Source: VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE submitted to
2022 MEETING OF THE PHYTOCHEMICAL SOCIETY OF NORTH AMERICA
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1028614
Grant No.
2022-67013-37416
Cumulative Award Amt.
$33,520.00
Proposal No.
2021-13339
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 1, 2022
Project End Date
Apr 30, 2023
Grant Year
2022
Program Code
[A1103]- Foundational Knowledge of Plant Products
Recipient Organization
VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE
(N/A)
BLACKSBURG,VA 24061
Performing Department
Biological Sciences
Non Technical Summary
The Phytochemical Society of North America (PSNA) will hold its 61st meeting on July 24-28, 2022 at The Inn and Conference Center at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, VA. The goal of this annual event is to advance research on the unique chemistry and biochemistry of plant natural products, their effects upon plant and animal physiology and pathology, and their industrial importance and utilization (e.g., food and fiber sources, commodity chemicals, renewable energy, nutraceuticals). The research that is showcased at the conference has a range of long-term practical applications with significant implications for human health, sustainable agriculture, and environmental conservation. The meeting also strives to ensure the future of the field by actively engaging an interdisciplinary and diverse community of next-generation scientists and providing professional development opportunities for students and early-career researchers, including oral presentations and participation in thematic workshops. USDA-NIFA funding will specifically support the participation of internationally-known keynote speakers and of postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, with special efforts to expand participation by scientists from primarily undergraduate institutions and members of groups underrepresented in the phytochemistry field. This goal is further supported by new initiatives at this year's conference, to include opportunities child care and family resources and institution of a survey to further improve the impact of future conferences.
Animal Health Component
20%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
20%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
2062499100020%
7012239101010%
2030430102010%
2012410108010%
7022220118010%
2113110113010%
2064099110010%
2062499104010%
5112420202010%
Knowledge Area
206 - Basic Plant Biology; 511 - New and Improved Non-Food Products and Processes; 702 - Requirements and Function of Nutrients and Other Food Components; 211 - Insects, Mites, and Other Arthropods Affecting Plants; 203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants; 201 - Plant Genome, Genetics, and Genetic Mechanisms; 701 - Nutrient Composition of Food;

Subject Of Investigation
2220 - Medicinal crops, non-narcotic; 4099 - Microorganisms, general/other; 0430 - Climate; 2239 - Flavoring and beverage plants, general/other; 2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops; 3110 - Insects; 2499 - Plant research, general; 2420 - Noncrop plant research;

Field Of Science
1040 - Molecular biology; 2020 - Engineering; 1180 - Pharmacology; 1130 - Entomology and acarology; 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism; 1100 - Bacteriology; 1000 - Biochemistry and biophysics; 1080 - Genetics; 1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
The overarching goal of the PSNA meetings is to provide a broad forum for scientists in phytochemical and related areas of research, the only conferences in North America to do so. These meetings place a priority on development of early career scientists, contributing for the past six decades to growing excellence in the field. The symposia have evolved over time, closely aligning with the intent of the Foundational Knowledge of Plant Products program to support "projects to study the synthesis of plant-derived, high-value chemicals and ingredients for use in foods, pharmaceuticals, and other natural products," and "for results to be translated into development of varieties that help create or meet emerging and future markets and contribute towards long-term demand for new agriculturally-based industrial and food products." A number of symposia topics presented at this multidisciplinary conference provide links between the "Plant Products" and additional AFRI priority areas that include "Pests and Beneficial Species in Agricultural Production Systems", "Foundational Knowledge of Agricultural Production Systems", and "Physiology of Agricultural Plants". Many PSNA members are current and/or past awardees of USDA NIFA grants, including the chair and co-chair of the 2022 PSNA meeting and more than half of its keynote speakers, indicating the long-standing affiliation of society members with USDA-supported plant programs.The supporting objectives of the 2022 PSNA meeting are to:1. Share and communicate advances at the leading edge of phytochemistry, integrating research at genetic, cellular, and system levels with those at organismal, ecological, environmental, and applied scales in a wide range of experimental systems. This focus is represented in the following meeting symposia:1. Phytochemical/specialized metabolism: Gene discovery, evolution and regulation2. Emerging approaches and applications3. Phytochemistry at the junction of "primary" and "secondary" metabolism4. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering5. Phytochemical signaling (including growth regulation)6. Phytochemical diversity in plant-organismal interactions7. Phytochemistry in a changing environment 8. Phytochemistry of functional foods and bioactive natural compounds9. Beyond plants: Specialized metabolism in microbes and animals2. Continue to build and support an interdisciplinary and diverse scientific community that engages next-generation scientists in research in plant biochemistry and its applications.
