This is a conference proposal to support a unique scientific meeting that focuses on the increased use of computational and quantitative to analyze the dynamics of plant cells. The conference combines keynote speakers, oral and poster presentations, and workshops from the keynote speakers.
Intellectual Merit : The intellectual merit and objectives of the meeting are to provide an open, inclusive, and interactive forum that provides an effective learning environment for all participants, especially undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. NSF funds are requested to increase the breadth of participation to include many young researchers that have an interest in plant cell biology, students from different backgrounds such as engineering, math, and computer science will be actively recruited. The meeting will include oral presentations, posters, workshop, and time for informal discussions.
Broader Impacts : The specific objectives are detailed below. 1) To provide a unique forum for scientific exchange for the plant cell biology community in which we provide an open and inclusive forum for oral presentations that allow all labs to share research results. Lead PIs will provide brief 5 minute overviews of each research area to define key knowns as well as important knowledge gaps. Student and post-doc presentations will be geared toward teaching all participants basic methodology as well as data interpretation. Ample time will be devoted for discussion. 2) To provide an opportunity for a diverse group of participants to present and discuss their results in evening poster sessions. 3) To conduct hands on workshop on fundamentals of growth kinematics (Dr. Wendy Silk,Davis)and multivariate analysis of live cell imaging data (Dr. Luis Vidali,UMass, Worchester). 4) To provide all participants with useful research tools and ideas that will allow them to more broadly integrate math and simulations into their research activities.
This award provided fellowships that enabled the participation of postdocs, students and underrepresented groups from around the US and Canada at the Midwest Plant Cell Dynamics meeting held in Madison, Wisconsin June 5-7th 2013. The meeting exposed all participants to cutting edge plant cell biology and the use of quantitative image analyses and computational tools to discover the cellular growth mechanisms of plants. The knowledge gained from this research will promote basic plant science research and the development of improved crops of agronomic importance. The oral presentation from keynote speaker Dr. Luis Vidali (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) on the use of fluorescence time-lapse imaging in the model plant Physcomitrella patens of cytoskeletal and vesicle dynamics during polarized plant cell growth as well as his workshop entitled "Fluctuation cross-correlation analysis for the study of fluorescent reporters in tip growth" demonstrated the utility and importance of combining experimental biology with computational methods in model organisms to understand plant cell growth mechanisms. The second keynote speaker, Dr. Wendy Silk (UC-Davis) gave an important keynote talk and workshop on the use of kinematic analysis to study and understand the complex motions and growth of whole plants and organs. This second workshop was co-organized by Drs. Edgar Spalding and Nathan Miller (UW-Madison). Both workshops provided meeting participants with hands-on training in the implementation of computational and quantitative imaging tools/approaches for plant cell biology. Nearly all meeting attendees participated in the workshops. The meeting also included oral presentations from over 26 different research groups. These presentations were given almost exclusively by graduate students and post-docs, providing an important training opportunity. Poster sessions were also very successful, providing excellent interactions among students, post-docs, and PIs. Additional information on the meeting program and a list of attendees is available on the meeting website: www.midwestplantcellbiology.org/2013meeting/registration.html.
