Genotype by Environment by Management (GxExM) Symposium II
6 November @ 8:30 am - 7 November @ 5:30 pm
Event information
In collaboration with The University of Florida the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success is coordinating a hybrid (in-person and online) symposium on November 6 and 7 in Gainesville, USA. The symposium will focus on a range of topics related to the study of Genotype by Environment by Management (GxExM) interactions and their importance for crop improvement.
The symposium will be conducted to stimulate new approaches, building on a foundation of sharing understanding and insights from case studies, leading to discussion of ideas that will advance experimental, modelling and prediction methods to enhance crop improvement strategies.
In-person attendance is limited and will be assigned on a ‘first come, first serve’ basis, so we encourage you to finalise your attendance plans as soon as possible. The presentations and discussions during the symposium will be recorded (whenever permission is granted) and made available online, to improve accessibility for all participants. If you have any questions about the format of the meeting or your potential for involvement, please contact admin@plantsuccess.org.
View the draft program >
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Featured speakers
Dr Greg Rebetzke
CSIRO
Dr Greg Rebetzke, Chief Research Scientist at CSIRO Agriculture and Food, contributes to the understanding of genetic and physiological factors affecting water productivity and adapting to changing climates in rainfed winter cereals. His goal is then to deliver elite trait-containing germplasm, and improved phenotyping and genetic methods for trait enrichment in commercial breeding programs.
Professor Christine Beveridge
The University of Queensland
The focus of Christine’s research has been the role of plant hormones in regulating and coordinating plant development, particularly shoot architecture. She discovered the plant hormone strigolactone and that sugar signalling is a driver of shoot branching. More recently her focus has shifted to identifying how different genetic and physiological networks work together to control plant productivity. Christine is the Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture.
Professor Graeme Hammer
The University of Queensland/Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI)
Graeme conducts research on the physiology and genetics of complex adaptive traits in field crops with a focus on water productivity in cereals. His research underpins the development of mathematical models of crop growth, development and yield that enable simulation of consequences of genetic and management manipulation of crops in specific target environments.
Dr Daniela Bustos-Korts
Universidad Austral de Chile
Daniela’s main interest is genotype to phenotype modelling to characterize and predict crop adaptation across multiple environments. These modelling approaches integrate physiology, crop modelling and statistics. She works at Universidad Austral de Chile, leading projects about wheat adaptation to dry environments. She also teaches bachelor and postgraduate courses focusing on models to support breeding and agronomic management decisions.
Dr Jose Crossa
CIMMYT
Jose Crossa works at the Biometrics and Statistics Unit conducting research on genomic models and models for genomic x environment interaction to help CIMMYT researchers achieve their goals. He also teaches courses on statistical genetics.
GxExM Background
The potential importance of GxExM interactions has been considered for many performance properties of agricultural systems. There are complex and growing pressures acting upon the global crop systems on which we depend for our livelihoods.
Universally, significant yield gaps have been identified between potential and realised on-farm crop productivity for most crop systems. Further, the sustainability of the current and required levels of crop productivity to meet the expectations of future needs are continually questioned.
The challenges are diverse, complex and multi-faceted. Crop breeders seek to utilise available genetic resources to develop improved cultivars.
Crop agronomists seek to define agronomic management practices that will work for the improved cultivars.
Farmers seek to combine the improved cultivars with appropriate agronomic practices to achieve a target on-farm productivity while balancing short and long-term risks and rewards.
There have been and continue to be many calls for integrated efforts.
There are successful examples of integrated efforts between breeders, agronomists in partnership with farmers. A number of such efforts have emphasised the importance of considering the potential influences of GxExM interactions at multiple levels within the crop systems.
