Dear All

We would like to encourage you to consider attending the Plant Senescence
and Cell Death Gordon Conference will be held at Mt Holyoke College, MA from
June 27th the July 2nd 2004. There are still a few spaces available for this
conference and the programme can be viewed at the GRC web site;

http://www.grc.uri.edu/programs/2004/plantsen.htm.

Plant senescence is the process whereby cellular components are remobilized
ultimately culminating in the death of cells and whole organs. Genetic and
molecular analyses suggest that the cell death associated with senescence is
a form of programmed cell death (pcd). Situations of environmental abiotic
and biotic stress can trigger senescence and/or other forms of pcd.
Additionally, pcd is essential for certain aspects of plant development.
This meeting will focus on how senescence and the various forms of plant pcd
are regulated and executed.

Our goal is to bring together people using multi disciplinary approaches to
the study of senescence and pcd. Gene isolation and molecular analysis have
been the focus of much of the work in this area for the last decade but
recent exponential advances in genomic analysis have revolutionised this
approach. A new session on systems biology will investigate the use of these
approaches. Additionally, the structure and dynamics of cellular and
organismal function have begun to be analysed in the context of senescence
and pcd. Knowledge of genes is only a beginning; we need to have a clear
understanding of where and how those gene products act within the cell. The
meeting will integrate genetic and molecular approaches with other
disciplines such as cell biology, biochemistry and physiology. A systematic
analysis of recycling processes and investigation of the role of organelles
in senescence and cell death may well reveal exciting links between the
different death processes.


As you will see from the program, we have assembled a stellar group of
scientists working at the cutting edge of the senescence and cell death
fields and the meeting promises to be very exciting. There are still
possibilities to present your research at this meeting, there are a few gaps
in the programme including the session on Hot Topics which will be filled
after we look at all the abstracts that applicants send in with their
registration. We also plan to run poster sessions in the afternoons where
short talks and discussions will be possible.

Information on costs, registration, the conference venue etc are all
available from this web page and we would like to encourage you to apply as
soon as possible.

Hope to see you in June

Jean T Greenberg and Vicky Buchanan-Wollaston
Co-Chairs


Dr V Buchanan-Wollaston Co-Chair
Warwick HRI
Wellesbourne,
Warwick,
CV35 9EF
UK
email:

Jean T. Greenberg, Co-chair
Associate Professor
Department of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology
The University of Chicago
email:

Dr V Buchanan-Wollaston
Horticulture Research International
Wellesbourne,
Warwick,
CV35 9EF
UK
Tel: 01789 470382
Fax: 01789 470552
email:
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