TEMAS/TOPICS

• Legumes, their significance as cropping and model plants for basic research on symbiosis with rhizobia

• Transcriptional factor in legumes. Structure, families. General and specific functions. Transduction pathways. Approaches to determine functions.

• Genetic transformation of leguminous plants. Heterologous gene expression and silencing in leguminous species. Composite plants by using Agobacterium rhizogenes; reporter genes, and RNAi strategies to investigate symbiotic functions.

• Evolution of symbiotic signaling in Legumes. Perception of rhizobial Nodulation (Nod) factors and subsequent induction of symbiotic responses is a unique legume feature. Signal transduction.

• Hypotheses on the evolution of symbiotic signaling and the methodologies used to test them.

• Actinorhizal genomics : the establishment  of ESTs collections and microrrays for two actinorhizal trees ; Casuarina and Alnus and the comparative analysis of root, nodule and mycorhizal transcriptomes. Recent findings on Frankia genomics including the sequencing of several Frankia genomes and the analysis of the Frankia transcriptome RNAi and complementation strategies that unveiled common genetic mechanisms shared by rhizobial, actinorhizal and mycorrhizal symbiosis.

• Regulation of root architecture and symbiosis in legumes : comparison of lateral root development and nodule development. Impact of abiotic stresses on root growth in legumes, functional analysis of transcriptome results, transcription factors and receptor kinases.

• Regulatory RNAs and the control of developmental plasticity (non-coding RNAs in development and stress responses, small RNAs, silencing and RNAi, deep sequencing of small RNAs). Analysis of small RNA diversity in Legumes, the dynamic transcriptome interactions between transcription factors and miRNAs.

Students will be asked to present a seminar on their research project during the first week of the course. Literature seminars on selected papers will be prepared and presented by groups of students during the second week of the course.

Profesores/Lecturers

IBBM 

- Aguilar, O. Mario

- Battaglia, Marina

- Blanco, Flavio A.

- Zanetti, María Eugenia

Invited Lecturers 

- Aragao, Francisco, EMBRAPA-Brasilia, Brazil

- Borsani, Julio Omar, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

- **Crespi, Martin, CNRS, Gif sur Yvette, France

- Geurts, Renè, Wageningen University, The Netherlands

- **Svistoonoff, Sergio, IRD, Montpellier, France

**Apoyo del Programa cooperación Francia Ecos Sud

Asistentes/Instructors 

- Beker, Maria Pia, IBBM, La Plata, Argentina

- Flores, Ana Claudia, IBBM, La Plata, Argentina

Alumnos/Students

- Ricardo Weber (Brasil) - rinweber@yahoo.com.br

- Paula Oblessuc (Brasil) - parobl@gmail.br

- Carla Quinhones (Brasil) - carlaquinhones@yahoo.com.br

- Karim Luchmann (Brasil) - khluchmann@yahoo.com.br

- Roberto Sierra (Colombia) - robersm@gmail.com

- Ana Paula Mulet (R.O. del Uruguay) - anapaulamulet@gmail.com

- Manuel Muñoz (Chile) - manuelmun@gmail.com

- Mauricio A. Reynoso (La Plata, Argentina) - mauricioreynoso@gmail.com

- German Robert (Córdoba, Argentina) - grobert@correo.inta.gov.ar

- Nacira Muñoz (Córdoba, Argentina) - naciramunoz@yahoo.com

- Vivien Pentreath (Comodoro Rivadavia, Argentina) - vivienpentreath@yahoo.com.ar

- María de los Angeles Giusti (La Plata, Argentina) - giusti@biol.unlp.edu.ar

- Virginia Dalla Via (La Plata, Argentina) - virdallavia@hotmail.com

Contacto: O. Mario Aguilar E-mail: aguilar@biol.unlp.edu.ar

Cronograma