New Phytologist next generation scientists meetings are free events with the unique aim to provide the next generation of plant scientists a chance to share their work with their peers and outstanding international scientists in a stimulating, supportive and exciting environment.
In 2024 120 delegates attended the symposium at Duke University, with talks from 29 researchers, and 66 posters presented.
Recordings of the talks given at this event can be found in the speakers tab
Organisers
Anna Whitfield, North Caroline State University
Ari Rojas Carvajal, Duke University
Bastiaan Bargmann, Virgina Tech
Blake Fauskee, Duke University
Cesar Xaviwe, North Caroline State University
Elen Oneal, Duke University
Kai Zhu, University of Michigan
Lauren Jenkins, Duke University
Mark Rausher, Duke University
Mingyuan Zhu, Duke University
Paula Collado Gordon, Duke University
Shanice Webster, Duke University
Yi Yuan, Duke University
Keynote speakers
Name | Affiliation | Title |
Laila P. Partida Martinez | CINVESTAV | Integrative plant holobiont studies for innovative and sustainable agriculture |
Loren Rieseberg | The University of British Columbia | |
Sue Rhee | Michigan State University | Cell biology Meets Metabolism: Knowledge Gaps and Opportunities in Metabolic Cell Biology |
Terri Long | North Carolina State University | From the stars to your table - plants as complex conduits for iron nutrition |
Tracey Chapman | Pairwise |
Selected talks
Name | Affiliation | Title |
Akanksha Bhardwaj | National Institute of Plant Genome Research | |
Lucio Biancari | University of Buenos Aires | |
Grace Burgin | Harvard University | The genetic basis of a novel self-recognition system in Phlox drummondii (Polemoniaceae) |
Aeran Coughlin | Duke University | |
Zoe Dubrow | Pairwise | Elimination of Pungency in Allotetraploid Brassica Juncea Through Gene Editing of the Multicopy Myrosinase Gene Family |
Maria Faticov | Université de Sherbrooke | |
Eduardo Haverroth | North Carolina State University | Abscisic acid acts essentially on stomata, not on xylem, to improve drought tolerance |
Karthikbabu Kannivadi Ramakanth | National University of Singapore | A universal growth trajectory of a 3D mechano-hydraulic model for plant cells |
Piyal Karunarathne | Heinrich Heine University | |
Ishveen Kaur | Virginia Polytechnic and State University | |
Stacey Kerr | University College Dublin | Using Combinatorial Transformation to produce Valuable Metabolites in Nicotiana tabacum |
Bahman Khahani | University of Massachusetts | Unraveling the role of KNOTTED OF BRACHYPODIUM 7 in grass-specific cell wall development |
Amelia Lawrence | Duke University | Exploring the Genomic Landscape of Local Adaptation in Serpentine Mimulus guttatus |
Xiaohui Li | Purdue University | Identifying novel regulators of exocytosis through a chemical genetic screen in Arabidopsis |
Olivier Jean Leonce Manzi | University of Gothenburg | Partial thermal acclimation of photosynthetic heat tolerance in tropical trees |
Nathielly Martins | Technical University of Munich | |
Hannah McMillan | Duke University | Microbiota colonization leads to emergent plant phenotypes at elevated temperature |
Ya Min | University of Connecticut | Auxin dynamics and symmetry breaking in Mimulus floral meristem |
Sarah Pfaff | Pennsylvania State University | Xylan Plays a Critical Role in Patterned Secondary Cell Wall Formation |
Zack Radford | University of South Carolina | Genetics and Evolutionary Mechanisms of a balanced flower color polymorphism in Whipple's Penstemon |
John Ramana | University of Canterbury | Trait complementarity and functional trade-offs in plant-mycorrhizal symbioses |
Eleanore Ritter | Michigan State University | The role of clonal reproduction in shaping DNA methylation patterns across angiosperms |
Eva Mei Shouse | University of North Carolina | The Cytokinin Receptors in Rice Have Specific Roles in Vegetative and Reproductive Development |
Shelley Sianta | University of Minnesota | |
Sören Weber | Oak Ridge National Laboratory | Boreal plant roots do not grow deeper to take advantage of depressed water tables |
Changfeng Zhang | Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory |
Poster presenters
First name | Last name | Affiliation | Title |
Moab | Andrade | North Carolina State University | Comprehensive assessment of drought resistance in herbaceous crops: developing a water retention index model. |
Manuel | Anguita Maeso | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Microbial genetic functions implicated in the pathogen-commensal continuum |
Busayo | Babalola | University of Georgia Athens | Effect of nitrogen fertilizer and reduced watering on the succession of fungal community and function |
Yanan | Bai | University of Texas at Austin | WAVH1, encoding a RING-H2 type E3 ubiquitin ligase, positively regulates the light-induced cotyledon opening in Arabidopsis |
Sagar | Bashyal | Salk Institute of Biological Studies and University of California San Diego | A novel mycorrhiza induced plant CLE peptide controls the root development and improves arbuscule lifespan |
