Program

2024 Conference Theme: “Harvesting the Future: Bridging Phytobiomes, Agriculture and Climate“

Final Agenda

Monday 18 November | 12:30 – 6:15pm

Pre-Conference Workshop – Exploring the Value of Microbial Germplasm for Research and Industry

Tuesday 19 November | 8:00am – 8:00pm

Day 1: The Value of a Systems Approach for Agriculture
8:00 amRegistration and packet pick-up
8:50 amWelcome – Dusti Gallagher, Phytobiomes Alliance
Introductions & Conference Overview – Kellye Eversole, Phytobiomes Alliance
9:10 amKickoff Plenary – Gwyn Beattie, Iowa State University, US
Exploring the roles of climate and plant-insect-bacteria interactions in emerging plant diseases
10:00 amCoffee Break & Networking
Morning Chair: Gwyn Beattie, Iowa State University, US
10:30 amA Conversation about Production Agriculture & Sustainability
Moderator: Dusti Gallagher, Phytobiomes Alliance
– Emerick Larkin, Plenty Unlimited, US
– Lisa Weaver, United Soybean Board, US
– Alex Wiedeman, 80 Acres, US
– Jessica Christiansen, Bayer Crop Science, US
11:35 amPlenary Lecture – Catherine Feuillet, Inari, US
Solving our food system challenges through integrated innovation
12:20 pmTalk – Rita Grosch, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), DE
Impact of farming practices on microbial community in the rhizosphere of winter wheat under consideration of plant fitness
12:40 pmPoster Flash Talks
– Marissa Roghair Stroud, Iowa State University, US
The MAize Rhizosphere Synthetic Community (MARSc): A consortium to reveal principles underlying bacteria-bacteria interactions in the rhizosphere
– Joshua Zuber, Bayer Crop Science, US
Difficulties in effective microbial-based product testing on Apis mellifera (L.) in the laboratory
12:50 pmNetworking Lunch & Poster Viewing
Afternoon Chair: Matthew Ryan, CABI, UK
2:00 pmPlenary Lecture – Francesca Cotrufo, Colorado State University, US
Regenerating soil organic matter for the benefit of climate and food production: A systemic multifaceted approach – Slides
2:45 pmTalk – Richard Lankau, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
Capitalizing on microbial communities to meet restoration and agricultural goals in changing climates
3:15 pmPoster Flash Talks
– Sarah Richards, Pennsylvania State University, US
Directed evolution of beneficial microbial inoculants to improve in-soil survival
– Janice Parks, Washington State University, US
Nitrogen fertilizer application impacts the composition and predicted function of the microbial community in a pea (Pisum sativum) and canola (Brassica napus) intercropping system (peaola)
– Spencer Arnesen, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, US
Identifying diazotrophs from root rhizosphere using variable nifH primers
– Ashley Paulsen, Iowa State University, US
Interrogating individual and collective contributions of members of a synthetic community to maize growth promotion under low nitrogen fertilization
3:35 pmCoffee Break & Networking
4:00 pmPhytobiomes Alliance Regulatory Working Group Discussion: How are research and product development decisions influenced by the regulatory framework?
– Keith Matthews, Matthews Law, US
Regulatory overview
– Bernadette Juarez, USDA-APHIS, US
A regulator’s perspective
– Lisa Ortego, Bayer Crop Science, US
Identifying and addressing the testing and risk assessment challenges of biological-based crop protection products: Progress of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) expert group on biopesticides

Panel Discussion: Experiences with regulations
Moderator: Keith Matthews, Matthews Law, US
– Trevor Charles, Earth Microbial, US
– Shade Sabitu, Pivot Bio, US
– Bernadette Juarez, USDA-APHIS, US
– Lisa Ortego, Bayer Crop Science, US
5:05 pmPoster Flash Talks
– Elizabeth Njuguna, University of California Berkeley, US
International capacity building for CRISPR genome editing technology
– J. Miguel Bonnin, CABI, UK
Underpinning phytobiomes research: The first insights from a European soil microbiome cryopreservation experiment
5:15 pmWrap-up and Closing Remarks
5:20 – 6:20 pmPoster Session (even numbers)
6:00 – 8:00 pmWelcome Reception partially sponsored by NewLeaf Symbiotics

Wednesday 20 November | 7:55am – 9:00pm

Day 2: Harnessing Interactions and Influences within the Phytobiomes
7:55 amWelcome, Announcements & Overview of Day 2
Dusti Gallagher, Phytobiomes Alliance, US
Morning Chair: Richard Broglie, Phytobiomes Alliance
8:00 amPlenary Lecture – Terrence Bell, University of Toronto, CA
The influence of near-term conditioning on microbial survival and function in phytobiomes
8:45 amTalk – Laramy Enders, Purdue University, US
Engineering beneficial agricultural microbiomes to improve protection against insect pests
9:15 amTalk – Veronica Escalante, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US
Unraveling the role of aromatic acids in plant-microbe interactions
9:35 amTalk – Anne Phillips, NewLeaf Symbiotics, US
Developing a microbial product for tomato with Pink Pigmented Facultative Methylotrophs (PPFMs): A field technical development journey
9:55 amPoster Flash Talks
– Xiaoping Li, Virginia Tech, US
Rhizosphere microbial composition and mycorrhizal fungi associated with Boxwood Blight resistance?
– Noh-Hyun Lee, Seoul National University, KR
Development of a hybrid prediction model for Fusarium head blight in wheat considering both meteorological factors and surrounding microbial community
– Kara Reardon, University of Toronto, CA
Contrasting the performance of soil microbiomes conditioned to individual and combined local environmental changes
10:10 amCoffee Break & Networking
10:45 amTalk – Angelica Miraples, University of Guelph, CA
Investigating the microbiome of early maize pollen progenitor cells and its subsequent transmission to mature maize pollen
11:15 amPhytobiomes Alliance Microbiomes Working Group Discussion
– Devin Coleman-Derr, University of California, Berkeley, US
SRC1, a synthetic rhizosphere community of sorghum, modifies immunity and cell wall composition
– Kirsten Benjamin, Pivot Bio, US
Development of gene-edited microbial diazotrophs for partial replacement of nitrogen fertilizer on cereal crops
– Daniel Jacobson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US
Mechanisms, networks, and AI (Oh my!):  Unraveling host-microbiome systems biology

