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Abstract Detail



The Odum Legacy: Plant Systems Across Scales

Tuominen, L.K. [1].

The Odum Legacy: Plant Systems Across Scales.

Systems biology has begun to revolutionize our holistic understanding of plant function through the integration of genomic, proteomic, and metabolic data. Current work rests on earlier development of increasingly precise and high-throughput methods for measuring RNA, protein, and metabolite data. The construction, validation, and use of systems-based models used to integrate these data also requires 21st century computing power. Well before this computational capacity was available, however, brothers Eugene P. (Gene) and Howard T. (H.T.) Odum were building the intellectual foundations of holistic thinking and systems modeling in the field of ecology. While the Odums' work in ecosystem ecology is well known among ecologists, the limited computing power available during most of their careers and the traditional academic split between ecology and molecular biology have hindered the cross-scale application of systems thinking in botany.
To help reframe our thinking, this symposium will showcase the application of systems concepts across biological scales. We will begin with the historical context of Gene and H.T. Odum’s work in the pre-microcomputer era. Next, recent work on plant metabolism, with reference to metabolic flux modeling and tools for integrating various "-omic" scale data, will highlight subcellular scale processes. Integrative plant physiologists will present insights from research on nitrogen assimilation and transport and on photosynthesis, linking cellular through organismal scales for individual crop and tree species. Simulations exploring the role of tree genotypes within unmanaged ecosystems will address both interspecific processes and links between biotic and abiotic components of the environment. Finally, a discussion on the integration of systems thinking across biological scales will conclude the symposium.


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1 - Metropolitan State University, Natural Sciences Department, 700 East Seventh Street, St. Paul, MN, 55106, USA

Keywords:
systems biology
metabolic flux modeling
ecosystem simulation
nitrogen transport
nitrogen assimilation
photosynthetic optimization
Howard T. Odum
Eugene P. Odum
multiscale botany.

Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Session: SY02, The Odum Legacy: Plant Systems Across Scales
Location: Chatham Ballroom - C/Savannah International Trade and Convention Center
Date: Monday, August 1st, 2016
Time: 8:30 AM
Number: SY02SUM
Abstract ID:105
Candidate for Awards:None


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