The conference will be held at:
Nebraska Unions
1400 R St
Lincoln, NE 68588
Lincoln, NE 68588
Sign up for these tours as you register, please! Meeting locations will be sent only to first-come, first-serve registrants.
LICOR Facility
TBD
UNL Phenotyping Facility, 2 tours 3 – 3:45 pm, 4 – 4:45 pm
The Innovation Campus Greenhouse is a short drive from the conference center. You must provide your own transportation to this facility, which houses two image-based plant phenotyping systems. The greenhouse scale system can accommodate > 600 large plants and the lab scale system can accommodate multiple trays of small plants. The tour will include up close views of both systems along with a walk-through of the soil preparation, pot filling and wet lab areas. Our phenotyping systems have imaging chambers to facilitate very consistent images and utilize infrared, near infrared, florescent, hyperspectral and visible cameras. We also have facilities at the greenhouse for ground truth measurements including a drying oven for soil moisture and dry biomass along with a Licor leaf area meter.
UNL Beadle Center, 2 tours 3 – 3:45 pm, 4 – 4:45 pm
The UNL Beadle center is within easy walking distance of downtown hotels and the conference center. It houses world-class proteomics/metabolomics and microscopy core facilities, along with an excellent greenhouse facility. The plant transformation core and many faculty of the Center for Plant Science Innovation Center are housed in Beadle, and this tour will be led by our faculty and graduate students, introducing the core facilities and the beautiful diversity rooms of the greenhouse, overflowing with plants from around the world.
Agenda
| Friday, March 21st | |
| 3:00 – 5:00 pm | Tours, register for these when you sign up. |
| Saturday, March 22nd | |
| 7:45 – 8:45 | Registration/Check-in/Poster Set-up/Breakfast Location of all events: Nebraska Union, 1400 R St. Lincoln, NE. Second floor Breakfast buffet |
| 8:45 – 9:00 | Welcoming Remarks (Rebecca Roston, Harkamal Walia, Kumar Shrestha) ASPB Ambassadors (Liza Gautam) |
| 9:05 – 10:35 | Oral Session I: Chair, Kumar Shrestha, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 9:05 – 9:25 | “Physiology, ecology, and evolution of carbohydrate storage in trees” Morgan Furze, Purdue University |
| 9:25 – 9:35 | Discussion |
| 9:35 – 9:50 | “WNK1 kinase regulates Brassinosteroid Signaling through phosphorylating BES1 transcription factor” Ping Wang, Iowa State University |
| 9:50 – 10:05 | “Developing platform crop lines for the production of valuable specialty oils” Dexter White, Kansas State University |
| 10:05 – 10:20 | “Advancing development of winter durum wheat using genomics-assisted breeding” Ritesh Yadav, University of Manitoba |
| 10:20 – 10:35 | “Novel use of cell wall degrading enzymes as a tool to elucidate cell wall-mediated signaling during pathogenesis” Megan DeTemple, Iowa State University |
| 10:35 – 10:45 | Scientist Mixer (Kumar Shrestha) Coffee/Tea break Muffins, Pastries |
| 10:45 – 12:15 | Oral Session II: Chair, Jaspinder Singh, Bayer Crop Sciences |
| 10:45 – 11:05 | “Elucidating regulation of photoprotection for designing more sustainable crop production.” Katarzyna Glowacka, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 11:05 – 11:15 | Discussion |
| 11:15 – 11:30 | “A pan-genome survey of the kaurene synthase-like gene family in rice diterpenoid phytoalexin biosynthesis” Yiling Feng, Iowa State University |
| 11:30 – 11:45 | “Manipulation of wheat phytohormones by wheat curl mite-vectored viruses” Nikhitha Gangavarapu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 11:45 – 12:00 | “Involvement of trichome-enriched fatty acid enzymes in tomato acylsugar biosynthesis” Emma Waller, University of Missouri |
| 12:00 – 12:15 | “Comparative transcriptome expression analysis to understand the genetic basis of Bacterial Panicle Blight resistance in rice under high night temperature” Sapana Ghimire, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 12:15 – 1:15 | Lunch Fajita Buffet Tortilla Chips Saffron Rice with Black Beans Fire-roasted peppers and onions Carne Asada Flank Steak Chipotle Lime Chicken Toppings: Lettuce, cheese, salsa, sour cream |
| 12:45 – 1:45 | Panel discussion: Loving Careers Beyond R1 PI, moderated by Nikee Shrestha Seton Bachle of LI-COR Jaspinder Singh of Bayer Jayne Jonas-Bratten of the University of Lincoln-Kearney Didier Mena of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 1:45 – 2:45 | Poster Session I (Odd numbers) & Desserts/snacks Cookies & Popcorn |
