ICPSM 1st International Conference on Plant Secondary Metabolism

Date:June 8-10, 2008
City: Kunming, China
Website: http://www.cspp.cn/ICPSM/index.asp

In plants, secondary metabolites function in many ways, such as detoxification, communication, signaling, safeguarding and other biological processes. In human society, many plant secondary metabolites play a significant role in medication and are used as an important source of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals as well. In China, there is a long tradition of plant secondary metabolite utilization that has played a crucial role in Chinese dietary culture and medicine. There are thousands of different secondary compounds in plants which often exist in a low content and are difficult to artificially synthesize in vitro. Elucidation of such a variety of secondary compound biosynthesis per se is an attraction of science, while the knowledge of the biosynthesis will help human beings benefit more from plant secondary metabolites.

Today, the rapid development of life sciences and technologies provides us unprecedented opportunities to dissect the complexity of secondary metabolome. The advances in the field, such as identification of new compounds, characterization of key enzymes in the biosyntheses, genomic elucidation of the biosynthesis pathways and so on, open a wide avenue to understand plant secondary metabolisms as well as to develop biotechnological tools for manipulation of the biosyntheses.

The 1st International Conference on Plant Secondary Metabolism in the theme of "Human Heath and Plant Secondary Metabolites" will bring together the scientists to share the state of the art knowledge on the secondary metabolisms including vitamins, carotinoids and flavonoids, antinutrients and others, cell walls, metabolic network and metabolomics, and metabolic engineering. This conference will also serve as a bridge, connecting the Chinese scientists with the international community and building an interdisciplinary network to foster the secondary metabolism research in China.

The conference will be held during June 8-11, 2008 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China. Yunnan is well-known for its diverse cultures, breath-taking natural scenery and pleasant climate. However, the most attraction from Yunnan is rich in biodiversity and vanward in research on plant secondary metabolites, which makes her the best place to hold the 1st Conference.

On behalf of the conference organizing committee, I would like to invite you to attend the conference, sharing the science and enjoying the diversities. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Ms. Hui Chen (chenhui@sibs.ac.cn).

We are looking forward to meeting you in Kunming, China.

Sincerely Yours

Xiao-Ya Chen, Ph.D.

Chairman, Organizing Committee

Program:

The conference will be held during June 8-10, 2008. The conference topics are:

(1) biosynthesis of terpenoids;

(2) biosynthesis of alkaloids;

(3) biosynthesis of flavonoids;

(4) biosynthesis of cell walls;

(5) other natural products;

(6) metabolic network;

(7) metabolic engineering;

(8) secondary metabolite application.

 

The conference program includes oral and poster presentations. In addition to invited presentations, the conference will have symposia of oral presentations selected from abstract submission. Young researchers (postdoctoral scientists and graduate students), who are selected for oral presentation by the scientific advisory board, will be exempted from registration fee. The full program details will be available online by March 1.

Preliminary Schedule

	June 8 (Sunday)	June 9 (Monday)	June 10 (Tuesday)
08:30-10:00	Registration	Plenary lectures	Plenary lectures
10:00-10:30		Break	Break
10:30-12:00		Plenary lectures	Plenary lectures
12:00-13:00		Lunch	Lunch
13:30-15:00		Symposia	Symposia
15:00-15:30		Break	Break
15:30-17:00		Symposia	Symposia
18:00-20:00	Reception	Conference Dinner	Conference Dinner
20:00-22:30	Posters Open	Posters Open

Invited Speakers:
 Dr. Marc Van Montagu (Ghent University, Belgium)
 Dr. Dean DellaPenna (Michigan State University, USA)
 Dr. Norman Lewis (Washington State University, USA)
 Dr. Cathie R. Martin (John Innes Centre, UK)
 Dr. Barry Pogson (Australian National University, Australia)
 Dr. Patricia León (University of Mexico, Mexico)
 Dr. Natalia Dudareva (Purdue University, USA)
 Dr. Anne Osbourn (John Innes Centre, UK)
 Dr. Toshiaki Umezawa (Kyoto University, Japan)
 Dr. Kazuki Saito (Chiba University, Japan)
 Dr. Kurt Hostettmann (University of Geneva, Switzerland)
 Dr. Hashimoto Takashi (Nara Institute of Science and Technology, Japan)
 Dr. Xiaoya Chen (Shanghai Institutes of Biological Sciences, CAS, China)
 Dr. Chang-Jun Liu (Brookhaven National Laboratory, USA)
 Dr. Xiaoquan Qi (Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
 Dr. Xiaojiang Hao (Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS, China)
 Dr. Kexuan Tang (Shanghai Jiaotong University)
 Dr. Guodong Wang (Noble Foundation, USA)
 Dr. Jianqiang Wu (Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Germany)
 Dr. Lothar Willmitzer (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, German)
 Dr. Yuji Kamiya (RIKEN Plant Science Center, Japan)
 Dr. Natasha Raikhel (University of California, Riverside)
 Dr. Dominique Van Der Straeten (Ghent University, Belgium)

Organizers:
   Chinese Society for Plant Physiology

   Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, CAS

                  Kunming Institute of Botany, CAS

Organizing Committee:
 

Dr. Xiaoya Chen, Chairman (Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai, CAS)
Email: xychen@sibs.ac.cn

Dr. Sheng Luan (University of California at Berkley, USA)
Email: sluan@nature.berkeley.edu

Dr. Hongwei Xue (Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai, CAS)
Email: hwxue@sibs.ac.cn

Dr. Zuhua He (Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai, CAS)
Email: zhhe@sibs.ac.cn

Dr. Xiaodong Luo (Kunming Institute of Botany, Kunming, CAS)
Email: xdluo@mail.kib.ac.cn

Dr. Laigeng Li (Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai, CAS)
Email: lgli@sippe.ac.cn

Dr. Jirong Huang (Chinese Society for Plant Physiology)
Email: huangjr@sibs.ac.cn

Ms. Hui Chen (Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, Shanghai, CAS)
Email: chenhui@sibs.ac.cn

Ms. Mengmeng Yu (Chinese Physiologist Society, Shanghai)
Email: mmyu@sibs.ac.cn

Contacts:
For abstract submission:
Dr. Jirong Huang (huangjr@sibs.ac.cn)

For registration, hotel reservation, tour application, payment and other conference information:
Ms. Hui Chen (chenhui@sibs.ac.cn)
Ms. Mengmeng Yu (mmyu@sibs.ac.cn)

Links:
Kunming city
Shanghai City
Beijing City