Dr. Hongwei Guo is a chair professor in the department of Biology at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen, China. He is also the director of the newly established Institute of Plant and Food Science (IPS) at SUSTech. Dr. Hongwei Guo has devoted himself and his lab to the research field of plant hormone biology for decades. Particularly, his group had made tremendous contributions to the understanding of ethylene signaling mechanisms and regulatory framework. They have originally established the protein degradation and translation repression modes for ethylene action, and revealed the crosstalk and network between ethylene and other phytohomones (e.g. auxin, JA, GA and SA) as well as environmental factors (e.g. light, salt, and other stresses) in a wide range of biological processes. Significant discoveries and findings from Guo’s lab were published in top-tier journals such as Cell, Science, PNAS, Plant Cell, Current Biology, among others. He has served as an editor or editorial board member for Plant Cell, Mol Plant, PCP, JIPB.

Robert Schaffer’s lab works is focussed on fleshy fruit development and ripening.  Working predominantly in Actinidia sp. (kiwifruit), his lab is using genomics, transcriptomics and CRISPR gene editing to understand the molecular control of fruit maturation and ripening.  Utilising the newly manually annotated kiwifruit genome, and rapid flowering gene edited plants, they are exploring the transcriptionally controlled gene networks associated with ethylene and fruit ripening.  Utilising diverse genetics found in germplasm collections, they are investigating how these networks control consumer desirable traits such as flavour, texture and colour.

Research in the Kieber lab focuses on the plant hormones cytokinin and ethylene. They study the perception and signaling mechanisms, the biosynthesis, and the physiological roles for these hormones. Their primary model system is the model dicot plant Arabidopsis thaliana, but they have extended their studies to the monocot rice.

Our research programme is focused on the developmental biology of plants, and in particular on molecular control mechanisms in embryogenesis and root development. We make use of a range of techniques in functional genomics, and exploit the many advantages of Arabidopsis thaliana as a model experimental organism. Current projects relate to the question of how genes and signalling systems regulate the specification and activity of cells in the root meristem. This includes the mechanisms underpinning root responses to environmental stresses, the distribution of PIN proteins, the control of signalling receptor function and the role of alternative RNA splicing in regulating these processes. A feature of our work is the integration of predictive mathematical models with experimental approaches to describe gene-hormone signalling network interactions.

Work in Brad Binder’s lab focuses on ethylene signal transduction with a major focus on understanding the roles and functions of the receptors for ethylene in plants as well as how ethylene receptors function in bacteria. They combine imaging techniques with biochemistry, molecular biology, computational molecular modeling, and genetics to unravel the complexities of ethylene signaling.

Eric Schaller’s lab use biochemical, molecular, and genetic strategies to study how plants grow and respond to changes in their environment. Their research is focused on the roles played by the plant hormones ethylene and cytokinin, and is relevant to solving real-world agricultural problems, such as the control of ripening and senescence.

Caren Chang studies the molecular and cellular bases of ethylene signaling in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Her group is also investigating the evolutionary history of ethylene biosynthesis and signaling, and found evidence that a conserved ethylene-signaling pathway was present in the aquatic ancestor of land plants more than 450 million years ago. More recently, her lab has been analyzing the role of the ethylene precursor, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC), as a signal in its own right in various species throughout the plant lineage.

Climate extremes resulting from global change severely reduce crop yields. As extreme weather events often hit underdeveloped regions, climate change particularly threatens food security for the most vulnerable populations on the planet. Nutritional security poses an additional considerable challenge. Micronutrient malnutrition, the "hidden hunger" caused by a lack of vitamins and minerals, affects almost half of the world population.

In the Laboratory of Functional Plant Biology at Ghent University, headed by Dominique Van Der Straeten, sustainable and nutritious plant production is a central theme. Research is conducted towards a triple goal: 1) Understanding plant growth in both normal and adverse conditions; 2) developing tools for plant health monitoring allowing the fine-tuning of stress control; and 3) biofortification of staple crops to eradicate micronutrient deficiencies.

The first theme centralizes around the plant hormone ethylene. Recent research focuses on cell type specificity of ethylene in growth as well as in stress responses, and on the role of ACC as a signal independent of ethylene, besides its function as an ethylene precursor.

