Scientific Program (Social program below) (WUEMED Workshop below)

Saturday, September 24

13:00-14:30		Registration and poster mounting
Session 1. Introduction and setting the scene
Co-Chairs: Gian Tommaso Scarascia Mugnozza and Roberto Tuberosa
14:30-15:10	Welcoming address from the organizers and local authorities
15:10-15:40	Opening comments: Why are we here? Abraham Blum (www.plantstress.com, Tel-Aviv, Israel)
15:40-16:15	Relative economic impact of drought in agriculture Renè Gommes (FAO, Rome, Italy) - Invited Speaker
16:15-16:40	Coffee break and poster viewing
16:40-17:15	Defining the drought environment - Physical and biological perspectives John B. Passioura (CSIRO Plant Industry, Canberra, Australia) - Invited Speaker
17:15-17:50	Monitoring plant and soil water status – Established and novel methods Hamlyn Jones (SCRI, Scotland, UK) - Invited Speaker
17:50-18:25	The historical perspective of dryland agriculture: Lessons learned from 10,000 years José Luis Araus (University of Barcelona, Spain) - Invited Speaker
18:25-19:00	More growth for the same water? Linking genetics and physiology Josette Masle (The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia) - Invited Speaker
19:00-20:30	Welcome reception (hosted by The British Council in Rome)
20:30-21:30	Concert by the choir of the University of Rome "La Sapienza"

Sunday, September 25

Session 2. Improving yield under water-limited conditions –

Soil and crop management

Co-Chairs: Manuela M. Chaves and Giuliano Mosca
08:30-09:05	Lessons from field research under water-limited conditions. Deficit (supplemental) irrigation Elias Fereres (CSIC, Institute of sustainable agriculture, Cordoba, Spain) - Invited Speaker
09:05-09:40	Non-drought factors reducing yield in dry-land environments Len J. Wade (University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia) - Invited Speaker
09:40-10:00	Evaluation of wild Cicer species for resistance to drought Cengiz Toker (Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey) - Selected Talk
10:00-10:20	Adaptability and stability analysis of grain yield in advanced bread wheat lines for drought stress in cold and moderate dryland areas of Iran Mozaffar Roustaii (DARI, Maragheh, Iran) - Selected Talk
10:20-11:05	Coffee break and poster viewing
11:05-11:40	Crop simulation models as a research and a dryland farming tool Francois Tardieu (INRA-ENSAM, Montpellier, France) - Invited Speaker
11:40-12:00	Water and soil salinisation in Italy: Impacts and mitigation options Nicola Colonna (ENEA, Rome, Italy) - Selected Talk
12:00-12:20	Effects of deficit irrigation and crop load on yield and growth of plum trees Diego S. Intrigliolo (IVIA, Moncada, Spain) - Selected Talk
12:20-12:40	Rooting ability of transplanted rice under different water regimes Akihiko Kamoshita (University of Tokyo, Japan) - Selected Talk
12:40-13:00	Effects of water deficits on soybean grown in a semiarid temperate environment of Argentina Roberto E. Brevedan (Universidad Nacional del Sur and CERZOS, CONICET, Argentina) - Selected Talk
13:00-14:30	Lunch

Sunday, September 25

Session 3. Improving yield and sustainability under water-limited agriculture

Co-Chairs: Neil C. Turner and Paola Rossi Pisa
14:30-15:05	Can access to a cropping system simulator help farmers reduce risk in drought prone environments? Zvi Hochman (CSIRO, Toowoomba, Australia) - Invited Speaker
15:05-15:40	Strategies for improved management of scarce water resources in agriculture Theib Oweis (ICARDA, Aleppo, Syria) - Invited Speaker
15:40-16:00	Explore on-farm for North Africa Mohamed El-Mourid (ICARDA, Tunisia) - Selected Talk
16:00-16:20	Predict crops response by linearization about control approximation Ibnou Dieng (Centre d'étude régional pour l'amélioration de l'adaptation à la sécheresse, Thiès, Senegal) - Selected Talk
16:20-17:05	Coffee break and poster viewing
17:05-17:40	Coping with drought in developing countries agriculture Sushil Pandey (IRRI, Los Baños, The Philippines) - Invited Speaker
17:40-18:00	Development of phenological-stage-specific crop coefficients (Kc) to manage deficit irrigating in agricultural production systems Giovanni Piccinni (Texas University, Uvalde, TX, USA) - Selected Talk
18:00-18:20	Parameterization of root water uptake function under water stress Francesca De Lorenzi (ISAFOM-CNR, Ercolano, Italy) - Selected Talk
18:20-18:40	Dual-purpose landraces of pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) as sources of high stover and grain yield for drought-prone arid zone environments of India Om Parkash Yadav (Central Arid Zone Research Institute, Jodhpur, India) - Selected Talk

