Conference: The 4th International Symposium on Plant Dormancy; June 8-11, 2009 in Fargo, ND at the Holiday Inn Convention Center

休眠在调节植物芽和种子的发育过程中起着重要的作用，并已进化为一种在恶劣环境条件下生存的机制。例如，在农业、园艺和林业领域具有重要经济意义的多年生植物，以及麻烦的多年生杂草，在每个新的生长季都会从越冬休眠的芽中长出新的枝条。然而，一年生杂草往往在农业系统中持续存在，因为种子休眠会随着时间的推移分散萌发，使得传统方法难以控制；种子休眠的缺乏有时会导致作物生产中的收割前发芽(PHS)问题。当植物的芽和种子未能保持适当的休眠控制时，霜冻破坏、杂草控制不佳、发芽率低、PHS，最终导致作物产量低下。据估计，这对美国农业的经济影响保守地超过5亿美元。然而，最近关于植物休眠过程的发现，其中许多尚未发表，为促进学术界和工业界的科学家与致力于相关问题的农业从业者之间的合作提供了新的机会。第四届国际植物休眠研讨会提供了一个场所，聚集了世界著名的植物休眠领域的学术、工业和农业专家，展示他们的最新发现。这次研讨会的结果有望激发控制植物休眠的新方法，促进合作，并减少研究工作的冗余。此外，鼓励年轻科学家和来自代表性不足群体的科学家的特别激励措施将为植物休眠研究领域带来新的思想和想法，并通过指导和合作加强未来的努力。最后，工业和农业利益相关者的参与应该有助于将新想法开发成美国农业产品，并有助于更好地指导学术研究。

Dormancy plays an important role in regulating developmental processes in plant buds and seeds and has evolved as a mechanism for survival during harsh environmental conditions. For example, economically important perennials of the agricultural, horticultural, and forestry sector, as well as troublesome perennial weeds, establish new shoot growth from over-wintering, dormant buds each new growing season. Whereas annual weeds tend to persist in agricultural systems because seed dormancy scatters germination over time making control by conventional methods difficult; lack of seed dormancy occasionally causes pre-harvest sprouting (PHS) problems in crop production. When plant buds and seeds fail to maintain proper control of dormancy, frost damage, poor weed control, low germination rates, PHS, and ultimately, low crop yields are often the result. This has been estimated to economically impact to US agriculture conservatively at more than 500 million dollars. However, recent discoveries related to plant dormancy processes, many of which have not yet been published, provide new opportunities to foster collaborations between scientists in academia and industry, and agricultural practitioners working on related problems. The 4th International Plant dormancy Symposium provides a venue to bring together world renowned academic, industrial, and agricultural experts in the field of plant dormancy to present their most recent findings. The outcome of this symposium is expected to inspire new approaches to control plant dormancy, foster collaborations, and reduce redundancy of research efforts. Additionally, special incentives to encourage young scientists and scientists from under-represented groups will bring new thoughts and ideas into the field of plant dormancy research and enhance future efforts through mentorship and collaboration. Finally, participation of industry and agricultural stakeholders should assist in developing new ideas into products for American agriculture, and help better direct academic research.