ABS2015

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Dr. Michael Grashorn

WG Poultry Science, Dept. of Livestock Population Genomics (470c), University of Hohenheim, Germany

Speech Title: Potential of phytobiotics in poultry nutrition

Abstract: Antibiotics have been used in animal feeds for a long time as growth promoters. They helped to overcoming unfavorable environmental conditions, high infection pressures and stress situations. Due to increasing resistances of microorganisms against antibiotics in humans the European Union banned the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed in 2006. Meanwhile, more countries have introduced or are considering to introducing a ban on the use of antibiotics in animal nutrition.More...

Dr. Monir M. El Husseini

Professor of Environmental Protection, Director of Biological Control Center, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Egypt

Speech Title: The Role of Biological Control for Organic Cotton Production in Egypt

Abstract: Energy flows in most food chains in the agroecosystem are crowned with beneficial natural enemies including different species of predatory and parasitic insects. They are utilized in organic and IPM cotton production to replace the conventional insecticides usually applied for insect pest's control. Natural populations of 6 coccinellid and 5 staphylinid, 2 carabid, (Coleoptera); 3 anthocorid, 3 reduviid (Heteroptera), 5 syrphid (Diptera); 2 chrysopid (Neuroptera), 1 thripid species (Thysanoptera) and 3 labidurid (Dermaptera) species were manipulated in Egyptian clover to aggregate in seed production stripes (stripe technique) adjacent to and across the planed More...

Prof. Paolo Nannipieri

Department of Agrifood and Environmental Sciences, University of Firenze, Italy

Speech Title: Soil as a biological system and the role of omics approaches

Abstract: Soil as a biological system is characterized by: i) the presence of a remarkable microbiological diversity; indeed thousands of bacterial genomes can be present in one gram of soil. In addition microbial biomass is huge; ii) only a minor proportion of the available space is occupied by microorganisms in soil (microbiological space); iii) soil colloids can adsorb important biological molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. Nucleic acids can be adsorbed and retain their biological activity; iv) soil components show enzyme-like activities. Unfortunately there is no methods to distinguish enzyme from enzyme-like reactions but these methods are More...

Prof.Toshihiko Yamada

Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

Speech Title: The Future of Agriculture for Energy Production

Abstract: Lignocellulosic biomass is a preferred feedstock in bio-refineries for bioenergy production in agriculture sector. There is a need for the development of a second generation of dedicated energy crop cultivars from non-edible plants species that do not compete for food crop land, and to establish low cost and efficient feedstock production systems. All these factors if properly integrated will contribute to develop a viable bioenergy production system. The scale must increase and diversify to achieve national and international mandates and compete with nonrenewal energy. However, biomass for bioenergy is constrained in temperate climates due to environmental constraints, inadequate feedstock and inappropriate agronomic practices. Rhizomatous and perennial warm-season C4 grasses such Miscanthus spp. and switchgrass are potential dedicated bioenergy crops which are efficient at fixing CO2 in temperate regions and require less fertilizer for cultivation. In recent years, Miscanthus has received considerable attention as a potential energy crop in Europe and the USA. However, to date, commercial production of Miscanthus is limited to the cultivation of a single clone of M. ×giganteus; a sterile interspecific hybrid between M. sinensis and M. sacchariflorus that originated in Japan. This genotype suffers from several limitations including plant sterility due to its triploid nature, necessitating vegetative rhizome propagation with high establishment costs and lower overwintering survival after the establishment season. In contrast the diploid species, M. sinensis can be seed propagated and has wide adaptation to different environments. Our recent experiment revealed that M. sinensiswas successfully established by sowing-transplanting method commonly used in rice cultivation and showed high overwintering survival over four winter seasons. Biomass productivity was associated with morphological traits such as tillering capacity, plant height and leaf length. Substantial genetic variability in these traits was observed among wild accessions collected from various locations in Japan. We selected superior genotypes and developed M. sinensisnew varieties, which showed high biomass productivity under lower fertilizer levels in Hokkaido area. On the other hand, molecular breeding techniques including transgenesis and DNA marker selection are promising for development of novel bioenergy crop varieties. Targets for the improvement of grasses as feedstocks for bio-refineries are modifying biomass cell wall composition to reduce lignin concentrations to improve saccharification, regulation of flowering time for extending the vegetative phase to increase biomass potential and abiotic stresses such as cold tolerance. In this presentation, I will outline our recent molecular breeding activities on such important targets in Miscanthus as well.

Prof. Zed Rengel

Winthrop Professor Zed Rengel, FCAAS; Professor of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition Univ Western Australia; 35 Stirling Highway, M087; Soil Science and Plant Nutrition Crawley WA 6009, Australia

Speech Title: Designing crop root systems efficient in capturing soil water and nutrients

Abstract: The current world-wide research on linking genes and root traits is focusing on the primary effects of genes that directly mediate small-scale phenomena such as the growth of meristems and specific uptake processes. However, the small-scale phenomena are of limited value in designing root systems for particular environments because much of the functional efficiency of root systems depends on large-scale phenomena, such as the 3-D distribution of root systems in soil, and how this distribution develops in time.
Simulation modelling plays an important role in understanding the spatial and temporal complexity of root-soil interactions at various scales. We have developed and used the 3-D model ROOTMAP that combines root structure and function with environmental cues to drive regulation on a whole-plant basis. It simulates water and nutrient dynamics (soil transport and plant uptake) and root growth responses to those dynamics in soils with varying resistance to root growth and differing water and nutrient supplies at scales ranging from micro (rhizosphere) to macro (field). We have documented that ROOTMAP (i) matches the patterns of root growth and nutrient uptake measured in the field and (ii) defines the optimal root structure and function regarding uptake of water, nitrate and P by lupins, wheat and field peas under variable seasonal conditions. We have successfully used ROOTMAP to (i) determine which root traits optimise plant performance in diverse environments, and (ii) express model parameters dealing with the root architecture in relation to genetic effects.

Prof. Charles Brennan

Department of Wine, Food and Molecular Biosciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand

Speech Title: Manipulating the glycaemic impact of snack foods:combining food science with human nutrition

Abstract: Consumers trends in the food retail industry have focused recently on reducing the sugar content of commonly consumed products in an attempt to control the glycaemic impact of foods and moderate impacts on metabolic health. This demand for reduced or no added sugar food products stems from the recognition that consumers in Europe, America and Australasia are consuming an average 10% excess of calories per day. Attention has concentrated on manipulating the sugar content of commonly consumed food materials in an attempt to reduce our daily calorie intake. A range of natural sweeteners and non-digestible carbohydrates have been used to replace sugars in cereal based foods as well as beverages. Amongst these food ingredients Stevia and Inulin have received much attention. The talk will focus on potential ways the food industry can utilise such low calorific food ingredients as sugar replacers, and the possible consequences of their use on product quality and consumer acceptance.