Panel Discussion
Moderator: Richard Broglie
– Devin Colemann-Derr, University of California, Berkeley, US
– Kirsten Benjamin, Pivot Bio, US
– Dan Jacobson, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US
12:20 pmTalk – Asha Thapa, University of Louisiana at Monroe, US
Trichoderma afroharzianum T22 induces rhizobia and flavonoid through systemic signaling to combat Fe deficiency in garden pea
12:40 pmGroup Photo, Networking Lunch & Poster Viewing
Afternoon Chair: Trevor Charles, University of Waterloo, CA
1:45 pmPlenary Lecture – James Lowenberg-DeBoer, Harper Adams University, UK
Envisioning digital management of phytobiome systems
2:30 pmTalk – Rebecca Bart, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, US
Novel microbes and newly assembled syncoms to promote sustainable agriculture – Slides
3:00 pmTalk – Melanie Medina, Ohio State University, US
Within field spatial variability of soil fungal communities and soybean cyst nematode interactions
3:20 pmTalk – Maede Faghihinia, Iowa State University, US
Central role of Thaumarcheota in microbial network cohesion and robustness in agricultural cropping systems
3:40 pmCoffee Break & Networking
4:10 pmTalk – Ilksen Topçu, Texas A&M University, US
Domestication of Zea mays results in divergent impacts on leaf endosphere microbiota
4:30 pmPoster Flash Talks
– Leah Zorrilla, Bayer Crop Science, US
Human health risk assessments for biopesticides – Can we evolve to next generation risk assessments?
– Adriana Giongo, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops (IGZ), DE
Microbial inoculants increase tolerance to drought stress conditions
– Shweta Priya, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US
Dissecting the role of plant cell wall composition in modulating plant-microbe interactions
4:45 pmTalk – Daniel Naylor, NewLeaf Symbiotics, US
Methanotrophs for methane mitigation and growth promotion in rice
5:05 pmTalk – Chuntao Yin, USDA-ARS, US
Cover crop effects on soybean health and associated rhizosphere microbiome
5:25 pmWrap-up & Announcements
5:35 – 6:35 pmPoster Session (odd numbers)
6:50 pmBusses depart for Gala Dinner
7:15 – 9:00 pmGala Dinner, partially sponsored by Bayer Crop Science

Thursday 21 November | 8:00am – 4:10pm

Day 3: Building Collaborations to Drive Innovative Systems-based Research
8:00 amWelcome & Overview of Day 3
Dusti Gallagher, Phytobiomes Alliance
Early Career Recognitions
Morning Chair: Natalie Breakfield, NewLeaf Symbiotics, US
8:45 amPlenary Lecture – Samiran Banerjee, North Dakota State University, US
The role of microbiomes in One Health
9:30 amTalk – Laura Mathieu, INRAE, FR
Plant-plant interactions modulate wheat severity to Septoria Tritici Blotch in some specific mixtures through intergenomic epistatic interactions and transcriptomic-metabolomic changes
9:50 amTalk – Alhagie K. Cham, University of Tennessee, US
Metagenomic profiles reveal that a mild constitutive defense response in maize maintains microbial diversity, limits pathogens and promotes beneficial microbes
10:10amCoffee Break & Networking
10:40 amIndustry Roundtable Discussion: Current state of industry & needs; Public-private collaborations
Moderator: Charles Cowden, Valent Biosciences, US
– Anthony Neumann, NewLeaf Symbiotics, US
– Myles Herbert, Trace Genomics, US
– Matthew Wallenstein, Syngenta, US
– Kirsten Benjamin, Pivot Bio, US
11:50 amTalk – Adrien Fremont, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, US
The chemical toolkit of cover crops: Engineering belowground chemical and microbial diversity
12:10 pmTalk – Ally Miners, University of Waterloo, CA
Sustainable biofertilizer development with ACC enrichment communities to maximize plant growth
12:30 pmBest Poster Awards – sponsored by the U.S. Culture Collection Network
12:40 pmNetworking Lunch & Poster Viewing
Afternoon Chair: Dusti Gallagher, Phytobiomes Alliance
2:10 pmTalk – Mallory Morgan, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US
MENTOR identifies functional relationships among P. trichocarpa genes associated with fungal colonization
2:30 pmTalk – Jose Sanchez-Gallego, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
Trehalose, an environmentally friendly low-cost biostimulant to increase plant stress tolerance
2:50 pmIndustry Career Discussion
Moderator: Kellye Eversole, Phytobiomes Alliance
– Prasanna Kankanala, Trace Genomics, US
– Jordon Wade, Syngenta, US
– Kirsten Benjamin, Pivot Bio, US
– Christina Lawrence, Bayer Crop Science, US
4:00 pmConference Wrap up & Closing Remarks
4:10 pmConference Concludes

Friday 22 November | 9:00am – 12:00pm

9:00am, 10:00am & 11:00am: Tours of The Donald Danforth Plant Science Center