The 2024 SS-ASPB meeting will be held March 22-24, 2024 on Dauphin Island, Alabama, at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, to continue the tradition of presenting, discussing, and celebrating research pursuits from all areas of plant science. The topics presented at the meeting are varied in the subject to encompass a diverse group of scientists who work with plants and agricultural systems, or in several related disciplines including soil science, engineering, genomics, and bioinformatics. Scientists from all career stages and diverse positions are invited to attend and encouraged to showcase their research through poster and oral presentations. In particular, the meeting provides early career researchers, including undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdoctoral associates, the opportunity to present their plant-related research.

Registration: Registration will close immediately when the maximum attendee capacity (125 attendees) is reached.

101 Bienville Blvd, Dauphin Island, AL 36528

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT: The abstract deadline is at 11:59 PM EST on March 1, 2024

Poster Submission Information

PROGRAM SCHEDULE:

Friday, Mar 22^nd
		Room
3:00 – 7:00 pm	Meeting Registration	Atrium
4:00 – 8:00 pm	Poster Setup	Atrium
5:15 – 5:30 pm	Welcome Session – Opening Remarks Chair: Colleen Doherty Vice-Chair: Aaron Rashotte Sea Lab representative: TBD ASPB Ambassadors	Main
5:30 – 6:20 pm	General Session 1 – Moderator: Aaron Rashotte	Main
5:30 – 5:55 pm	“Selective Breeding and Domestication of Lemnaceae For Use in Sustainable Agriculture”, Ryan Sartor, NC State University
5:55 – 6:25 pm	“Growing beyond Earth: Telomere tales of Arabidopsis thaliana in lunar regolith simulant and on the International Space Station” Borja Barbero, Texas A&M University
6:30 – 7:20 pm	Kriton Hatzios invited speaker: Katayoon Dehesh, UC Riverside “Decoding Cellular Aging: Insights from Golgi Apparatus Dynamics”	Main
7:30 – 9:00 pm	Opening Night Mixer and Networking Event	Atrium

Saturday, March 23^rd
7:30 – 8:45 am	Breakfast	Café
7:30 – 9:00 am	Registration & Poster setup	Atrium
8:45 – 9:00 am	Welcome	Main
9:00 – 10:30 am	General Session 2 – Moderator: Colleen Doherty	Main
9:00-9:25 am	“Precision genome engineering with the mPing transposable element” Nathan Hancock, University of South Carolina Aiken
9:25-9:50 am	“A cation/H+ antiporter enhances stomatal conductance and carbon assimilation in water-deficit plants” Amith Devrieddy, Oak Ridge National Lab
9:50-10:15 am	“The Arabidopsis telomerase RNP: echoes of mammalian and ciliate enzyme complexes”, Saundarya Mishra, Texas A&M University
10:15 – 10:30 am	Break (coffee and tea)	Atrium
10:30 – 12:00 pm	CONCURRENT SESSIONS 1A & 1B	Main & Classroom
10:30 – 12:00 pm	Concurrent Session 1A – Moderator: Ryan Sartor	Main
10:30-10:45	“Advancing Soybean Seed Protein: Insights from QQS Gene Exploration” Ethan Brister, Mississippi State University
10:45-11:00	“Development of Duckweed Synthetic Seed (SynSeed) for Efficient Germplasm Conservation” Doni Devi Thingujam, University of Alabama at Birmingham
11:00-11:15	‘Single nucleus multiomics reveals the drought-driven gene regulatory atlas in Arabidopsis” Jinbao Liu, University of Alabama at Birmingham
11:15-11:30	“Taxonomically Restricted QQS Associated 1 (TRQA1): A Regulator of Plant Metabolism Controlling Protein and Starch Content“ Rezwan Tanvir, Mississippi State University
11:30-11:45	“Cis-Zeatin delays leaf senescence in Solanum lycopersicum under salt stress as shown by physiological and transcriptomic analysis” Malsha Thennakoon, Auburn University

