2nd Annual Joint Plant Research Symposium

The University of Missouri (MU) and the Gyeongsang National University (GNU) in Jinju, Korea, are hosting the 2nd Annual Joint Plant Research Symposium October 2-3, 2007, to help establish research collaborations between the universities. A dual doctoral degree program was created between the two universities and is housed at MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources’ (CAFNR) Division of Plant Science. Representatives from both MU and the Gyeonsgang National University will present talks at the symposium.

Opening symposium speakers include MU Chancellor Brady Deaton; Kyu Young Kang, director of GNU Bio Vision Education Center; Handy Williamson, MU vice provost for international programs and strategic initiatives; Robert Hall, MU interim vice chancellor for research; and Tom Payne, MU vice chancellor for agriculture and dean of CAFNR. The symposium is being held in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center on the MU campus. The official symposium opening was at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 2nd in the Monsanto Auditorium. This is the second symposium between the two universities. Last year 12 MU faculty members attended the first symposium in Jinju, Korea.

Topics of this year's symposium include: “Mechanistic aspects of dehydration tolerance in plants”, “Calcium signaling pathways in plants", “Insect species-specific molecular and biochemical defense response by Arabidopsis", and “Development of bioactive substances from polyphenol rich plant.”