Sunday
2:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Arrival and Check-in
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff / Welcome from the GRC Chair
7:40 pm - 9:30 pm
Keynote Session: From Metabolic Engineering to Synthetic Biology
– And Back
Discussion Leader: Maureen McCann (Purdue University, USA)
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:50 pm - 8:25 pm
Mark Stitt (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
"How Can You Predict Anything When Everything Is in Flux?"
8:25 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 9:15 pm
Dominique Loque (Joint BioEnergy Institute, USA)
"Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering to Improve
Bioenergy Crops"
9:15 pm - 9:30 pm
Discussion
Monday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
How Far Is Metabolism Programmable?
Discussion Leader: Mark Stitt (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:45 am
Pablo Nikel (The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Denmark)
"Revisiting the Central Dogma: Lessons Learnt from Environmental Bacteria"
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Group Photo / Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am
Arren Bar-Even (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
"Enhancing Carbon Fixation via Photorespiration Bypass Routes
that Do Not Release CO2 "
11:05 am - 11:20 am
Discussion
11:20 am - 11:55 am
Cristiana Dal Molin (University of Queensland, Australia)
"A Decade of Plant Genome-Scale Reconstruction: From Single to Multi-Scale Modeling"
11:55 am - 12:10 pm
Discussion
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
General Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Power Hour
The GRC Power Hour is an optional informal gathering open to all meeting participants. It is designed to help address the challenges women face in science and support the professional growth of women in our communities by providing an open forum for discussion and mentoring.
Organizer: Eleanore Wurtzel (Lehman College, City University of New York, USA)
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Avoiding Toxicity – Microcompartments and Metabolite Damage-Repair
Discussion Leader: Christoph Benning (Michigan State University, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm
Cheryl Kerfeld (Michigan State University / Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
"Natural and Designed Bacterial Microcompartments"
8:15 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:05 pm
Carole Linster (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)
"Damage Is Inevitable and Repair Is Essential – Also in Metabolism"
9:05 pm - 9:20 pm
Discussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
General Discussion
Tuesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Metabolically Engineered Products in the Marketplace
Discussion Leader: Katrina Cornish (Ohio State University, USA)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:45 am
Jonathan (Josh) Cohn (Syngenta, USA)
"Genetic Engineering to Improve Yield Preservation in Maize Under Drought Stress"
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am
Kristi Snell (Yield10 Bioscience, USA)
"Leveraging a Novel Carbon Sink to Investigate the Potential and Limitations of Photosynthesis in Switchgrass"
11:05 am - 11:20 am
Discussion
11:20 am - 11:55 am
Michael Sullivan (U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA-ARS, USA)
"Making Caffeic Acid Derivatives in Alfalfa: Challenges to Molecular Approaches for Improving Forage Crops"
11:55 am - 12:10 pm
Discussion
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
General Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Societal and Technical Drivers of Government Funding
Discussion Leaders: Andrew Hanson (University of Florida, USA) and Joseph Jez (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 7:50 pm
Parag Chitnis (National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, USA)
"Metabolic Biochemistry to Synthetic Biology to User-Inspired Science – A NIFA Perspective"
7:50 pm - 7:55 pm
Discussion
7:55 pm - 8:05 pm
Gail McLean (U.S. Department of Energy, USA)
"Linking Biology and Chemistry – Foundations for Metabolic
Engineering"
8:05 pm - 8:10 pm
Discussion
8:10 pm - 8:20 pm
Craig Hopp (National Institutes of Health, USA)
"Current Funding Options for Plant Bioengineering at
NIH"
8:20 pm - 8:25 pm
Discussion
8:25 pm - 8:35 pm
Devaki Bhaya (Carnegie Institution for Science, USA)
"Plant Metabolic Engineering: An NSF Perspective"
8:35 pm - 8:40 pm
Discussion
8:40 pm - 8:50 pm
Carrie McMahon (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, USA)
"New Bioengineering Tools - The Regulatory Context"
8:50 pm - 9:10 pm
Discussion
9:10 pm - 9:30 pm
General Discussion
Wednesday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Health-Related Engineering Targets
Discussion Leader: Joe Chappell (University of Kentucky, USA)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:45 am
Paulina Fuentes Taladriz (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Germany)
"Chloroplasts as Biofactories for the Production of Valuable Isoprenoids"
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am
Teresa Fitzpatrick (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
"The Road to Rationalizing and Reaching Vitamin B Biofortification: Are We There Yet?"
