9604593 Banks This award supports the participation of American scientists in a U.S.-Japan seminar on Molecular and Genetic Approaches for the Analysis of Fern Development and Evolution, to be held in West Lafayette, Indiana from July 28-31, 1997. The co-organizers are Dr. Jo Ann Banks of Purdue University and Dr. Akeo Kadota of the Tokyo Metropolitan University in Japan. This seminar has three objectives: 1) to explore the diversity of questions in plant development and evolution that can be addressed most effectively using ferns as model systems; 2) to discuss the genetic, biochemical and molecular tools that must be developed and implemented in order to understand these questions at the cellular, molecular and mechanistic level; and 3) to educate and encourage ideas from graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the use of ferns as experimental systems in studies of plant growth, development and evolution. %%% The primitive features of ferns have facilitated the study of fundamental aspects of plant development, especially those that are difficult or impossible to study in flowering plants. This seminar will bring together American and Japanese researchers who work on the molecular biology and genetics of fern development using different model species. The exchange of ideas and data with Japanese scientists will enable the U.S. scientists to advance their own work. The seminar will involve active participation by graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and the results of the meeting will be widely disseminated via a World Wide Web homepage. ***