Project Methods
The conference program includes nine different symposia. Each symposium will be organized as:one keynote presentation,two to three short presentations preferably presented by early investigator/career presenters,two to three flash talks preferably presented by graduate and senior undergraduate students.Early investigator/career presenters will include two to three Neish awardees and two to three TPJ-PSNA awardees. Additional postdoctoral and student presenters will be invited or encouraged to apply for conference fellowships with support from this proposal or their presentations will be selected from submitted abstracts.Poster sessions are a crucial part of the conference. We will hold two poster sessions with refreshments to promote a relaxed and convivial atmosphere. The posters provide a springboard for interactive discussions that are an important part of the meeting. Posters will be set up in the meeting area during the entire conference, which will promote informal discussions among poster presenters and the other participants throughout the entire meeting.A special breakfast event will be offered for female attendees on the second day of the program. This event encourages networking, mentoring, and collegiality among junior and senior female scientists. A major goal of the event is to retain women in the field and inspire them to become leaders.The conference program also includes two panel-guided workshops for early career scientists and graduate students. The workshop for postdocs will be organized by the PSNA Young Members Committee and facilitate a discussion on career development in academia, government, and industry. The panel will include former Virginia Tech graduates and PSNA awardees representing each of these areas. Besides up to date information on career building, this year's workshop will place special emphasis on seeking opportunities to engage in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and develop meaningful diversity and teaching/mentoring statements for job applications.The workshop for graduate students will be guided by a diverse panel of Ph.D. student representatives of the Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Program and graduate student members of the PSNA Young Members Committee as well as a representative of the Virginia Tech graduate school ombuds office. Based on advice by the PSNA Young Members Committee, the workshop will focus on how to cope with stress in graduate school and mentor-mentee relationships.An additional information session will be held by Dr. Vance Owens, National Program Leader from USDA NIFA Division of Plant Systems--Production, Institute of Food Production and Sustainability to provide information about the "Foundational Knowledge of Plants" Priority Area in the Plant Health and Production and Plant Products Program and about other NIFA programs. All PIs and postdocs are welcome to attend this session.Child care and family resources to facilitate attendance by conferees with young children will be provided through a partnership with the Virginia Tech Women's Center and the Virginia Tech Graduate School. We will offer the option of child care services using the facilities and staff at Virginia Tech's "Hokie Hangout" child care site, which is within walking distance of the conference venue. Another option is child care services using the "Kids Night Out" facilities at the Women's Center adjacent to campus. In addition, conferees will be made aware of The Student List, maintained by Hokie Wellness, which includes information on child care training and/or experience, references, and availability of Virginia Tech students whom parents/guardians may employ directly.A formal assessment of the conference will be performed with the aim of compiling information to continue to improve the impact of the conference in future years. A voluntary and fully-anonymous survey will be used to collect information during and after the conference to obtain information on attendee demographics and feedback on what worked or did not work well for them (symposia, poster sessions, workshops) and for suggestions for improvement. The compiled results shared with the PSNA leadership and the organizers of future PSNA conferences. The intent is that these surveys will become a regular feature of this conference.

