13:00–14:00
Registration and Welcome Refreshments

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14:00–14:15
Opening Remarks
Laura De Gara (Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)

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14:15–16:30

Scientific Session I: Organ development

Chair: Ronald Koes (University of Amsterdam)

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• Invited Lecture

14.15 Sabrina Sabatini (Sapienza University of Rome)
Lessons from the Root: Developmental Boundaries in Cell Division and Differentiation

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• Contributed Papers

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15.00 Michiel Vandenbussche (University of Lyon)

Divergent Evolution of WOX1&3 homeodomain  transcription factor function during diversification of the core eudicot plant species

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15.30 Lucie Riglet (Université de Lyon)

Form and function of fused-petal flowers

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16.00 Eva Leiros (Université de Lyon)

How is tubular corolla architecture regulated? Understanding the molecular mechanisms of petal fusion in Petunia flowers

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16:30–17:00
Coffee Break

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17.00–19:00

Scientific Session II: Flower traits

Chair: Teemu Teeri (University of Helsinki)

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• Contributed papers

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17.00 Nick Desnoyer (The Sainsbury Laboratory)

Open Flower: Designer Flowers for Art & Education

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17.30 Natalia Dudareva (Purdue University)

Benzyl alcohol biosynthesis and its subcellular compartmentalization

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18.00 Xuping Liu (University of Amsterdam)

How Petunia flowers gained yellow colour

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18.30 Karla Cristea (University of Perugia)

Carotenoids effect on Petunia flower colour and chromoplast organization

09:00–12:15

Scientific Session III: Regulation of gene expression and epigenetics

Chair: Michiel Vandenbussche (University of Lyon)

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• Invited Lecture

9:00 Sara Cimini (Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)
Small RNA, Big Impact: microRNA Networks Underlying Salt Tolerance in Rice

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• Contributed Papers

9.45 Ryan M Patrick (Illinois State University)

​Leveraging the Petunia Model to Develop Approaches for Discovering Regulatory Networks for Traits and Metabolites

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10.15 Ying Li (Purdue University)

Decoding Regulatory Information in Solanaceae Genomes Using Large Language Models

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10:45–11:15
Coffee Break

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11.15 Esther Senden (University of Amsterdam)

Identifying the regulatory mechanisms of complex pigmentation patterns using floral pigmentation patterns to study how complex cell identities are regulated.

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11.45 Pleun Langerwerf (University of Utrecht)

That’s Random: exploring the mechanism behind stochastic transposon excision in Petunia W138

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​​12:15–13:45
Lunch Break

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13:45–16:30

Scientific Session IV: Protein expression and sorting

Chair: Eugenio Benvenuto (Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)

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• Invited Lecture

13.45 Marcello Donini (ENEA Research Center, Rome)

The Long and Winding Road to Antibody Production in Plants: Current Advances at the ENEA Green-Biotech Lab

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• Contributed papers

14.30 Francesca Quattrocchio (University of Amsterdam)

Fading and pollination syndrome

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15.00 Nuran Calimli (University of Amsterdam)

PHOX as a Rab5a Effector in Cargo-Specific Vacuolar Trafficking

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15.30 Laetitia de Vanssay de Blavous (University of Amsterdam)

Endomembrane transport through the vacuolinos pathway, characterizing key players in transport, function and delivery

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16.00 Ronald Koes (University of Amsterdam)

Closing the loop: from anthocyanin synthesis to degradation

           

18.00 Guided tour and networking reception (drinks and canapés) at the Rome Botanical Garden.

09:00–11.30

Scientific Session V: Biotic and Abiotic Stress

Chair: Lara Reale (University of Perugia)

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• Contributed papers

09:00 Teemu Teeri (University of Helsinki)

From Gerbera to Petunia: Engineering Polyketide-Based Defense

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09.30 Katja R. Richert-Pöggeler (Julius Kühn Institute, Braunschweig)

Screening Petunia for tobacco mosaic virus resistance

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​10.00 Stefan Ehrentraut (Erfurt University)

Epigenetic Priming of defense gene expression by repeated Botrytis cinerea infection in Petunia

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10.30 Leonardo Ricci (Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)

From wheat to Petunia: development of a plant model for high-resolution cellular tracking of fluorescent nanoplastics.

 

11.00

Concluding remarks & wrap up

Laura De Gara (Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma)

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11:15 –11:45
Coffee Break

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11:45 WPD Business Meeting
Chair: Francesca Quattrocchio (University of Amsterdam)

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