2012 Gordon-Kenan Graduate Research Seminar, August 4-5 and Sixth Gordon Research Conference on Plant Cell Walls, August 5-10, 2012, Colby College, Waterville, Maine

植物的细胞壁在其生长和发育，对环境的反应以及与其他生物体的相互作用的许多方面起着关键作用。植物壁还提供食物、纤维和一系列生物材料的来源。最值得注意的是，在过去的几年里，由于其作为生物能源的巨大潜力，人们对壁生物学的兴趣又有了很大的恢复。因此，2012年戈登植物细胞壁会议将涵盖广泛的主题，旨在吸引对该领域的基础和应用方面感兴趣的研究人员。今年会议的次主题是“后基因组世界的细胞壁研究”，将考虑自上一届细胞壁戈登会议以来三年来在DNA测序领域发生的巨大技术变化。下一代测序技术正在彻底改变生命科学的各个方面，我们现在正处于一个可以以低成本获得大量基因组和基因表达数据的时代。这种范式转变对植物细胞壁研究的影响是什么？有哪些与细胞壁的结构、功能和实际应用有关的问题以前无法解决，但现在我们可以解决？我们正在见证“模式生物”的终结吗？生物多样性会成为墙研究的下一个主要前沿吗？我们如何才能最好地将序列信息转化为增强对基本细胞壁生物学和生物化学的理解？除了测序之外，这些问题还将在大量其他创新技术的背景下提出，这些技术正在以前所未有的分辨率水平和许多时间和空间尺度（分子，细胞，有机体和进化）对壁生物学产生影响。这次会议将作为一个重要的论坛，来自不同背景的科学家提出，辩论和工艺的细胞壁研究的未来，它可以说，从来没有一个更重要的时间这样做。这次戈登研究会议将汇集学术，工业，研究中心和政府实验室的研究人员的国际组合，批判性地评估目前的理解植物壁。会议还将使来自多个学科的领先研究人员与年轻科学家接触，以实现新的研究目标和想法。戈登研究研讨会将包括口头报告和海报会议，主要由研究生和博士后研究人员沿着参加，并由选定的研究人员小组参与讨论，为进入该领域的年轻科学家提供了一个独特的机会，以建立一个紧密的社区。

The cell walls of plants play critical roles in numerous aspects of their growth and development, responses to the environment, and interactions with other organisms. Plant walls also provide sources of food, fiber, and a spectrum of biomaterials. Most notably, the last few years have seen a major resurgence of interest in wall biology as a consequence of their enormous potential as a bioenergy resource. Accordingly, the 2012 Gordon Conference on Plant Cell Walls will cover a broad range of topics that are aimed at attracting researchers interested in both basic and applied aspects of the field. The sub-theme of this year's meeting, "Cell Wall Research in a Post-Genome World", will be a consideration of the dramatic technological changes that have occurred in the three years since the previous cell wall Gordon Conference in the area of DNA sequencing. Next-generation sequencing technologies are revolutionizing essentially every aspect of the life sciences and we are now in an era where access to huge amounts of genome and gene expression data is readily available and at low cost. What are the consequences of this paradigm shift to the study of plant cell walls? What are questions related to the structure, function and practical applications of cell walls that could not previously be addressed, but are now within our reach? Are we witnessing the end of "model organisms"? Will biodiversity be the next major frontier of wall research? How can we best translate sequence information into enhanced understanding of fundamental cell wall biology and biochemistry? In addition to sequencing, such questions will be asked in the context of a wealth of other innovative technologies that are being brought to bear on wall biology at unprecedented levels of resolution and at many temporal and spatial scales: molecular, cellular, organismal and evolutionary. This meeting will serve as a major forum for scientists from diverse backgrounds to present, debate and craft the future of cell wall research and it can be argued that there has never been a more important time to do so.This Gordon Research Conference will bring together an international mix of academic, industrial, research center, and government laboratory researchers to critically evaluate current understanding of plant walls. The conference will also bring leading researchers from multiple disciplines into contact with younger scientists to seed new research goals and ideas. The Gordon Research Seminar will include oral presentation and poster sessions presented and attended primarily by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers along with a selected panel of established researchers to contribute to discussions, offering a unique opportunity for young scientists entering the field to develop a close-knit community.