Conference: Support for INTERDROUGHT II Conference, September2005, Rome. Italy

干旱是全球粮食生产的主要制约因素。十年前举行的第一次INTERDROUGHT会议汇集了一系列专门知识，以确定干旱敏感性和耐受性的遗传机制，探索在易干旱环境中改善作物性能的实际途径，并解决与这种做法相联系的社会经济环境问题。考虑到过去十年来分子水平知识的急剧增长，早就应该召开一次关注干旱各个方面的国际会议。INTERDROUGHT II现在已经组织起来，以促进跨学科的工作，并利用来自植物基因组学工作的理解，以更全面地了解如何将这些知识整合到现有的育种计划中。近年来，在了解植物对干旱胁迫的反应和耐受的分子基础方面取得了很大进展。许多对干旱有反应的基因已经被鉴定出来，其中一些的功能已经得到解决。拟南芥和水稻全基因组序列的可用性，以及对其他植物物种基因组的越来越多的信息，加上干旱诱导基因的大量测序和全基因组表达谱的分析，为确定候选基因提供了进一步的机会，这些候选基因通过工程和/或标记辅助选择的操作可能有助于加快未来抗旱性的提高。INTERDROUGHT-II的目标是：(1)作为一个平台，提出和辩论与通过遗传和管理方法提高干旱条件下作物产量和稳定性有关的关键问题和战略；(2)评估如何填补分子水平与领域水平之间的知识空白；(3)制定战略，更有效地利用科学知识，释放更多高效用水和抗旱的品种，并更有效地管理水资源。智力价值和影响。现在，公共和私营部门越来越需要分子科学学科与田间作物管理学科之间的交流。第二期国际干旱会议为这种交流提供了一个独特和及时的平台。尽管INTERDROUGHT-II的主要重点是分子遗传学、植物育种和管理实践的科学前沿，但该计划也解决了社会经济问题。第二次旱灾间会议将特别关注较贫穷的欠发达国家，这些国家面临着用水较少和在贫瘠易干旱土地上增加粮食生产的日益严重的问题。会议将在发展中国家专家和学生的适当参与下努力解决这些问题。我们预计将有来自各大洲的400人参加，其中许多是年轻和未来的科学家，以及利益相关者（例如非政府组织、NARI、CGIAR等）将出席，为加强外联提供一个平台。美国国家科学基金会的资助将部分用于支付美国年轻科学家的旅费和/或住宿费，这些费用在植物/作物科学学会的网页上做了广告。将特别强调支持大学里对与干旱有关的课题感兴趣并从事相关工作的年轻研究人员，将研究成果传递给农业和土著社区。干旱是一个全球性的问题，解决方案是全球性的，研究网络是必不可少的——同样重要的是，正如我们的资金分配所做的那样，为少数民族提供参加国际干旱会议的机会。

Drought is the major constraint in food production world-wide. A first INTERDROUGHT meeting held a decade ago brought together a range of expertise to identify the genetic mechanisms underlying drought sensitiity and tolerance, explore practical avenues for improving crop performance in drought-prone environments, and to address issues related to the socio-economic environment interfacing with such practices. Considering the particularly steep increase in knowledge at the molecular level over the last decade, an International conference focussing on all aspects of drought is overdue. INTERDROUGHT II has now been organized to foster interdisciplinary work and harness the understanding coming from plant genomics work for a more holistic view on how to integrate such knowledge in existing breeding programs. Great advances have been made in recent years in understanding the molecular basis of plant response and tolerance to drought stress. Scores of drought-responsive genes have been identified and the function of some has been resolved. The availability of whole genome sequences for Arabidopsis and rice, and increasingly more information about the genomes of other plant species, together with massive sequencing of drought-induced genes and the analysis of the expression profile of entire genomes has provided further opportunities to identify candidate genes whose manipulation either through engineering and/or marker-assisted selection will likely be instrumental for hastening future improvements in drought tolerance. The objectives of INTERDROUGHT-II are (1) to serve as a platform for presenting and debating key issues and strategies relevant for increasing the yield and stability of crops under drought conditions by genetic and management approaches; (2) to assess ways to fill the knowledge gap between the molecular level and the field level; (3) devise strategies to more effectivley deploy scientific knowledge to release more water-use efficient and drought-resilient cultivars and to more efficiently manage water resources. Intellectual Merit and Impact. There is now an increasing demand in both public and private sectors for interchange between disciplines involved with molecular science and those involved with crop management in the field. INTERDROUGHT-II offers a unique and timely platform for this exchange. Although the major emphasis of INTERDROUGHT-II lies in the scientific forefront of molecular genetics, plant breeding and management practices, socio-economic issues have been addressed in the program. INTERDROUGHT-II will be especially concerned with the poorer, less-developed countries that confront an escalating problem of increasing food production with less water and on marginal, drought-prone land. The conference will strive to address such problems with appropriate participation of experts and students from developing countries. We expect 400 people from all continents to attend, many of them young and upcoming scientists, and stakeholders (e.g., NGOs, NARI, CGIAR, etc.) will be present, providing a platform for enhanced outreach. The support from NSF will be used to partially cover travel costs and/or accomodations for young US scientists, advertized through plant/crop science society webpages. Special emphasis will be placed on supporting young reseachers interested in and working on drought-related topics at Colleges that transmit research results to farming and indigenous communities. Drought is a planet-wide problem, solutions are global, research networking is essential - it is equally essential to provide, as our funding allocation will do, minorities the opportunity to attend ID-II.