Theme: Products and impacts
The Annual Research Meeting (ARM) is an excellent forum for scientists in GCP projects to meet with their project teams and other GCP scientists, share their research results and jointly plan for the upcoming year. The 2008 event took place in Bangkok, Thailand, and saw the participation of more than 150 scientists from around the world. GCP would like to extend sincere thanks to BIOTEC Thailand, our hosts for the event. Special thanks go to Udomrat Vatanakun and Duangkaew Chongkachornphong for their great logistical support.
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Theme and subthemes
With approximately 16 projects coming to a close in 2008, this year’s theme was ‘Products and impacts’. Posters were also presented covering four subthemes
Agenda
The agenda included the following sessions:
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GCP perspectives
- Stakeholder perspectives
- Impact pathways
- Gene discovery
- Marker development and breeding applications
Cross-thematic topics
- Reference collections
- Genomic resources
- Tropical Legumes I
- Molecular Breeding Platform
Subthemes 3 & 4:
- Marker development and breeding applications
- Support services and enabling delivery
For agenda details, follow the links below:
Presentations
View 2008 ARM presentations
2008 ARM Presentations were organised around the following thematic and cross-thematic topics:
Stakeholder perspectives
Impact pathways
Gene discovery
Marker development and breeding applications
CROSS-THEMATIC TOPICS
Reference collections
Genomic resources
Tropical Legumes I
Molecular Breeding Platform
Support services and enabling delivery
Presentations, of no more than 12 slides and 14 minutes, were to paint a brief but punchy picture of the highlights of GCP projects. The emphasis was laid upon results and impact, rather than concepts or methodology. Completed projects were to include results and 'what next', data format and release, links with other projects, product delivery and impact on users. Presentations on the Tropical Legumes Improvement project were also to emphasize the NARS/developing country component.
Poster session
All ARM participants were invited to present a poster on GCP work, or on work related to GCP’s mission for non-GCP scientists. A maximum of two posters per GCP project was permitted. The scope of the posters was exciting results from GCP projects, or non-GCP work which is however related to GCP’s mission. Striking concepts and methodologies were also welcome.
Following on from the success of the previous year's ARM Poster session, posters presented at the 2008 ARM did not disappoint. Presenters faced one key challenge: to convince the audience of their posters' winning qualities in just 60 seconds - and not a second more! The fun and light-hearted presentations were grouped by the four subthemes derived from the overall theme of 'Products and Impacts', and split across two hour sessions on Wednesday 17th and Friday 19th September:
Wednesday 17th September:
1. Exploiting allelic diversity
2. Genomic resources and gene/pathway discovery
Friday 19th September:
3. Marker development and breeding applications
4. Support services and enabling delivery (incorporating training and capacity-building)
Subtheme 1: Exploiting allelic diversity
Poster 1.13: Diversity analysis of the sorghum global composite collection and reference set
- Presenter: Tom Hash
- Authors: CT Hash*, P Ramu, HD Upadhyaya, RT Folkertsma, C Billot, J-F Rami, R Rivallan, M Deu, J Chantereau, L Gardes, Y Li, T Wang and P Lu (* International Crops Research Institute for the Semi –Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India; e-mail: c.hash@cgiar.org)
Subtheme 2: Genomic resources and gene/pathway discovery
Poster 2.6: Identification of orthologous regions associated with tissue growth under water-limited conditions
- Presenter: JE Cairns
- Authors: GM Aquino, C Bencivenni, B Boussuge, JE Cairns, B Courtois, GF Davenport, S Impa, DC Liu, R Mauleon, JM Ribaut, R Serraj, T Shah, R Torres, C Welcker and F Tardieu* (* Agropolis−INRA/AGRO M, UMR759, Laboratoire d’Ecophysiologie des Plantes sous Stress Environnementaux, Place Viala, F-34060 Montpellier Cedex 1, France; e-mail: ftardieu@ensam.inra.fr)
Subtheme 3: Marker development and breeding applications
Poster 3.13: Development of chromosome segment substitution lines from a cross between cultivated peanut and a wild synthetic amphidiploid
- Presenter: Daniel Foncéka
- Authors: Daniel Foncéka*, Hodo-Abalo Tossim, Issa Faye, Ousmane Ndoye, Jean-Francois Rami (*Agropolis−CIRAD -UMR DAP – France. email:daniel.fonceka@cirad.fr)
Subtheme 4: Support services and enabling delivery (incorporating training and capacity-building)
Poster 4.18: Development of salt tolerance in rice through marker−assisted selection
- Presenter: Khin Than Nwe
- Author: Khin Than Nwe*, Tin Tin Myint and Thida (*Department of Agricultural Research (DAR), Nay Pyi Taw Yezin, Myanmar email: director-dar@myanmar.com or kt-new@mail4U.com.mm)
And the special award goes to.....