Prashant | Bhandari | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Genetic architecture of water use efficiency in bioenergy Sorghum and Setaria |
Haoran | Cai | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Divergence of expression variability following gene and genome duplication in Arabidopsis thaliana |
Gongyuan | Cao | Duke University | Novel function evolution under constraints: multistep epistasis in Threonine Deaminase copy 2 (TD2) evolution in tomato |
Lauren | Carley | University of Chicago | Ecological drivers of speciation in a secondary contact zone |
Camila | Chabi-Jesus | NCSU and University of Sao Paulo | First report of heterologous expression of the tentative glycoproteins from Brevipalpus-transmitted viruses in |
Jonathan | Colen | Duke University | A Morning Glory Story: How Flower Color May Maintain Species Barriers Despite Gene Flow |
Paula Collado | Cordon | Duke University | Contrasting Salt Stress Concentrations and their Impact on Disease Susceptibility in Arabidopsis thaliana |
Jingyu | Dai | New Mexico State University | The interactions between the environment and plant functional type in controlling global maximum forest height |
Caroline | Dallstream | McGill University | Fine root function responds to small-scale soil heterogeneity in a tropical tree |
Camille | DeSisto | Duke University | Land use drives structure and function of lemur-tree ecological networks |
Mahendra | Doraisami | University of Toronto Scarborough | The importance of wood chemical trait variation in estimating carbon stocks and fluxes in temperate forests |
Joe | Edwards | University of Tennessee - Knoxville | Opposing responses across latitude drive decoupling between tree and soil fungal communities |
Julia | Escudero Feliu | Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) | Nutraceutical properties of Narrow-leafed lupin (Lupinus Angustifolius L.) β-conlgutin seed proteins and their potential role in the treatment of breast cancer |
Matthew | Farnitano | University of Georgia | Do hybrid zone introgression patterns correspond with mapped incompatibility loci in a persistent Mimulus hybrid zone? |
Blake | Fauskee | Duke University | Evidence that RNA editing in ferns performs as a gene-regulating mechanism |
Om Prakash | Ghimire | Clemson University | Root distribution influences cotton performance |
Elizabeth | Green | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Linking the leaf microbiome and disease across a season in Festuca arundinacea |
Perrin | Hagge | Duke University | Effect of transportation, storage and revival on nitrogen fixation measurements using arctic bryophyte and lichen samples |
Grace | Handy | BIFoR, University of Birmingham | Root Dynamics Under Elevated CO2 in a Free Air Carbon Enrichment (FACE) Experiment |
Robert | Heal | The Sainsbury Laboratory, Norwich | A complex Solanum americanum resistance gene locus confers resistance to multiple Phytophthora species |
Nathan | Howard | University of Sheffield | Nitrogen source preference and exchange between plants and symbiotic Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophyte’ fungi |
Nohemi | Huanca-Nunez | Yale University | Conspecific Density Dependence and the Stature-Recruitment Trade-Off in Tropical Forest Seedlings |
Asher | Hudson | North Carolina State University | Altered regulation of defense responses in maize hybrids |
Peter | Innes | University of Colorado, Boulder | Gene expression and alternative splicing contribute to adaptive divergence of sunflower ecotypes |
Lauren | Jenkins | Duke University | Mast in the Past: Predicting seed, fruit, and nut abundance since the Last Glacial Maximum using pollen-fecundity relationships |
Surbhi | Kumawat | University of Kansas | Monkeyflower (Mimulus) uncovers the molecular and evolutionary mechanism underlying plant telomere sequence variation |
Erica | Lawrence-Paul | Pennsylvania State University | Drought response across developmental transitions: insights into the role of vegetative phase change |
Tyler | Lee | Duke University | Understanding the rules of Arabidopsis activation domain activity through synthetic activation domains |
Riley | Leff | George Washington University | Seawater Inundation Induces Reverse Sap Flux In A Coastal Forest |
Laura | Leventhal | Stanford University | Four range limit hypotheses tested with Arabidopsis in climate manipulated common garden |
Xiang | Li | University of Georgia | Tandem duplication and increased expression of Shattering2 led to evolution of high seed shattering in a U.S. weedy rice group |
Irene | Liao | University of California, Los Angeles | Comparative single nuclei sequencing of the monocot gynoecium reveal candidate genes underlying septal nectary development in banana and asparagus |
Le | Liu | University of Massachusetts, Amherst | Stomatal closure in maize is mediated by subsidiary cells and the PAN2 receptor |
Neeta | Lohani | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Understanding soybean genomic diversity and transcriptomic response to environmental stresses |