The lab led by Dr. Chi-Kuang Wen, CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, focuses on the signal transduction of ethylene, a gaseous plant hormone involved in various biological processes including fruit ripening. The truncated ETR1 receptor protein fragment (ETR11-349) is capable of receptor signal out in the absence of the Raf-like proetein CTR1, depending on the Golgi- and endoplasmic reticulum-associated RTE1, via  differential cooperation with other receptor isoforms through the GAF domian. Dr. Wen and his colleagues revealed that ethylene signaling can be inhibited in the absence of CTR1 and propose that the unphosphorylated Ser645/Ser924 residues at EIN2 may not be sufficient to EIN2 conversion to an active state and a cryptic mechanism may be required for EIN2 activation. Dr. Wen also promotes appropriate application of statistical analyses for interpretation of studies involving quantification.

The emphasis of research in the Muday lab is the understanding of hormone and reactive oxygen species (ROS) signaling. We are using genetic and molecular biological approaches to study the role of the plant hormone, ethylene, in plant growth and development and how ethylene and auxin signaling pathways interact. We are using a systems biology approach to identify the receptor and transcriptional signaling networks that control ethylene-modulated root development in the model species of Arabidopsis thaliana, including stimulation of root hairs, and inhibition of primary root growth and lateral root initiation. We are also examining the hormonal regulation of synthesis of flavonols, plant specialized metabolites that act as antioxidants. We are studying both the biochemical machinery by which flavonols are synthesized and how flavonols modulate ROS homeostasis in multiple developmental processes in both Arabidopsis and tomato.

Sonia Osorio graduated (Master and Ph.D.) from University of Malaga and was a postdoc fellow at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology. She is currently Full Professor at the University of Malaga leading the laboratory of Biotechnology of Fruits (https://www.ihsm.uma-csic.es/investigadores/118). Her research interests´ center on uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying the production of plant metabolites related with aroma, taste and postharvest properties. Activities are centered on understanding early events in the regulation of the ripening transition using strawberry and tomato as a model, an exploring the conservation of ripening mechanisms in those fruits. Her lab combines cutting-edge metabolomics in fruit development and postharvest.

Mondher Bouzayen graduated (Master and Ph.D.) from University of Toulouse and was a postdoc fellow at the University of Nottingham (Don Grierson’s group). He is currently a Professor at the University of Toulouse leading the laboratory of Genomics and Biotechnology of Fruits (GBF, http://gbf.inp-toulouse.fr) a joint unit between INRA and INPToulouse. MB has three decades experience in fruit science devoted to understanding developmental shifts including the flower-to-fruit (fruit set) and unripe to ripe fruit transitions. A major focus is put on the hormonal control of fruit development and more recently on the role of epigenetics regulation in transcriptomic reprogramming associated with critical steps of fruit development. GBF lab routinely implements combined functional genomics and reverse genetics approaches. MB made a substantial contribution to the generation of genomic resources on the tomato model system including the Tomato Genome Sequencing, and TomExpress transcriptomic profiling pipeline (http://gbf.toulouse.inra.fr/tomexpress) and has substantial experience in coordinating national and international programmes. In 2015, elected member of the Academia Europaea, “Applied and Translational Life Sciences”. 

James (Jim) Giovannoni is a California native and received his Bachelors degree in Biochemistry at the University of California, Davis (1985) and a Ph.D. in Molecular and Physiological Plant Biology at the University of California, Berkeley (1990). He undertook postdoctoral research with Steven Tanksley at Cornell University (1990-1992) and joined the faculty of the Department of Horticultural Sciences at Texas A&M University (1992-2000). Jim is currently and ARS scientist and Director of the US Department of Agriculture Robert Holley Center in Ithaca, NY and his laboratory is located in the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research on the Cornell University campus. The research focus of his laboratory revolves around regulation of fleshy fruit ripening and related nutritional pathways. The laboratory deploys genomic, genetic and physiological approaches to understand early events in the regulation of the ripening transition using tomato as a model, and explores the conservation of ripening mechanisms in additional fruit species.

​Anna Stepanova is an Associate Professor of Plant Biology and Genetics at North Carolina State University, USA. Her primary research interests center around plant hormones, specifically the mechanisms of ethylene signal transduction, auxin biosynthesis, hormone pathways’ crosstalk, and translational regulation of hormone responses.  In her work, Anna is employing classical and molecular genetics, genomics and synthetic biology in Arabidopsis and tomato to decipher the mechanisms governing plant adaptation and phenotypic plasticity.

Jose Alonso is a William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Plant Biology and Genetics at North Carolina State University. His work is focused on deciphering the molecular mechanisms underlying the interaction between plant hormones, in particular, ethylene and auxin. In his group, tools and technologies as diverse as bacterial recombineering, synthetic hormone reporters, and ribosome footprinting are brought together to address fundamental questions in plant hormone biology.