10:30 – 12:00 pm	Concurrent Session 1B – Moderator: Amanda Storm	Classroom
10:30-10:45	“Chemical insights into the Chlamydomonas quorum sensing signal molecule” Kirstin Cutshaw, Florida Institute of Technology
10:45-11:00	“Dual Phase molecular regulation of leaf senescence by cytokinin isoforms” Omar Hasannin, Auburn University
11:00-11:15	“The role of SnRK1 in Development and Stress Response: omics analysis of the rice snrk1 mutants” Maria Clara Faria Chaves, University of Arkansas
11:15-11:30	“Galactolipids Regulate Systemic Immunity In Plants” Tatsushi Kurokawa, University of Kentucky
11:30-11:45	“A Reverse Genetics Approach to Identifying JAGN1 function in Arabidopsis thaliana” Regina Bedgood, University of Alabama at Birmingham
11:45-12:00	“Salt-Stress Accelerated Leaf Senescence is Delayed by N-conjugated trans-Zeatin type Cytokinin forms in Arabidopsis thaliana” Risheek Khanna, Auburn University
12:00-1:00 pm	Lunch	Café
1:00 – 2:00 pm	Undergraduate Poster Session	Atrium
1:30 – 2:30 pm	Graduate, Faculty, and Professional Poster Session	Atrium
2:30 – 3:45 pm	CONCURRENT SESSIONS 2A & 2B	Main & Classroom
	Concurrent Session 2A – Moderator: Rafael Loureiro	Main
2:30-2:45 pm	“Sulfur Mutant Profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana on interaction with Pseudomonas syringae” Binoop Mohan, University of Alabama at Birmingham
2:45-3:00 pm	“Effects of Simulated Microgravity On Plant Growth Promoting Efficiency of ISS Bacterial Isolates“ David Handy, Florida Institute of Technology
3:00-3:15 pm	“Investigating the effects of diffusible signals from plant growth-promoting bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense, on rice at developmental and molecular levels.” Samuel Hoggard, University of Central Arkansas
3:15-3:30 pm	“Investigating the concentrations and role of Chlamydomonas-derived riboflavin and its degradation products“ Ryan Quick, Florida Institute of Technology
3:30 – 3:45 pm	“12-oxophytodienoic Acid: A Mobile Signal of Induced Systemic Resistance” Simrandeep Kaur, Auburn University
	Concurrent Session 2B – Moderator: Nathan Hancock	Classroom
2:30-2:45	“Conversion of Martian Regolith Simulants to Soil via the Legume-Rhizobia Symbiosis” Hayley Ernest, Florida Institute of Technology
2:45-3:00	“Rhizobial evasion of terminal differentiation: Temporal/spatial dynamics of Sinorhizobium meliloti reproductive population growth in alfalfa nodules and implications for cheating by poor N2 fixers” Katherine Bilodeay, Florida State University
3:00-3:15	“Dissecting the functions of Salmonella enterica effectors in plant infection“ Jill Presel, University of Southern Alabama
3:15-3:30	“Evaluating the Use of Aquatic Plants in Martian Agriculture“ Sergio Solano, Florida Institute of Technology
3:30 – 3:45 pm	“Analysis of Systemic Acquired Resistance by Monitoring Redox-Mediated Transcriptional Dynamics in Arabidopsis“ Rezwana Rahman, Mississippi State University
3:45 – 4:15 pm	Coffee Break
4:15 – 5:15 pm	Kriton Hatzios invited speaker: Jose Dinneny, Stanford University “Diversity and adversity: exploring the mechanistic basis for variation in stress tolerance across the Brassicaceae”	Main
5:15 – 6:15 pm	General Session 3 – Moderator: Mustafa Morsy	Main
5:15-5:45 pm	“Elimination of Pungency in Allotetraploid Brassica juncea Through Gene Editing of the Multicopy Myrosinase Gene Family”, Loren Rivera Vega, Pairwise, Durham NC
5:45 – 6:15 pm	“Evaluating the Impact of Lunar and Martian Regolith Simulants on Plant Imbibition and Germination: Insights for Off-World Agriculture” Rafael Loureiro, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem NC
6:30 – 8:00 pm	Banquet and Awards Presentations – Henry Daniell Award	TBA

Sunday, March 24^th
7:30 – 9:00 am	Breakfast and Poster Take-down	Café & Atrium
9:00 – 9:15 am	Morning remarks	Main
9:15 – 10:05 am	General session 4 – Moderator: Borja Barbero
9:15 – 9:40 am	“Plant-based Recovery of Rare Earth Elements from Secondary Waste Sources” Colleen Doherty, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC.	Main
9:40 – 10:05 am	Investigating Thiamine Metabolite Damage and Repair: Role of the TenA Domain in Arabidopsis TH2 Protein, Ghulam Hasnain, University of North Georgia, Oakwood, GA.	Main
10:05 – 10:30 am	Break (coffee and tea)
10:30 – 11:30 am	Kriton Hatzios invited speaker: Gloria Muday, Wake Forest University, “Flavonol antioxidants control the accumulation of reactive oxygen species to protect plants from environmental stress and to modulate development.”
11:30– 12:00 pm	General Meeting & Concluding Remarks