International Symposium on Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf to be held in Dallas, TX, May 18-22, 2003

2003年5月18日至22日，萨缪尔·罗伯茨诺布尔基金会和德克萨斯农机大学将在德克萨斯州的达拉斯举办“牧草和草皮分子育种国际研讨会”。本次会议将专门讨论通过应用传统植物育种和分子方法对牧草和草坪进行品种改良的主题。牧草为世界范围内环境可持续的动物产品生产提供了基础，而草皮在社会中发挥着重要的环境和服务作用。牧草和草坪草的经济影响是巨大的。利用传统的选育技术进行品种改良几乎跟不上日益增长的生产需求。分子技术为加强品种改良提供了强有力的工具，尽管相对于其他主要作物，这种技术在饲草和草坪育种方面的发展缓慢。这种比预期进展缓慢的原因包括：多倍体遗传的复杂性；牧草和草坪作物的多年生性质；以及缺乏支持应用研究的财政资源。本次会议将有250-400名来自学术界和工业界的代表参加，他们代表了植物育种、农学、反刍动物营养、植物遗传资源、知识产权、基因组学、转化和生物信息学等不同的专业兴趣。被选中的演讲者都是各自领域的专家，并且每个人都承诺参加。因此，本次会议将为草料和草坪改良领域的植物育种家和分子科学家提供一个难得的机会，以交流信息和想法，了解最新发展，并形成多学科合作。预计这次会议将促进美国以及发展中国家和发达国家当前和未来品种发展的进步。会议招募工作将通过邀请历史上代表性不足的群体成员、年轻科学家（包括博士后研究员）和研究生，寻求将批判性的新思想引入该领域。在这一学科中引入新思想是有益的和必要的，年轻科学家对这一领域的接触将在未来几十年对饲料和草皮的栽培改进做出理想的贡献。会议的总结，包括受邀演讲者的论文和精选的口头报告，将被汇编成一本综合性的印刷论文集，题为《草料和草坪的分子育种》。本论文将由Kluwer学术出版社出版。这一程序将是使会议及其讨论永久化的主要手段。

The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation, Inc. and Texas A&M University are hosting theInternational Symposium on Molecular Breeding of Forage and Turf, May 18-22, 2003 inDallas, Texas. This conference will focus exclusively on the theme of cultivar improvement forforage and turf through the application of conventional plant breeding and molecular methods.Forages provide the basis for environmentally sustainable production of animal productsthroughout the world, and turf serves an important environmental and service role in society.The economic impact of forages and turfgrasses is substantial. Cultivar improvement usingconventional selection techniques has barely kept pace with increased production requirements.Molecular technologies offer powerful tools to enhance the process of cultivar improvement,although the development of such technology for forage and turf breeding has been slow relativeto other major crops. Reasons for this slower than desired progress include: the complicatednature of polyploid genetics; the perennial nature of forage and turf crops; and a lack of financialresources to support applied research.This conference will facilitate the assembly of 250-400 participants from academia and industry,representing such diverse professional interests as plant breeding, agronomy, ruminant nutrition,plant genetic resources, intellectual property rights, genomics, transformation, andbioinformatics. The selected speakers are experts in their respective field, and each hascommitted to attend. Thus, this conference will provide an otherwise unavailable opportunity forplant breeders and molecular scientists in the field of forage and turf improvement to cometogether for the purpose of exchanging information and ideas, learning the latest developments,and forming multidisciplinary collaborations. It is anticipated that this conference will facilitatethe advancement of current and future cultivar development in the United States and as well asdeveloping and developed countries.Efforts in conference recruitment will seek to draw critical new thoughts into this field throughthe solicitation of members of historically underrepresented groups, young scientists (includingpost-doctoral fellows), and graduate students. The introduction of new ideas to this discipline isbeneficial and necessary, and the exposure of young scientists to this field will desirablycontribute to cultivar improvement for forage and turf for decades to come.A summary of the conference, including papers from invited speakers and selected oralpresentations, will be compiled in a comprehensive printed proceeding, entitled inMolecularBreeding of Forage and Turf.ln This proceeding will be published by Kluwer AcademicPublishers. This proceeding will be the principal means used to perpetuate the meeting and itsdiscussions.