Progress 05/01/22 to 04/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The 2022 PSNA meeting represented a key in-person forum for national and international scientists to present cutting edge research in key and emerging areas of phytochemistry. The meeting provided a platform for a diverse group of 115 early career scientists and junior faculty, including two young investigators and 14 travel awardees supported by this grant, to showcase their research through oral presentations and poster sessions. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The 2022 PSNA meeting provided a platform for 115 early career scientists (including the 14 awardees supported by this grant) and junior faculty to showcase their research through oral presentations and poster sessions. Poster sessions and social events, including two excursions, created opportunities for junior and senior scientists to network. The meeting made strong efforts to include events for career development. Two panel-guided workshops were organized, one for postdoctoral associates and the other for graduate students. The first workshop, organized by the PSNA Young Members Committee, involved a panel of former Virginia Tech graduates and PSNA awardees, who provided insights into career development in academia, government, and industry through round-table discussions. The panel consisted of Monica Borghi (Assistant Professor, Utah State University) and Melissa Ramirez (Associate Teaching Professor, NC State University), representing research and teaching-focused faculty. The other panel members were industry representatives Peter Bowerman (Marketing Manager, BASF) and Ryan Anderson (Senior Scientist, Syngenta), as well as Martha Vaughan (Research Leader, USDA-ARS, Peoria, Illinois). Participation of the panel members except Martha Vaughan was supported with funds from this grant. The workshop for graduate students was guided by a diverse panel of Ph.D. student representatives of the Virginia Tech Translational Plant Sciences Program and student members of the PSNA Young Members Committee. Workshop topics included the design of personal research websites and science communication through social media. Approximately 30 participants were in attendance. A special breakfast event was offered for female attendees. This event was attended by a group of approximately 40 junior and senior female scientists to facilitate networking, mentoring, and collegiality among the attendees. A major goal of the event was to retain women in the field and inspire them to become leaders. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Highlights and reflections of the 2022 meeting have been showcased on the PSNA website (https://psna-online.org/meetings-events/) and in the bi-annual PSNA newsletter (https://psna-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/PSNANews2022_602_fin.pdf). Outcomes of the meeting were also highlighted in the electronic newsletter of the Virginia Tech Department of Biological Sciences and in a recent feature from the Virginia Tech Fralin Life Sciences Institute (https://fralinlifesci.vt.edu/news/fralin-features/psna-student-reflections.html). Research presented at the meeting will in part be published in two different journals: PSNA-TPJ awardees are in the process of contributing invited Focused Reviews for publication in The Plant Journal. In addition, keynote speakers and Neish awardees have been invited to contribute an article for an upcoming special issue of Phytochemistry Reviews. TPJ and Phytochemistry Reviews articles are expected to be published in 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Aim 1) Share and communicate novel developments in phytochemical research by integrating advances at genetic, cellular, and system levels with those at organismal, ecological, environmental, and applied scales in nine meeting symposia. The meeting was attended by a total of 161 participants, with 20% joining virtually. In addition to the plenary talk and nine keynote presentations, the program encompassed 47 short presentations, 15 flash talks, and 60 posters, with the majority being presented in person. Seven additional presentations were given by Arthur Neish and Plant Journal/PSNA award winners. The plenary speaker and keynote speakers, whose participation was made possible with funds from this grant, delivered groundbreaking and cutting-edge research presentations. To highlight a few: Plenary speaker Jonathan Gershenzon (Director, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology) shared exciting new insights into the phytochemistry of glucosinolates as the main defense compounds in cabbage plants. Bjoern Hamberger (Professor, Michigan State University) presented latest discoveries of unusual terpene biosynthetic clusters in the mint family with the prospect of developing synthetic biology chassis systems for the production of novel pharmaceuticals and other high-value terpene products. In the symposium "Emerging approaches and applications", Aleksandra Skirycz (Professor, Boyce Thompson Institute) gave insights into state of the art experimental approaches to identify cell-wide metabolite-protein-protein interaction networks. Hiroshi Maeda (Professor, University of Wisconsin) presented