(On Demand) Extended: Harnessing root rhizosphere traits for synthetic biology enabled climate smart crop solutions - [BROADCAST]

To breed or engineer stress resilient plants we need a deeper understanding of the root rhizosphere traits resulting in abiotic stress tolerance. Roots adapt to resource-limited soils by changing their structure by 1) increasing their overall surface area to increase water and nutrient acquisition, 2) increasing their lengths to access new resources, and/or 3) shifting exudate composition and quantity to improve plant resource use efficiency and facilitate plant-microbe crosstalk to ameliorate stress. This concurrent symposium aims to address current knowledge gaps and some of the novel approaches and directions of root and rhizosphere trait discovery underlying abiotic stress tolerance.

Session Agenda (EST):
11:00am - Welcome
11:05am - "Evaluation of root system architecture diversity in field pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.) and genetic dissection using genome-wide association mapping studies" - Marcus Griffiths
11:25am - "Developing synthetic microbial communities to improve sorghum performance" - Citali Fonseca-Garcia
11:45am - Pubudu Handakumbura
12:05pm - Dorota Kawa
12:25pm - Jennifer Brophy
12:45pm - Closing

Presenters will give live talks and will take audience questions posed in the chat.