Progress 12/01/08 to 11/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The 25th Fungal Genetics Conference was held at the Asilomar Conference Center, in Pacific Grove, CA from March 17-22, 2009. The meeting was filled to capacity, with 937 scientists and 13 guests attending from 33 countries and 40 US states. Over 200 universities/research institutes/companies were represented at the conference. The latest advances in fungal biology were presented via three types of sessions consisting of plenary sessions, concurrent sessions and poster sessions. There were four plenary sessions with five speakers in each session covering the topic areas of Genome Evolution and Dynamics, Gene Regulation and Metabolism, Signaling, Development and Sex, and Pathogenic and Symbiotic Interactions. There were 27 concurrent sessions allowing 216 additional researchers to present their findings as talks. These sessions gave many students and postdoctoral fellows their first opportunity to speak at a major international meeting. In addition, there were three poster sessions with over 600 posters presented. The diversity of the presentations at the conference can be seen at the meeting web site which contains the full meeting program and all abstracts: http://www.fgsc.net/25thFGC/FGC25.htm. The diversity of the fungal systems was also apparent with over 180 species of fungi covering all of the fungal phyla represented in the presentations. Also prominently discussed were the unrelated, fungus-like organisms of the Oomycota, such as Phytophthora spp. Participation by researchers studying plant pathogens was apparent with six of the 20 plenary presentations about plant pathogenic fungi including talks on Magnaporthe, Fusarium, Ustilago and others. Most Concurrent Sessions included talks on plant pathogens, with two sessions devoted to these organisms, Fungal-Plant Interactions, and Advances in Oomycete research. Many of the presentations showcased the explosion in research on fungal systems that has occurred due to the dramatic increase in fungal genome data. This research covers diverse areas ranging from evolution and population biology to proteomics, industrial mycology and basic fungal cell metabolism. The meeting also emphasized the application of approaches that were developed on model fungi to plant pathogens, medical pathogens and other less tractable systems. PARTICIPANTS: PI - Marc Orbach - wrote grants, coordinated financial aid application reviews. He did not receive funds from the agency for this work. Partner Organizations: the meeting organization involved work by the Genetics Society of America as the Sponsor and agency with overall organizational planning, and the Fungal Genetics Stock Center for coordination of abstracts and Meeting book printing. Neither of these groups received funding from USDA-NRI for this work. Training and professional development for all meeting participants occurred through the dissemination of the latest research results in the field of fungal biology. In addition, opportunities for students to meet and talk one to one with plenary session speakers was arranged each day. A session on using fungi in teaching was held and its materials made available to participants. TARGET AUDIENCES: Through bringing together a diverse group of scientists from around the US and the world to present their latest research results, the meeting serves to disseminate knowledge and develop new collaborations. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
The funding provided by the the USDA-NRI helped us provide financial support for 17 of the 71 participants to whom we granted aid, most of whom were students. These participants would not have been able to attend the conference without the assistance we provided. The funding also helped us keep the costs of registration for this meeting very low allowing many students, postdoctoral researchers and others to attend. In 2009 we provided a total of $46,849.00 in aid to the 71 people. Funding provided by the USDA-NRI was acknowledged on the meeting website, daily at the meeting both orally and on the projection screen prior to morning sessions, and in the publications from the meeting.
Publications
- The overall meeting was described to the public in two reports. First, the meeting program and abstract book is published as a supplement to the Fungal Genetics Reports: Fungal Genetics Reports 56S (2009). It is available for download at: http://www.fgsc.net/25thFGC/FGC25.htm. A report appeared in the Genetics Society of America GENEtics newsletter May/June 2009. Fungal Genetics Celebrates Silver Jubilee by Francine Govers, Volume 6:2 pg:10-12. In addition, the handouts of the Education and Public Outreach Concurrent Session, describing different ways to incorporate the use of fungi in undergraduate education and for teaching teachers are provided at the Conference webpage listed above. Finally, there was a review published based on the Dothidiomycete Comparative Genomics session at the 25th Fungal Genetics Conference: Goodwin, S.B, and G. H. J. Kema. 2009. Gearing up for comparative genomics: analyses of the fungal class Dothideomycetes. New Phytologist. 183:250-254.
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