Collaborative Research: Meeting: Vascular Transport in Plants - Research Frontiers and Priorities (Washington, DC March 2015)

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This proposal seeks funding for a workshop focused on the current and future state of research in plant water transport. The plant water transport system is a central determinant of plant photosynthetic rate and growth, and thus of the productivity of terrestrial systems. The plant water system is also a key locus for the impact of drought and pathogens. This proposal is for a workshop on the current and future directions in the study of plant vascular transport. The goals of the workshop are to integrate current research, identify the most exciting new areas of research, highlight research at the interface with other scientific disciplines, and to promote new collaborations and approaches among practitioners. Previous plant hydraulics workshops in 2003 and 2008 have been enormously productive. However, large conceptual and methodological advances in this research area have marked the period between 2008 and 2014. A new meeting is needed to focus on issues of current excitement, controversies regarding measurements and analyses, and future directions in plant vascular biology. By integrating expertise across fields, including newly developed approaches in bio imaging, plant anatomy, computational models and lab measurements, the workshop will enable detailed discussion and improved resolution of research frontiers that will result in increased collaboration and inter- and trans-disciplinary projects. Opportunities to connect with other fields, including genomics, plant pathology, and nano-engineering, are critical, and at the workshop, a wide range of scientists in plant hydraulics will identify how to do this in the most productive way and disseminate their findings to the field. Time will be devoted to discussion and development of integrative projects, needed instrumentation development, and moves toward developing consensus methods. The organizers, in consultation or collaboration with participants, will produce a comprehensive meeting report, and collaborative papers for publication in high impact journals and projects as a direct outcome of discussions during the workshop. The research has significant broader impacts in organismal response to global change, agricultural yield, and forest conservation. The workshop involves a diverse community of participants, including women and under-represented minorities, and will contribute to networking between diverse senior and junior scientists, thereby helping career development. Mentorship of students and postdocs, and in particular, members of under-represented groups will be the focus of some discussions.Plant water transport relies on physical and biochemical processes, and thus breakthroughs in physics and molecular biology both inform and extend the core understanding and measurements. Several of the foundational methods used in plant hydraulics have been recently challenged in their ability to provide unbiased estimates. The debate over methods has grown to include controversies concerning estimation of the conditions under which xylem embolism occurs, the methods to quantify the impact of water stress on xylem conductivity, and the mechanisms by which plants respond to and recover from drought. Thus, a workshop would be a timely and valuable tool to promote discussion and analysis of research among diverse, widespread research groups. The workshop will take place over 2.5 days, in Arlington, VA, with over 30 participants. The first day of the meeting will concentrate on plant hydraulics and water relations, while the second day will focus on interfaces with other field, including phloem function, ecological genomics, xylem pathology, broad-scale ecology, and nanodesign. The third day will be devoted to discussion and development of integrative projects and/or instrumentation development.