Monday, September 26

Session 4. Molecular and physiological bases of plant adaptation to drought - 1

Co-Chairs: Dorothea Bartels and Immacolata Coraggio
08:30-09:05	Perception and signaling of plant water status Bill Davies (Lancaster University, UK) - Invited Speaker
09:05-09:40	Cellular bases of adaptation to drought and changes in the transcriptome under drought Hans J. Bohnert (University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, USA) - Invited Speaker
09:40-10:00	Genetic analysis of the response of maize leaf growth to water deficit in populations segregating for anthesis-silking interval Claude Welcker (INRA, ENSAM Montpellier, France) - Selected Talk
10:00-10:20	Stress adaptive mechanisms from wheat landraces and wild relatives Matthew Reynolds (CIMMYT, Mexico) - Selected Talk
10:20-11:05	Coffee break and poster viewing
11:05-11:40	Monitoring changes in the proteome and metabolome under drought John Bennett (IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines) - Invited Speaker
11:40-12:00	Control of plant water relations and water-use efficiency through manipulation of ABA biosynthesis Andrew J. Thompson (University of Warwick, UK) - Selected Talk
12:00-12:20	Root growth and soil water extraction patterns of wheat genotypes differing in drought tolerance Ahmed M. Manschadi (APSRU, Toowoomba, Australia) - Selected Talk
12:20-12:40	Effects of whole and partial root zone drying on leaf and xylem sap cytokinin concentration in tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum) Guzel Kudoyarova (Research Centre of Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa, Russia) - Selected Talk
12:40-13:00	Reciprocal graftings of Lycopersicon pennellii, L. esculentum cv. Lukullus and the tomato mutant notabilis point out specific roles for root- and shoot-derived ABA in stomatal activity control Ricardo F. De Oliveira (Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, Brasil) - Selected Talk
13:00-14:30	Lunch

Monday, September 26

Session 5. Molecular and physiological bases of plant adaptation to drought - 2

Co-Chairs: Steve A. Quarrie and Milvia Luisa Racchi
14:30-15:05	Whole plant responses, key processes and adaptation to drought stress Renee Lafitte (Pioneer-Dupont, Woodland, CA, USA) - Invited Speaker
15:05-15:40	Root growth maintenance under water deficits: region-specific responses of the cell wall proteome Mary E. Le Noble (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA) - Invited Speaker
15:40-16:00	Roles for 1-Cys peroxiredoxins and late embryogenesis abundant (LEA)-like proteins in stress tolerance Shaheen Mowla (Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK) - Selected Talk
16:00-16:20	The use of deletion mutants in identifying candidate genes for drought tolerance Jill E. Cairns (IRRI, Los Baños, Philippines) - Selected Talk
16:20-17:05	Coffee break and poster viewing
17:05-17:40	Plant reproduction under stress John S. Boyer (University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, USA) - Invited Speaker
17:40-18:00	Imaging carbohydrate translocation with CFDA in developing maize kernels Pirjo Makela (University of Delaware, Lewes, DE, USA) - Selected Talk
18:00-18:20	Insights into the molecular genetics of drought resistance from one mapping population of rice Adam Price (University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK) - Selected Talk
18:20-18:40	Physiological aspects of stay-green as a drought adaptation mechanism in sorghum Andrew Borrell (QDPIF, Warwick, Australia) - Selected Talk
18:40-19:00	Response of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) to terminal water stress: ABA, sugar and starch accumulation/partitioning and root growth under different water regime treatments Luis O. Duque (Cornell University, Ithaca, USA) - Selected Talk
19:00-19:20	Drought tolerance-linked secondary traits for screening sugar beet germplasm under managed drought conditions Eric S. Ober (Broom’s Barn-Rothamsted Research, Bury St Edmunds, UK) - Selected Talk

Tuesday, September 27

Session 6. Genes to support plant performance under water-limited conditions

Co-Chairs: Montserrat Pagès and Giuseppe Mandolino
08:30-09:05	Isolation of genes controlling the responses to drought stress Kazuo Shinozaki (RIKEN Tsukuba Institute, Tsukuba, Japan) - Invited Speaker
09:05-09:40	In silico gene discovery and high-throughput functional analysis Arjula Reddy (University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India) - Invited Speaker
09:40-10:00	Evolutionary linkage between drought and vegetative desiccation tolerance in plants Paxton R. Payton (USDA-ARS, Lubbock, Texas, USA) - Selected Talk
10:00-10:20	Osmyb4: a tool to improve drought and cold tolerance in crops Immacolata Coraggio (CNR, Milano, Italy) - Selected Talk
10:20-11:05	Coffee break and poster viewing
11:05-11:40	Identification of genes for improving drought resistance of irrigated rice at the reproductive stage Lizhong Xiong (Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China) - Invited Speaker
11:40-12:00	Comparative analysis of root transcriptome changes in legumes under drought stress Babu Valliyodan (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA) - Selected Talk
12:00-12:20	Functional genomics to dissect drought signal transduction in cereals by using A. thaliana as a model system Anna Maria Mastrangelo (Experimental Institute for Cereal Research, Foggia, Italy) -Selected Talk
12:20-12:40