latest research on a critical gateway pathway that connects photosynthetic carbon fixation with the biosynthesis of aromatic amino acids and aromatic phytochemicals, a finding that opens possibilities to enhance the conversion of CO2 into aromatic compounds for sustainable production of high-value compounds. In the symposium "Phytochemical Signaling" Gloria Muday (Professor, Wake Forest University) gave fascinating new insights into the functions of flavanol antioxidants in reactive oxygen species signaling and pollen thermotolerance. Diego Salazar (Assistant Professor, Florida International University, presented exciting evidence for the role of phytochemical diversity on the abundance and distribution of plant communities and the effect of environmental factors on specialized metabolite evolution. Jessica Cooperstone (Assistant Professor, The Ohio State University) provided perspectives on current efforts to enhance phytochemical profiles in crop plants for the enhancement of nutritional and health properties. Equally exciting research was presented by the 14 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, who received travel awards supported with this grant. Highlights included the discovery of secondary metabolism genes with major roles in floral scent biosynthesis and seed coat darkening in beans (postdoc Xingqi Huang, Purdue University, and Ph.D. student Nishat Islam, University of Western Ontario, Canada, respectively). Other presentations were focused on crop value improvement by engineering secondary metabolism or investigating its pharmacological effects in avocado (Jyoti Behera, Ph.D. student, East Tennessee State University), cannabis (Israt Jahan, Ph.D. student, York University, Canada), and artichoke (Lisard Iglesias Carres, Ph.D. student, North Carolina State University). In addition, a short presentation by Boaz Negin (Weizmann Institute, Israel, currently a postdoc at the Boyce Thompson Institute, Cornell) gave novel insights into the essential role of cuticular wax composition for plant recovery under drought conditions. Overall, the presentations by both junior and senior scientists provided an exceptional and up-to-date view of the diverse field of phytochemistry, ranging from fundamental research to practical applications. Aim 2) Build an interdisciplinary and diverse scientific community that engages next-generation scientists. Attendance: Annual PSNA meetings are attended predominantly by scientists in North America. Accordingly, nearly 80% of the participants of the 2022 PSNA meeting were from the U.S., with 30% being affiliated with Virginia Tech or regional institutions. Participants from Canada represented the second largest contingent of attendees, while a smaller number came from Europe, Latin America, Israel, and Asia. In line with the general mission of the PSNA to support the careers of young scientists, the 2022 PSNA meeting provided a strong forum for graduate students, postdocs, and assistant professors, who together made up 70% of all attendees. Based on the results of a voluntary demographics survey addressing gender, ethnicity, and race affiliations, the conference was equally well attended by male and female participants. Out of all the attendees, approximately 54% self-identified as White/Caucasian/European, 34% identified as Asian American/Pacific Islander/Asian, 7% as Hispanic/Latino/Latina/Latinx, and 6% as Black/African American/African. PSNA awards: Funds from this grant were used to give travel awards, ranging from $300-$1100, to a diverse cohort of 14 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers including five female awardees and comprising six international attendees from Canada and one from Mexico. Award recipients were selected by a small committee (the PI, Co-PI, and Jim Tokuhisa, member of the local organizing committee) based on scientific excellence, socio-economic status, underrepresentation in science, as well as mentor recommendations. Fourteen additional travel awards were granted to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, while eight Neish and Plant Journal/PSNA awards (comprising five female recipients and three male recipients, one of whom received the award in 2021) were presented to junior faculty members and research associates. Two of these awardees were supported by funds from this grant. Moreover, three short oral presentation awards, three poster presentation awards, and three flash talk awards were made, resulting in a record number of awards that supported the attendance of next-generation scientists.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Abstracts of oral and poster presentations published in the 2022 PSNA Meeting Program Book.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Other Year Published: 2024 Citation: Research presented at the meeting will in part be published in two different journals: PSNA-The Plant Journal awardees are in the process of contributing invited Focused Reviews for publication in The Plant Journal. In addition, keynote speakers and PSNA Neish awardees have been invited to contribute an article for an upcoming special issue of Phytochemistry Reviews. TPJ and Phytochemistry Reviews articles are expected to be published in 2024.