Press Release
First EMBO conference on plant biology in India
Global scientists present cutting-edge research in crops
Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 2: Faced with challenges of climate change, diseases, drought and
pestilence adversely impacting crop productivity, renowned scientists and plant biologists from
India and abroad today called for forceful technological interventions in plant research leading
to adoption of sustainable agricultural practices for the benefit of farmers across the globe.
“There is need for advanced plant research especially in the area of spice genomics for crop
improvement. For sustainable progress in agriculture, technological interventions in plant
research that provide meaningful achievements in crop production have to be thoroughly
explored and adopted,” Prof M. Radhakrishna Pillai, Director, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for
Biotechnology (RGCB) said.
He was addressing a four-day international conference on ‘Micro and Metabolic Regulators in
Plants’ organised by (RGCB) and European Molecular Biology (EMBO) here.
More than 30 acclaimed scientists from India and around 40 countries have converged here to
deliberate on cutting-edge research in plant molecular biology. The four--day conference, which
began here on Wednesday (Feb 1), is hosting over 120 delegates.
Research in plants aimed at developing crop productivity and improvement of yield, especially in
the face of challenges, has always been the preoccupation for plant biologists.
“The EMBO conference is a great opportunity to serve this purpose,” said a participant. “The
conference gains significance because it is aimed at trashing out details of the basic plant studies
which will in future be made available for applications for farmers.”
Among the research abstracts being presented at the event include the one that explores how
bananas, one of the world’s most popular fruits, respond to stress, in this case high salinity, in
the environment.
Another study talks about enhancing the survival of rice crops which are subjected to flooding
during the seedling stage while yet another research studies development of rice florets on
inflorescent branches, a fascinating study that holds the potential to growing new crops.
This is the first time that such a conference is being held in India.
It offers a platform for students and scientists from different areas in plant biology to come
together and interact and exchange ideas and explore future collaborations.
On the first day of the conference on Wednesday, Dr Alain Goossens from Belgium delivered an
insightful speech on engineering plant specialised metabolism while Dr Gordon Simpson from
Scotland gave a keynote lecture on Arabidopsis gene expression.
The RGCB is a pioneer in Life Science research, especially in disease biology of plants, animals
and humans.
ENDS