| 2:50 – 4:35 | Oral Session III: Chair, Adedotun Adefolalu, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 2:50 – 3:10 | “Systems Genetics of Plant Nutrient Sensing and Adaptation for Growth Regulation” Hatem Rouached, Michigan State University |
| 3:10 – 3:20 | Discussion |
| 3:20 – 3:35 | “Quantifying DNA Methylation in Response to Drought Stress in Silver Firs” Julia Brandfonbrener, Macalester College |
| 3:35 – 3:50 | “Investigating the Host/Parasite Relationship Using Cuscuta campestris and Tomato Under Drought Condition” Felicity Guttmann, University of Missouri |
| 3:50 – 4:05 | “Reactivating Tomato Defenses: Mechanisms for Overcoming Resistance Breakdown by Select Agent Ralstonia solanacearum Race 3 Biovar 2” Corri Hamilton, University of Missouri |
| 4:05 – 4:20 | “Shikimate Dehydrogenase Modulates Homoserine Biosynthesis in Maize Kernels: Insights from Metabolite-based GWAS and Metabolic Network Modeling” Rajnee Hasan, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 4:20 – 4:35 | “Identifying the functional regions of intrinsically disordered proteins LNK1 and COR27 in the Arabidopsis circadian clock” Stefanie King, Washington University in St. Louis |
| 4:35 – 5:35 | Poster session II (even numbers)/refreshments |
| 5:40 – 6:00 | “Regulation of sorghum defense against insect herbivores” Joe Louis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 6:00 – 6:10 | Discussion |
| 6:10 – 7:10 | Dinner Grand Buffet Turkish meatballs with harissa Falafel with tzatziki Saffron rice pilaf Glazed carrots Cucumber and onion Grilled pita bread |
| 6:45 – 7:00 | Kent Chapman, ASPB President-Elect introduces ASPB |
| Sunday, March 23rd | |
| 7:00 – 8:00 | Registration/Check-in Breakfast Buffet Farm Fresh Scrambled Eggs with Cheddar Cheese & Scallions Buttermilk Biscuits House Made Jams and Preserves, Whipped Butter Fresh Fruit Country sausage links |
| 7:45 – 8:15 | Midwest ASPB Business Meeting (Michael Gutensohn & Rebecca Roston) Announcement of 2026 Midwest ASPB at Mizzou (Ruthie Angelovici), Welcome to day 2 |
| 8:00 – 9:30 | Oral Session IV: Chair, Seema Sahay, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 8:00 – 8:20 | “Cuscuta: A Parasitic Plant for Decoding Plant-to-Plant Communication” Soyon Park, University of Missouri, Columbia |
| 8:20 – 8:30 | Discussion |
| 8:30 – 8:45 | “Genetic Architecture Underlying Mean and Plasticity of Kernel Traits in Maize Highlights Independent Control and Key Loci” Shalma Maman, South Dakota State University |
| 8:45 – 9:00 | “Investigating photosynthetic response of C3 and C4 plants under chilling and drought stress” Gabriel de Bernardeaux, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 9:00 – 9:15 | “Genetically improving seed glucosinolate content and seed size in domesticated Pennycress (Thlaspi arvense L.)” Liza Gautam, Illinois State University |
| 9:15 – 9:30 | “Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and nutrient availability differentially influences cytotypes responses in Chamerion angustifolium” Abbigail Blackwell Michigan Technological University |
| 9:45 – 10:00 | Coffee/Tea break
Donuts Cinnamon Rolls |
| 10:00 – 11:45 | Oral Session V: Chair, Bara Altartouri, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 10:00 – 10:15 | “Modeling differential sub-cellular localization of transcripts as a regulatory mechanism of translation and cell fate” Eric Amezquita, University of Missouri |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | “Effect of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and oyster’s shells powder on cocoa seedlings growth and resistance against Phytophthora megakarya (causal agent of black pod disease) in nursery” Paul Martial Tene Tayo, Biotechnology Center of the University of Yaounde |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | “Determining cell type-specific transcriptional networks of nitrogen response in roots using single cell multiomics” Ryan Patrick, Purdue University |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | “Epigenome Editing: Precision Control of Gene Regulation and Beyond” Lingrui Zhang, Purdue University |
| 11:00 – 11:20 | “Making the Invisible Visible Across Genomes and Fields” James Schnable, University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
| 11:20 – 11:30 | Discussion |
| 11:30 – 11:45 | Awards and Announcements Poster Presentation Awards (Michael Mickelbart & Kumar Shrestha) Oral Presentation Awards (Michael Gutensohn & Ruthie Angelovici) |
| 11:45 – 12:05 | Closing Remarks |