Functional Genomics at the Arabidopsis Meeting

The 11th International Conference on Arabidopsis Research (June 24±28) took place at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. A wide range of topics was covered in 18 sessions, ranging from `genomics' to ` ̄oral' induction, and `patterning and organogenesis'. In the evenings, several very popular genomics workshops took place. Chuck Gasser (University of California) led the workshop, `Discussion of the 2010 Project', and workshops and drop-in sessions were organized by TAIR (The Arabidopsis Information Resource) and AFGC (Arabidopsis Functional Genomics Consortium). Invariably, even after rescheduling to a larger room, the rooms were crowded with many people standing or sitting on the ̄oor. Starting with the Keynote Address, Richard Jefferson spoke on the global impact of plant biology. He stimulated people to `harness the creative force in Arabidopsis biology for the public good' and passionately pleaded for a reduction of restrictions to the application of biotechnology in agriculture. Cambia, Jefferson's Australia-based biotech company, is developing new methods to use biotechnology in plant breeding. He has started a transgenomics initiative using expression pro®ling for genetic diversity analysis of uncharacterized germplasm and fast building of genetic maps. Using transcriptional activator facilitated enhancer trapping (TAFET), targeted evolution of novel plant traits is addressed. More than 4000 TAFET rice lines have been developed thus far. An overview of the progress on various genome grants was given in the ®rst session, chaired by Jeff Dangl (University of North Carolina). Short reports on NSF (National Science Foundation) grants gave an update on different projects providing tools for the Arabidopsis community. Judith Bender (Johns Hopkins University) described a project on the functional genomics of chromatin, which is now mid-way through the ®rst year. Database mining and reverse genetics, with emphasis on gene silencing, will be used for maize and Arabidopsis. At http://ag.arizona.edu/chromatin/ chromatin.html information can be found on targeted chromatin genes, the dsRNA vector system used and on chromatin mutant strains. Andrew Brent (University of Wisconsin) presented the use of functional and comparative genomics in plant pathogen interactions. Roughly 1% of Arabidopsis genes encode NBS±LRR (nucleotide binding site±leucine-rich repeat) proteins, a combination that to date has only been found in plant disease resistance genes (R genes). To resolve the complex signal transduction involved, expression pro®ling is being used, using the Affymetrix chip. In this way it is checked, for instance, what genes are induced by the action of different R gene products or by pathogens or their proteins. This Yeast Yeast 2000; 17: 235±237.