In addition to prizes per subtheme, there was also a 'special award' for the most innovative and memorable poster presentation. With so many entertaining presentations this year choosing a winner for this category was no mean feat, but as the ballot was cast, Ndiaga Cissé of Senegal's ISRA was revealed as GCP's favourite presenter. Ndiaga proved that less really can be more as he proceeded to present his team's subtheme 4 poster 'Improving capacity for phenotyping cowpea for abiotic and biotic stress tolerance in Senegal' (poster number 4.8) through a series of key messages via the Overhead projector, yet all done with a creative twist: in complete silence. The dramatic effect culminated in an uplifiting belly laugh from the audience as Ndiaga wrapped up the presentation with a humorous final transparency, proving more than enough to win over our ARM audience - well done Ndiaga! Ndiaga was also lead author of the poster, with co-authors including Nouhoun Belko, Samba Thiaw, Ndeye Ndack Diop, Philip Roberts and Jeff Ehlers.
All five winners were awarded with a small non non-monetary token for their achievements. Please join us in congratulating the winners!
World Café
A new and refreshing facet in this year's ARM agenda was the inclusion of a World Café session. The session, designed to serve as a simple yet powerful method for creating meaningful and cooperative dialogue around questions participants perceive to truly matter, proved to be an exciting and challenging experience for most participants. Gathering in groups of small- to medium-sized groups for no longer than 30 minutes at a time, ARM invitees were left to participate in any one of 13 ongoing conversations, before moving onto to a new conversation at each 30 minute interval. As participants moved around the room, conversation topics developed, twisted and turned, with participants crossing-pollinating ideas and discovering new insights into the subjects chosen for discussion, as listed below:
1. Induced crop mutants: Vital genetic and genomics resources (Host: Chikelu Mba)
2. The role of small and medium-sized enterprises in realizing GCP’s mission (Host: Dinesh C Joshi)
3. Advantages and disadvantages of various genetic marker systems for marker-assisted breeding: What type of markers will better serve MAS? What is the optimal number? What is the optimal density? (Host: Jeff Ehlers)
4. Integrating the old and the new crop improvement sciences (Host: Nsarellah Nasserlehaq)
5. Regional hub lab for NARS: Is it necessary? (Host: Nollie Vera Cruz)
6. Molecular breeding for developing countries: Is it worth it? (Hosts: Jean-François Rami, Robert Koebner)
7. Diversity Array Technology for GCP crops (Host: Andrzej Killian)
8. Next generation sequencing technologies (Host: Pablo Rabinowicz)
9. Capacity-building in Phase II (Host: Stanley Wood)
10. Can we manage drought phenotyping as a service? (Host: Glenn Hyman)
11. NARS and breeders’ needs driving GCP’s Phase II: Dream or reality? (Host: Philippe Monneveux)
12. Crop platforms: are they a good instrument to ensure impact after the GCP? If so, how? (Host: Mathias Lorieux)
13. Should GCP consider a deeper engagement in advocacy? (Host: Theresa Fulton)
The relaxed and informal tone of the session allowed participants to comfortably exchange views and ideas, greatly facilitating the knowledge-sharing essence lying at the heart of the World Cafe concept. The success of the session can in no small way be attributed to our 13 hosts, to whom we extend our deepest thanks.
