Abstracts for the poster sessions and the parallel session on Tuesday afternoon can be submitted to: m.proveniers@uu.nl

Please use the format shown below:

Functional genomics: theory and hands-on data analysis

Marcel Proveniers¹, Sjef Smeekens¹, Guido Van den Ackerveken², Ronald Pierik³, Rens Voesenek³and Corné Pieterse²

¹Molecular Plant Physiology; ²Plant-Microbe Interactions; ³Plant Ecophysiology, Department of Biology, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (M.Proveniers@uu.nl)

Our society depends on plants. Plants are the primary source for human and animal nutrition and dominate the natural landscape. Plants provide us with a broad range of commodities ranging from pharmaceuticals to building materials and offer an environment for leisure and recreation. In many ways plants are essential contributors to human well-being and health. Experimental Plant Sciences study the fundamental life processes of plants at different organisational levels, from molecules and cells to whole plants and ecosystems. The goal of these studies is to understand how plants develop and how they function in, and adapt to, continuously changing and often hostile environments. At the Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University several research groups are studying various aspects of plant biology, often using Arabidopsis as a model. In this summerschool, an attractive program is provided in which experts in the field will highlight different aspects of environmental signaling in plants. Additional speakers will be selected from submitted abstracts. Moreover, there will be ample opportunity for discussions during the poster viewing sessions. The summerschool will not only have a focus on Arabidopsis research, also contributions based on other plant species are very much welcomed. The meeting is especially attractive for Ph.D. students, but the program will also be of interest for post-docs and senior scientist.