Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
PARTIAL SUPPORT FOR THE 24TH ANNUAL MEETING OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF CHEMICAL ECOLOGY
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
NRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0213028
Grant No.
2008-35302-18808
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
2007-04614
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 15, 2008
Project End Date
Jan 14, 2009
Grant Year
2008
Program Code
[51.2B]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802
Performing Department
ENTOMOLOGY
Non Technical Summary
The 2008 Annual Meeting of the ISCE will be comprised of symposia that include presentations relevant to integrative molecular sciences and to U.S. agriculture. The first symposium focuses on chemical deception/mimicry that unveils aspects of chemical communication between plants and insects, as well as among arthropods, that involves co-opting the signaling pathways of a different species. Neurophysiological investigations have helped characterize the chemical blends and olfactory pathways involved in these systems. A second symposium relates to the phylogenetic analyses of the chemical ecology plant defenses that impact insect host range. Different plant biochemical pathways create a variety of different defenses against pathogens and insects, and can be up- or down-regulated in different species to create robust, often toxic, chemical blends against attack. Studies at the cellular level, in the insect gut for instance, have helped determine the modes of action of many of these biochemical armaments. A third symposium will emphasize the chemical ecology of disease transmission in plants and animals. It has become apparent relatively recently that plant and animal pathogens can manipulate the biochemical machinery of their hosts to cause them to emit signals that improve the pathogensAE chances of being transmitted. Chemical ecology of plant-plant interactions will be the topic of the fourth symposium. There is new evidence that volatile emissions of plants being fed on by insects or infected by pathogens can change the biochemistry of neighboring plants to prime them to respond more forcefully to subsequent attack. The molecular bases for the initiation of these emissions has been found to involve chemical oelicitorso transmitted in insect saliva that cause up-regulation of different suites of genes.
Animal Health Component
50%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
9032499106015%
9032499107020%
9032499200015%
9033110106015%
9033110107020%
9033110200015%
Knowledge Area
903 - Communication, Education, and Information Delivery;

Subject Of Investigation
3110 - Insects; 2499 - Plant research, general;

Field Of Science
1060 - Biology (whole systems); 1070 - Ecology; 2000 - Chemistry;
Goals / Objectives
Funds are requested for partial support for symposia to be held during the 24th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Chemical Ecology (ISCE). The meeting will be held August 16th to 22nd at Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania.
Project Methods
The funds will be used to pay the registration fees of 12 invited international and domestic speakers, and 20 graduate students and post-doctoral trainees. The 20 graduate student and post-doctoral trainees will be selected by the ISCE Committee for Student Travel Awards with preference for women, underrepresented minorities, and international diversity. Funding is requested in support of the symposia that involve research at the suborganismal level, and are relevant to United States agriculture and biosecurity.

Progress 01/15/08 to 01/14/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: The Center for Chemical Ecology and Department of Entomology at Penn State University hosted the 25th Anniversary Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE), August 17-22, 2008. This meeting brought together 233 scientists and students, representing 25 countries working in many subdisciplines of chemical ecology. Twenty-four students received partial funding to attend this meeting, via grant funds from USDA, NRI, from Penn State College of Agriculture, and from ISCE sponsors. Papers were presented in four symposia and six sessions of contributed papers. The symposia were: Chemical Ecology of Plant-Plant Interactions, Chemical Deception/Mimicry, Phylogenetic Analyses of Plant Defense and Insect Host Range, and Chemical Ecology of Disease Transmission. Additionally, there were two poster sessions. PARTICIPANTS: Penn State faculty and staff, including Jim Tumlinson (meeting host), Tom Baker, Consuelo De Moraes, Mark Mescher, and Julie Todd organized the program, and John Tooker and Emily Hohlfeld-Kuhns were responsible for local arrangements. Jennifer Dean and Bryan Banks were instrumental as our audiovisual experts during the week. PSU staff in Conferences and Short Courses ensured attendees had a great experience regarding registration and accommodations. Judges of student applications for travel awards to attend the meeting were Professors Jim Tumlinson and Tom Baker of Penn State, Prof. Wilhelm Boland of the Max Planck Institute of Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany, and Prof. Ted Turlings, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences are scientists, university faculty, and students working in the broad field of chemical ecology throughout the world. This is a very broad interdisciplinary field encompassing chemistry and numerous areas of biology. This meeting brought people together from Asia, Africa, Europe and North and South America to report experimental results and discuss common interests in chemical ecology. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
The meeting was heralded as a success not only in content but also in atmosphere. The program was described as "fresh,""well-balanced," and "stimulating" by numerous participants. Numerous stimulating discussions occurred both in formal meeting sessions and in informal sessions during breaks and social events among scientists and students from many different countries around the world and several subdisciplines of chemical ecology.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period