Browse the fully referrable Conference Proceedings published into BMC Proceedings at  http://www.biomedcentral.com/1753-6561/5?issue=S7

Download the group photographs taken during the Conference on June 30:

A.Tree Biotech 2011 Group photo June 30.JPG

B.Tree Biotech 2011 Group photo June 30.JPG

C.Tree Biotech 2011 Group photo June 30.JPG

Thank you message from the Chair

Dear IUFRO Tree Biotechnology 2011 Conference delegates

On behalf of the organizing committee I would like to thank all of you for coming to the IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference 2011 in Arraial d’Ajuda, Bahia, Brazil.

Given the very rewarding feedbacks I have received from many of you, I am confident to say that we succeeded in hosting a great conference. The original goal to provide an exceptional mix of science, social activities and field exploration in a relaxed atmosphere was truly accomplished. I also believe that the Conference made a significant contribution to advance the forest biotechnology research community one step ahead on the challenging task of moving  from gene and genome discoveries to the delivery of effective biotechnologies into sustainable production forestry.

In nine scientific sessions the current advances in forest tree genetics, physiology, stress response, molecular breeding, in vitro and propagation technologies, wood development, 'omics technologies and genetically modified (GM) trees were highlighted. With 340 registered participants, the Conference  brought to Brazil most of the world’s brain power in forest tree genomics and biotechnology. An outstanding team of international scientists shared their results and visions on the present and future of this fast moving area of forest science, while a brilliant group of young scientist and students delivered a very energetic and diverse collection of high-quality scientific presentations. Forty two countries were represented at the Conference with almost 100 different laboratories from tens of Universities, research institutions and private companies.

During the seven days of the Conference we listened to 26 invited lectures, 62 voluntary talks and 186 poster presentations, totaling 274 papers published online into BMC Proceedings. The field trip to the forest operations and pulp mill of VERACEL Cellulose was a definite highlight of the Conference. The VERACEL team did an outstanding job to provide a comprehensive overview of all steps necessary to translate research and advanced breeding developments into productive and sustainable forestry.

The special workshop on the hot topic of “Genomic Selection applied to tree breeding” was a success with over 100 people attending. With this workshop and the session on “Genomics assisted breeding”, I believe this IUFRO Tree Biotechnology Conference edition inaugurated a much closer, very welcome and much needed integration between the quantitative genomics and the “single-gene” molecular approaches to unravel the complex relationships between genotypes and phenotypes.

We were truly delighted to have you down in Brazil, many of you, we know, for the first time. I am sure all will agree that there could not have been a better place to hold this Conference than the dazzling beaches of Bahia. The sunny days we enjoyed allowed everyone to take good advantage of the “beach time” slots in the conference program. The two nights out at “Axe Moi” and “Ilha dos Aquarios” definitely provided great opportunities for dancers from every nation to show their skills!  Soon we hope to set up a Conference online photo sharing site where great pictures will be found!

In closing the Conference, we would like to acknowledge once again the outstanding financial support provided by the competitive grants of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology through the National Research Council (CNPq) and the Ministry of Education through its agency for graduate studies (CAPES). Major support was also provided by EMBRAPA (Brazilian Corporation of Agricultural Research) and VERACEL Cellulose, the host organizations, together with an exceptional suite of twelve private sponsors. Last but not least, we would also like to thank the members of the Scientific Committee who kindly helped with abstract review, session chairing and selection of the best abstracts awards; the team at Creacteve, the events agency that was instrumental with conference logistics; and Conference Service Mandl who provided an exceptional online system, greatly facilitating the overall organization. The Conference would not have been possible without the valuable contributions of all these players.

After more than a year of intensive preparation and one week of successful execution we can now say “Mission accomplished” ! Hope to see you all in Asheville, North Carolina, for the IURO Tree Biotechnology 2013.

Dario Grattapaglia - Conference Chair

CHECK THE COMPLETE CONFERENCE PROGRAM HERE 

READ ALL THE CONFERENCE EXTENDED ABSTRACTS HERE

DOWNLOAD THE GENOMIC SELECTION WORKSHOP LECTURE NOTES HERE