Newsletter July 2017


Dear Members of the International Society of Root Research,

 

We would like to welcome you to our third ISRR newsletter, designed to stimulate global communication and advancement of plant root science and inform you about ongoing activities within the root research community and the ISRR. Feel free to share this newsletter with others, ISRR members and non-members.

 

Feature article: Prof. Michelle Watt gives 2017 Dundee Medal Lecture

  Michelle Watt, Executive Secretary of the ISRR, was recently awarded the Dundee Medal and gave the awarding Lecture at the James Hutten Institute, Dundee Scotland May 24, 2017.  

  The ISRR Dundee Medal Lecture is awarded annually to an international scientist recognized to have made a major contribution to plant root research. Selection of the awardee is based on nomination, voting and support from the ISRR. Michelle Watt is the third international root researcher to win this award. The two previous winners were Prof. Peter Gregory (2016) and Prof. Jonathan Lynch (2015). The elected root researcher gives a talk at the James Hutton Institute (JHI) in Dundee, Scotland (see details here for Michelle’s talk). The JHI is an Agricultural Sciences Institute with 700 employees focusing on crop and animal agricultural sustainability.

  This lecture series is intended to last 10 years. The concept originated from Dr. Blair McKenzie, to create a legacy from the 2012 ISRR meeting (ISRR 8) held in Dundee, Scotland, by bringing world-leading root researchers to Dundee. Typically, the afternoon leads up to the medal lecture, commencing with 3 or 4 short 'early-career researcher' (normally postdoc-level) talks, followed by 1 minute pico-presentations and a (primarily PhD-student) poster session with refreshments. The afternoon meeting is intended to give root researchers a chance to meet together informally and encourage collaboration and interest in root research, and discussions the visiting lecturer and other attendees (see photos above, provided by the JHI).

 

Abstract submission for the ISRR 10 meeting is open:

  You can now submit an abstract for the next ISRR meeting which will be in Israel next July, 2018. Abstract submission will be open until February 28th 2018 and further information can be found on the conference website, as well as on the ISRR website.

 

Feature publication:

  This publication focusses on epigenetics and its manifestation in tissue-specific DNA methylation. It is entitled “Unique cell-type-specific patterns of DNA methylation in the root meristem (Link). 

Please nominate a recent publication from your group for featuring in the following newsletter!

 

Some interesting meetings upcoming in the next months:

  • 3rd global summit on Plant Science in Rome, Italy from 7-9 Aug 2017

Please let us know if other interesting conferences, ideally featuring a section about roots, is coming up so that we can promote the meeting on our website and in the next newsletters.

 

Follow ISRR News on Twitter account @RootScientists

  News from members of the International Society of Root Research is now featured on Twitter in an account (hosted jointly with the International Plant Phenotyping Network (IPPN)). Have a look for insights into ongoing research shared by members of either group and feel free to tweet and retweet us.

 

If you would like to announce something or give feedback to the newsletter or the web site, please write an email to our official address (isrr@fz-juelich.de). The next newsletter should be published in October 2017. Of course you can also retract your agreement to receiving this e-bulletin in the future.

 

Kind regards,

Dr. Josefine Kant (née Nestler) and Prof. Michelle Watt,

on behalf of the ISRR President Prof. Peter Gregory and the ISRR Executive