Violeta | Londono Velez | King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) | Functional characterization of the deubiquitinase OTU2 role in Arabidopsis thaliana stress granules biology. |
Sarah | Love | University of Tennessee | Sky islands as natural laboratories for studying eco-evolutionary responses to climate change |
Hubert | Matkowski | University of Silesia in Katowice | The role of ABA in better adaptation to drought of Cap Binding Complex (CBC) barley mutants |
Holly | McInnes | North Carolina State University | Comparing resistance breaking and non-resistance breaking tomato spotted wilt virus in the plant host |
Jared | Meek | Columbia University | Towards a comprehensive phylogeny of North American Delphinium (Ranunculaceae) |
Luca | Morelli | University of Southern Denmark | Decoding microalgae isoprenoid metabolism for a sustainable production of industrially relevant compounds |
Jessie | Mutz | University of Tennessee, Knoxville | Sequential expression of multiple herbivore-induced defensive traits confers sustained resistance |
Trevor | Nolan | Duke University | Brassinosteroid gene regulatory networks at cellular resolution in the Arabidopsis root |
Leonardo | Oliveira | North Carolina State University | Increased woodiness in basal stems of herbs results in greater embolism resistance and vulnerability segmentation |
Elen | Oneal | Duke University | Genomic imprinting, parent-of-origin effects, and the evolution of postzygotic incompatibility in Mimulus |
Sooyeon | Park | Duke University | Tailed-Hoogsteen triplex DNA silver |
Sunita | Pathak | Duke University | Sequence determinants of thermoresponsive prion-like domain |
Karnelia | Paul | University of California, San Diego | Newly Identified Protein Phosphatases play a vital role in regulating Protein Kinases for CO2-induced stomatal closure |
Maryam | Rashidzade | University of Massachusetts, Amherst | The Global Distribution of Dual Mycorrhizal Hosts |
Ido | Rog | University of Zurich & Agroscope | The Global distribution of dual mycorrhizal hosts |
Vanessa E. | Rubio | Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies | The importance and implications of variation in longevity among giant tropical tree taxa |
Anita | Simha | Duke University | Short term fire history alters plant community structure and response to future fire |
Logan | Spicer | University of Florida | Marchantia polymorpha as a Synthetic Biology Chassis for Plant Glycobiology |
Jeremy | Sutherland | Penn State University | Leveraging alfalfa variety trials to measure seasonal and host-specific selection on nitrogen-fixing rhizobial bacteria |
Xiaonan | Tai | New Jersey Institute of Technology | Mitigating drought mortality by incorporating topography into variable forest thinning strategies |
Joseph | Taylor | Virginia Tech | Playing matchmaker with synthetic biology: Decoding the auxin signaling network with engineered protein interactions. |
Nicole | Thomson | University of Melbourne | The LEUNIG Regulatory Complex: Understanding the Elaborate Regulation of Embryonic Apical-Basal Patterning |
Julia | Van Etten | Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Rutgers University | Diverse fates of ancient horizontal gene transfers in extremophilic red algae |
Valeria | Vázquez-Barrios | UNAM | Ongoing ecological and evolutionary consequences by the presence of transgenes in a wild cotton population |
Shanice | Webster | Duke University | How do plants configure a healthy microbiome? |
Andrew | Willoughby | Duke University | Developing Streptocarpus as a model of meristem initiation |
Andrea | Zanini | Donald Danforth Plant Science Center | Role of chloroplast-initiated intracellular signals in modulating plasmodesmata-mediated intercellular communication in Nicotiana benthamiana |
Yinwei | Zeng | Ghent University | HYSPARIN: A chemical approach towards understanding adventitious rooting |
Mingyuan | Zhu | Duke University | Single cell and spatial transcriptomics reveal how rice root tissues adapt to soil stress |
Xin | Zhuang | University of Helsinki | Using 13C Isotope Tracer To Study How Sink Limitation Affects Birch Carbon Translocation |
Poster Prize winners
Winner:
Congratulations to the poster prize winner Vanessa E. Rubio, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, 'The importance and implications of variation in longevity among giant tropical tree taxa'
Runners up:
Congratulations also to the runners up
Ido Rog, University of Zurich & Agroscope, 'The Global distribution of dual mycorrhizal hosts'
Joseph Taylor, Virginia Tech: Playing matchmaker with synthetic biology, 'Decoding the auxin signaling network with engineered protein interaction'
Honourable mentions:
Lauren Carley, University of Chicago, Ecological drivers of speciation in a secondary contact zone
Joe Edwards, University of Tennessee - Knoxville, Opposing responses across latitudes drive decoupling between tree and soil fungal communities
Andrew Willoughby, Duke University, Developing Streptocarpus as a model of meristem initiation