Meeting: Plants Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Interface between Plant Abiotic and Biotic Stress Responses

在世界范围内，人类依赖植物获取食物、纤维和燃料，所有国家都面临着到2050年为90亿人种植粮食的艰巨任务，同时减少农业的碳、肥料和水足迹。此外，人们普遍预测，全球气候变化将使植物生长条件不稳定，二氧化碳含量增加，气温和降水量剧烈波动。这些不利的条件可能会促使植物病原体传播到新的地理区域，使农业问题更加复杂。在这种情况下，更有必要以单靠育种无法满足的速度，培育抗非生物胁迫、病原体和害虫的作物。非生物和生物胁迫的结合不仅威胁农业，而且威胁自然环境中履行重要生态系统服务的植物。为了应对这些重大挑战，需要继续致力于跨学科和协调一致的研究工作，以了解植物应对各种压力的机制和遗传潜力。2015年跨学科植物组（IPG）研讨会将于2015年5月27日至29日在密苏里州大学举行，主题是岩石和坚硬的地方之间的植物：非生物和生物胁迫反应之间的界面，以促进在更复杂的环境条件下植物对多重胁迫反应的研究。它将汇集21位世界领先的植物胁迫生物学专家，在为期两天半的时间内分享他们的研究成果，旨在提供一个平台，促进跨学科的互动，建立网络，并在不同植物胁迫的科学家社区之间进行生动的思想交流。该项目的一个同样重要的目标是促进一个支持性的会议，包括学生和博士后研究人员，目的是提高有价值的见解转移到植物胁迫生物学的不同主题从一代科学家到下一代。海报讲座，速度海报，海报会议将扩大这些早期职业科学家的参与。该项目包括一个协调一致的努力，使最多三名本科生从少数民族服务机构将与密苏里州夏季本科生研究实习计划，沿着从中西部主要为本科生服务的机构的本科生和他们的教师导师一起招募参加研讨会。

Worldwide, humans rely on plants for food, fiber, and fuel, and all nations face the daunting task of growing food for nine billion people by 2050 while at the same time reducing the carbon, fertilizer and water footprint of agriculture. In addition, the consensus prediction is that global climate change will destabilize the conditions for plant growth with higher CO2 levels and severe fluctuations in temperature and precipitation. These adverse conditions will likely favor the spread of plant pathogens into new geographic areas, compounding the problems for agriculture. Such a scenario increases the need to develop crops resistant to abiotic stress, pathogens and pests at a speed that cannot be met by breeding alone. The combination of abiotic and biotic stresses not only threatens agriculture, but also plants in natural environments that fulfill important ecosystem services. Addressing these major challenges will require a continued commitment to interdisciplinary and concerted research efforts to understand the mechanisms and genetic potential of plants responding to a combination of stresses.The 2015 Interdisciplinary Plant Group (IPG) Symposium, to be held from May 27 to 29, 2015 at the University of Missouri, has the theme Plants between a rock and a hard place: the interface between abiotic and biotic stress responses to promote the study of plant responses to multiple stresses under more complex environmental conditions. It will bring together 21 of the world's leading experts in plant stress biology to share their research over a two-and-a-half day period with the aim of providing a platform that promotes cross-disciplinary interactions, networking, and a lively exchange of ideas among the communities of scientists working on different plant stresses. An equally important goal of this project is to foster a supportive conference that includes students and post-doctoral researchers with the aim of improving the transfer of valuable insights into diverse topics in plant stress biology from one generation of scientists to the next. Poster talks, speed posters, and poster sessions will broaden participation by these early-career scientists. The project includes a concerted effort to enable attendance of the symposium by up to three undergraduate students from minority-serving institutions who will be recruited in conjunction with the University of Missouri summer undergraduate research internship program, along with undergraduate students and their faculty mentors from Midwest institutions that serve predominantly undergraduate students.