To learn more about the main principles and history of The World Café, please visit these websites:
- The World Cafe website
- Wikipedia
The following side events took place around the ARM:
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SP2-SP4-organised workshop on Data analysis for Candidate Gene Discovery, 14th-15th September 2008. Organiser: Guy Davenport
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SP4-organised meeting on 'Prospects and strategies for Subprogramme 4 activities in GCP's Phase II', 14.00 - 16.00 on Monday 15th September. Organiser: Graham McLaren
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Data templates plenary demonstration (Tuesday 16th September) and live helpdesk sessions (16th-20th September): To help participants familiarise themselves with the new SP4 data templates. Organiser: Elizabeth Arnaud
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A Molecular Breeding Platform (Portal, Information System, Toolbox and Services) - One day closed workshop which took place on Sunday 21st September. Organiser: Graham McLaren
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Field trip
Following on from feedback from PIs on ways to improve the 2007 ARM, and to accommodate all views, an open afternoon was arranged for Thursday, 18th September. This included an optional half-day field trip: some participants were keen on catching up on research and field realities in Thailand during this afternoon.
The four options open to participants were:
OPTION 1: Kasetsart University, Kampaengsaen Campus
OPTION 2: BIOTEC Central Research Unit
OPTION 4: Pacific Seeds (Thailand) Ltd.
OPTION 1: Kasetsart University, Kampaengsaen Campus, Nakhon Pathom Province
(Around 1.5 hr drive from Bangkok)
This trip included visits to the following three research units:
• Rice Gene Discovery Unit (RGDU)
RGDU was established in 2001 through the close collaboration between BIOTEC and Kasetsart University's Kamphaengsaen Campus. This unit focuses on the use of genomic technologies to develop genomic tools to discover genes that reveal important characteristics of rice, as well as making use of genes in molecular breeding programmes. More
• Center for Agriculture Biotechnology (CAB)
Located here is the Plant Molecular Genetic Laboratory. Research projects focus on the improvement of biological yield of field crops, the reduction of farming’s dependence on synthetic chemicals, and the increase of production efficiency. More
• Plant Research Group
The unit was established in 1985 as a result of a collaboration between BIOTEC and Kasetsart University Kamphaengsaen Campus. The unit has been assigned to carry out basic and applied research in plant biotechnology and genetic engineering.
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OPTION 2: BIOTEC Central Research Unit
(Around 45 mins. drive form Bangkok)
Located in the Thailand Science Park, this is BIOTEC’s largest in-house research unit, and has a core research programme focusing on food biotechnology, plant and animal biotechnology, tropical diseases and bio-resources assessment and utilisation. This tour will include visits to the following research institutes and laboratories:
• Genome Institute: Genome Institute was established to focus on post-sequence, functional genomic questions. The major technical platforms of high-throughput sequencing, high-throughput proteomics, bioinformatics, and HPC (High-Performance Computing Service) are integrated with programmes in molecular and cellular biology, and computational biology. Genome Institute houses Sequencing Laboratory, Proteomics Laboratory and Biostatistics and Informatics Laboratory, as well as providing DNA sequencing and related services through the Bioservice Unit and servicing genomic data through HPC and the Genomics Database Laboratory. Genome Institute currently houses the following genomic databases: Rice, Shrimp, Cassava, Spirulina and Thai SNP. It also plans to cover oil palm genome in the coming year.
• Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory Starch Biosynthesis: The research projects in this lab focus on two important aspects of starch production in cassava: the sucrose partitioning pathway and the biosynthetic pathway of storage starches.
• Plant Physiology and Biochemistry Laboratory: The aim of research here is to develop innovative technologies for novel products. The core research disciplines are physiology, biochemistry, tissue culture, cell culture and molecular genetics. More
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OPTION 3: Nakhon Sawan Field Crop Research Centre, Nakhon Sawan Province, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperation
(Around 2 hrs drive from Bangkok)
This research station is located in the upper central region of Thailand. The research station harbours agricultural research, an experimental field and facilities for researchers working on corn and other related crops. The research station also carries out specific research projects needed by the country.
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OPTION 4: Pacific Seeds (Thai) Ltd., Saraburi province
(Around 1.5 hrs drive from Bangkok)
‘Pacific Seeds (Thai)’ was established in 1975 as a member of the Advanta group of companies. As a business unit of continental grain, hybrid corn, sorghum, forage sorghum and sunflower were introduced from Pacific Seeds in Australia. Quality, targeted research over many years has resulted in the breeding, production and marketing of seeds, which fulfill the needs of farmers, industry and food manufacturers. Those products were evaluated to identify elite hybrids for Thai market. More
Feedback from the trips was generally extremely positive, with many participants considering the on-site visits an excellent learning experience. Special thanks again to our hosts BIOTEC who coordinated the trips.