Keynote Speakers

Impact of rice genome research on plant biology, breeding and agriculture

Dr Khady Nani Dramé, is a molecular biologist at AfricaRice Center. Her major interests deals with plant stress physiology and plant breeding. The title of his presentation (K0) is: "Molecular breeding to boost rice production in Africa".

Rice genome evolution, structure and function

Pr Daniel Zilberman, Associate Professor at the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology to Berkeley in University of California. Daniel's lab is involved in the study of chromatin in plants, more specifically how chromatin components interrelate and integrate to regulate transcriptional activity. He has a large record of publication in both Arabidopsis and rice. The title of his presentation is: "The evolution of genomic imprinting in rice".

Rice diversity harnessing for gene discovery and precision breeding

Pr Ryohei Terauchi is a head of division of Genomics and Breeding at Iwate Biotechnology Research Center (IBRC), a non-profit local governmental institute in northern Japan. His major interest is in the evolutionary genetics and co-evolutionary processes of pathogen and host. The title of his presentation is: "Whole genome sequencing approaches reveal rice-Magnaporthe coevolution".

Rice interaction with its biotic environment

image_normal Dr. Uta Paszkowski, Head of Group Cereal Symbiosis at the University of Cambridge, department of Plants Sciences. Her research focuses on molecular mechanisms underlying the formation and functioning of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses in rice and maize. It aims at developing knowledge to optimize the incorporation of the AM-symbiosis into sustainable yet modern agricultural practices. THe title of her presentation is: "Molecular Genetics of arbuscular mycorrhizal Symbiosis in Rice".

Rice interaction with its abiotic environment

Mathhias wissuwa Dr. Matthias Wissuwa is currently a principal scientist at the Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Scieneces (JIRCAS) in Tsukuba, Japan. His research focuses on plant adaptation to abiotic stresses with particular emphasis on improving nutrient uptake and utilization in rice. The title of his presentation is: "Exploring genetic diversity for nutrient efficiency traits through GWAS and 3K allele mining".

Rice development and performance

Dr Da-Bing Zhang is chair Professor at the School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China and Professor at the School of Agriculture of the University of Adelaide, Australia. The main research interests of his group are the mechanisms of rice inflorescence development and male reproduction in rice. The title of his presentation is: "The actin-binding protein RMD regulates rice morphogenesis".

Translational genomics: from rice to other cereals

Yiping Qi-photo Pr Yiping Qi is an assistant professor at East Carolina University in North Carolina in the USA. He is working on improving plant genome editing systems with ZFN, TALEN and CRISPR/Cas9. He is interested in translational science concerning plant disease resistance in crops. The title of his presentation is: "Boosting basic and translational science in plants with genome editing tools".