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DECLARATION
concerning creation of the
Research Consortium working on Evolution of Plant-Microbe
Interactions
The research on the evolution of symbiotic systems
is of a crucial importance for the modern biology since symbioses
provide the broad opportunities for generation of the novel
organization, functions and adaptive properties in nearly all types
of organisms. Beneficial and antagonistic plant-microbe interactions
are broadly used as the promising models for the evolutionary
research since these interactions are analyzed comprehensively at
the molecular, genetic and ecological levels. A variety of
fundamental biological processes including transitions between the
free-living, pathogenic and symbiotic lifestyles, and the functional
integration of the partners’ genes into super-organism regulatory
networks may be studied using the plant-microbial models.
Evolutionary approaches are very important to
understand the nature of plant-microbe interactions permitting us
to: (i) integrate and compare different types of the empirical data
and facilitate the experimental analyses of symbiotic systems; (ii)
reconstruct the dynamics of microbial populations in the environment
which is dependent greatly on their success in the habitats provided
by eukaryotic hosts. The ecological challenges of 21 century suggest
a necessity to create the novel ecologically friendly agricultural
strategies, among which the most promising is a strategy of
substituting the mineral fertilizers and pesticides by the microbial
preparations. The artificial evolution of symbioses including the
improvement of extant plant-microbial systems and construction of
the novel ones should be clearly based on the detailed knowledge on
mechanisms responsible for their natural evolution.
Proceeding from the fundamental and practical
importance of evolutionary research in plant-microbe interactions we
will to organize a Research Consortium in the frames of the AB-RMS
network. This Consortium may constitute an informal group of
scientists interested in Evolution research and effective
application of Plant-Microbe Interactions. Its scope should cover a
broad spectrum root-microbe systems, including endophytic,
rhizospheric, symbiotic and pathogenic studied with respect to gene
and molecular evolution, genome dynamics, population and molecular
ecology, phylogeny/macroevolution studies, mathematical simulation,
well as genetic construction and biological engineering of
practically valuable symbiotic and biocontrol systems. Integration
of specialists from diverse areas of theoretical, experimental and
applied biology into the proposed Research Consortium may facilitate
their cooperation, the exchange of ideas and data, synergistic
efforts in promoting the evolutionary ideas into different areas of
biology and in finding the additional opportunities to support the
evolutionary studies. We suggest that many senior researchers and
PhD students interested in the multidisciplinary research of
Plant-Microbe Interactions may join the Consortium. In its activity
the Consortium wish to cooperate with the broad spectrum of
scientific organizations dealing with plant-microbe interactions and
the evolutionary problems.
In order to specify your responses to our ideas,
please answer several questions given below and return the replies
to Organizing Committee on E-mail address
<contact@arriam.spb.ru>.
1. Do you think, organization of the Research
Consortium is useful and timely?:
- yes,
- no,
-
comments...
2. What research topics would you like to
propose for the activities in the Consortium?
(please give a
title and/or a short description of aims/methods/possible results;
totally no more than 500 items)
3. Which kinds of activities do you propose for
the Consortium at this initial step of its organization?
-
creation of a special website or a page in AB-RMS website
-
preparation of a grant proposal (if possible, suggest a topic and a
foundation to be applied)
- suggest a topic for the meeting or
of section in some other meetings devoted to plant microbe
interaction.
All your suggestions concerning this
initiative will be accepted with the gratitude.
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