ALT Thelma Madzima, she/her/hers 26 May (W) 9-10 AM PT Epigenetic & abiotic stress mediated transcriptional regulation in maize Plants are frequently subjected to fluctuating and often extreme abiotic environments such as drought, high salinity, nutrient deficiency and extreme cold, and must adapt rapidly. The negative effects of environmental stress on plant growth and yield will only continue to be exacerbated. A priority for many plant breeding programs is to develop climate resilient crops displaying phenotypic traits of enhanced stress tolerance, and these efforts are often complemented with biotechnology-based approaches to manipulate these responses at the molecular level. Some instances of abiotic stress-induced transcriptional responses rely on epigenetic modifications. RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM) is a plant-specific epigenetic pathway that functions to direct changes in DNA (cytosine) methylation, chromatin structure and gene expression at target loci. The core objectiv

ALT Research Kevin Cox (he/his) 12 May (W) 9-10 AM PT Development of High-Resolution Spatial Transcriptomics in Plants Register here: https://depts.washington.edu/nemlab/gilliam/ The study and functional characterization of specialized tissue and cellular domains in organisms is critical to understand their gene networks. A method known as spatial transcriptomics accomplishes this by resolving the location of gene expression while maintaining relevant cellular adjacencies via tissue sections including specific cell types. Spatial transcriptomics originated in mammalian systems and has substantially improved over the last few years. The current platform for spatial transcriptomics in plants also allows for high resolution, in situ transcript profiling. However, the platform’s resolution for plant systems is not comparable to those used for mammalian systems, as it is far from single-cell resolution. My work aims to achieve spatially-resolved, high-throughput transcriptional profiling

ALT perspectives Kevin Cox (he/his) 13 May (Th) 9-10 AM PT Ten Years of Science, Countless Lessons in Academia Register here: https://depts.washington.edu/nemlab/gilliam/ The journey of becoming a scientist is unique to every individual, as everyone has their own path to reaching this career goal. Throughout my young scientific career, my path has lead me through experiences that have turned into lessons important for my continued career development. While some of these experiences were positive, unfortunately some of these experiences were negative, as I encountered those negative experiences solely due to my race. In this talk, I will discuss my career path and how that journey provided me lessons to share with other inspiring students. I will also discuss my experiences as a Black American in academia, which will include identifying some of the problematic areas and recommending methods to improve the current environments/cultures at academic institutions. Lastly, I will also discuss my