguirang, University of Rostock, 'When Plants Paint Their Leaves Purple: Analyses of New Factors Involved in the Regulation of Anthocyanin Biosynthesis in Arabidopsis during High Light'
Congratulations also to the two runners up:
Erin Ritchie, ZMBP, University of Tübingen, 'Translational regulation of arginine decarboxylase transcripts by an ancient cis-element and its role in plant disease development'
Diego Trindade, University of Tartu, 'Observed and dark diversity dynamics over millennial time-scales: fast-life history traits linked to expansion lags of plants in Northern Europe'
Online posters:
Congratulations to the winner Alexander Bowles, University of Bristol, 'The phylogeny and timescale of early plant evolution'
Congratulations also to the two runners up:
Victor Blanco, Washington State University, 'Regulation and acclimation of leaf gas exchange in pear trees submitted to sequential drought cycles'
María Saiz-Bonilla, Spanish National Research Council, 'Dual transport of the coat protein of melon necrotic spot virus to chloroplasts and mitochondria is mediated by Toc159 and Om64'