Second announcement

Time: June 27 -- July 1 2011

Venue: Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden Yunnan, China

The workshop is designed to be the first step in developing long-term working groups and collaborations focused on the genomic diversification of tropical plants. Registered participants will have access to available Illumina data obtained from whole genome samples of numerous species of tropical tree, primarily in the genus Ficus (figs) and the family Fagaceae (oaks, stone oaks, chestnuts and beeches). Whole transcriptome data from developing flowers is expected to be available for some fig samples. During the workshop, participants will make further plans for manuscripts, analyses, proposals, and future meetings.

Prior to the workshop, a brief summary of the sample species and their biological characteristics will be provided, so the participants can familiarize themselves with the biological framework of the samples. Additionally, sets of draft questions and analyses will be provided through Google Docs (if you need to set up a Google account, please let us know), allowing participants to become familiar with the specific objectives of the workshop, to comment on the questions and analyses, and propose new ones. The list of confirmed participants below will potentially lead discussion of specific topics that will then break out into working groups each day.

Confirmed participants and their expertise Mike ARNOLD, University of Georgia and Kunming Institute of Zoology– Genomics of speciation; Jeff BOORE, University of California, Berkeley, and Genome Project Solutions, Inc.– Comparative genomics and phylogenomics; Chuck CANNON, XTBG and Texas Tech University– Reference-free analytical approaches; David GALBRAITH, University of Arizona– Biotechnology and genomics; Manuel LERDAU, University of Virginia and XTBG– Measuring phenotypes; Christian LEXER, University of Fribourg– Genetics of phenotypic adaptation; RUAN Jue, Beijing Institute of Genomics– de novo analysis of next-gen data; Yann SURGET-GROBA, University of California, Santa Cruz and XTBG– transcriptomes and biodiversity.

RegistrationAt the moment, we can still accept 4-5 additional participants but you must contact us before April 15, 2011, when the participant list will be finalized. Please contact Chai-Shian KUA (kuacs@xtbg.ac.cn ) or Chuck CANNON (chuck@xtbg.ac.cn)  to register.

Fees, due upon arrival
950 RMB for Chinese professional scientists and 550 USD for foreign scientists
500 RMB for Chinese students and 250 USD for foreign students