11:05 am - 11:20 am
Discussion
11:20 am - 11:55 am
Guodong Wang (Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
"From Hop Glandular Trichomes to Chemical Factory
in Yeast"
11:55 am - 12:10 pm
Discussion
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
General Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Poster Session
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Dinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Business Meeting
Nominations for the Next Vice Chair; Fill in Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss Future Site and Scheduling Preferences; Election of the Next Vice Chair
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Towards a Biobased Economy
Discussion Leader: Pamela Hines (Science, AAAS, USA)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm
Introduction by Discussion Leader
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm
Andreas Weber (Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf, Germany)
"Synthetic Experimental Evolution Towards C4 Photosynthesis"
8:15 pm - 8:30 pm
Discussion
8:30 pm - 9:05 pm
Daniel Ducat (Plant Research Laboratory, Michigan State University, USA)
"Cyanobacteria as Sucrose Factories: Towards Bioindustrial and Synthetic Biology Applications"
9:05 pm - 9:20 pm
Discussion
9:20 pm - 9:30 pm
General Discussion
Thursday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pm
Plants: The Next Chassis Organisms?
Discussion Leader: Xiao-Ya Chen (Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, SIBS, CAS, China)
9:00 am - 9:10 am
Introduction by Discussion Leader
9:10 am - 9:45 am
Neal Stewart (University of Tennessee , USA)
"SynPlastome 2.0: Building a Synthetic Chloroplast Genome for Metabolic Engineering in Crops"
9:45 am - 10:00 am
Discussion
10:00 am - 10:30 am
Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am
Alison Smith (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
"Exploiting Metabolism: How Vitamins Are Good for Algal Biotechnology"
11:05 am - 11:20 am
Discussion
11:20 am - 11:55 am
Nicola Patron (Earlham Institute, United Kingdom)
"Designing Plants with Custom Functionalities"
11:55 am - 12:10 pm
Discussion
12:10 pm - 12:30 pm
General Discussion
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pm
Free Time
4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Poster Session
5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Young Investigator
Presentations / Late-Breaking Topics
Discussion Leader: Cathie Martin (John Innes Centre, United Kingdom)
5:30 pm - 5:45 pm
Surinder Singh (CSIRO, Australia)
"Designer Plant Oils Through Iterative Metabolic Engineering"
5:45 pm - 5:50 pm
Discussion
5:50 pm - 6:05 pm
Patrik Jones (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
"Synthetic Bypass Pathways to Overcome Native Regulatory Limitations of Metabolic Flux"
6:05 pm - 6:10 pm
Discussion
6:10 pm - 6:25 pm
Ju Eun Jeon (Stanford University, USA)
"Metabolomics and Transcriptomics Implicate Acetylenic Compounds in Plant-Pathogen Interactions"
6:25 pm - 6:30 pm
Discussion
6:30 pm - 6:45 pm
Ryan Nett (Iowa State University, USA)
"Elucidation of a Convergent Gibberellin Biosynthetic Pathway in Symbiotic Bacteria"
6:45 pm - 6:50 pm
Discussion
6:50 pm - 7:05 pm
Cynthia Holland (Washington University in St. Louis, USA)
"Arabidopsis thaliana GH3.7 Acyl Acid Amido Synthetase Is a Chorismate-Cysteine Synthetase"
7:05 pm - 7:10 pm
Discussion
7:10 pm - 7:25 pm
Jingke Weng (Whitehead Institute, MIT, USA)
"Discovery of New Terpene Biochemistry by Crystalline Sponge Method"
7:25 pm - 7:30 pm
Discussion
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Dinner
Friday
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Breakfast
9:00 am
Departure