Symposium Program - "Comparative genomic approaches to understanding the evolution of Magnaporthales"

Comparative genomic approaches to understanding the evolution of Magnaporthales *

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to a symposium convened by Drs. Ning Zhang and Debashish Bhattacharya entitled “Comparative genomic approaches to understanding the evolution of Magnaporthales” that is supported by the National science Foundation, Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science.  Magnaporthales is a fungal order that includes the rice blast fungus (important plant pathogen and model system for plant-fungal interaction study), summer patch pathogen of turfgrass, take-all pathogen of cereals, as well as saprotrophs. The speakers will talk about their recent progress on the comparative genomics, population genomics, phylogenetics, effector genes, horizontal gene transfer studies etc. We plan to hold the meeting at the Rutgers University Inn on January 7th, 2016. 

Regards,

Ning Zhang and Debashish Bhattacharya

Where:

Rutgers University Inn and Conference Center (RUICC), B Theater, 178 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

When: Jan. 7, 2016, 8:00 am -1:30 pm

8:00-8:30 am Breakfast, RUICC Dining Room

8:30-8:40 Welcome: Bradley Hillman

8:40 Introduction: Debashish Bhattacharya and Ning Zhang

8:45  Ning Zhang, Rutgers University

Phylogenomic analysis of Magnaporthales

9:00 Barbara Valent, Kansas State University

Ancient and emerging threats to food security from the Magnaporthales

9:15 Pierre Gladieux, Cirad-Bios, France

Population genomics of endemic and pandemic lineages of the rice blast fungus

9:30 Chang-Hyun Khang, University of Georgia

Identification and distribution of effector gene homologs in Magnaporthales

9:45 Darren Soanes, University of Exeter, UK

Resequencing of Magnaporthe genomes reveals uneven distribution of secondary metabolic clusters

10:00-10:15 Coffee break, B/C Lndg

10:15 Yong-Hwan Lee, Seoul National University, Korea

Comparative analysis of effector candidates in Magnaporthales  

10:30 Jin-Rong Xu, Purdue University

TBA

10:45 Marc-Henri LeBrun, Directeur Ur Bioger, France

Resolving the polyphyletic nature of Pyricularia (Pyriculariaceae)

11:00 Barbara Robbertse, RefSeq, NCBI 

While reviewing fungal genomes – trust but verify

11:15 Huan Qiu, Rutgers University

Massive recent horizontal transfer between fungi of genes involved in plant pathogenesis

11:30 Jennifer Wisecaver, Vanderbilt University

Detection of secondary metabolic gene clusters and horizontal gene transfer in Magnaporthales genome assemblies

11:45 Jo Anne Crouch, USDA ARS.

Evolutionary forces shaping the region surrounding MAT1 across the Magnaporthales

12:00 Nicole Donofrio, University of Delaware

The fine line of host range: Initial studies into comparisons between two Magnaporthe oryzae strains

12:15 -1:30 pm Lunch and Discussion, RUICC Dining Room

------------------

 **Supported by the National Science Foundation

Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, and Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science