From Sydney to Gatersleben: symposium gathers 20 countries

The 6th International Symposium on the Nitrogen Nutrition of Plants, Nitrogen 2026, from 23 to 27 August followed the previous one in Sydney 2023 and brought together nearly 100 researchers from 20 countries. Hosted by the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK) in Gatersleben and organized by Ricardo Giehl, Hannah Schneider and Nicolaus von Wirén, the meeting offered an international scientific programme covering aspects from the molecular biology of nitrogen transport to crop genetics of nitrogen utilization.

A field connecting fundamental biology with a major societal challenge

The symposium began on Sunday evening at the Hotel Schlossmühle in Quedlinburg, where most participants were accommodated, with a keynote lecture by Wim de Vries from Wageningen University on nitrogen use efficiency in the food chain and reconciling nitrogen boundaries for food production and for securing air and water quality. From Monday to Thursday, participants travelled daily from Quedlinburg to the IPK to participate in a programme comprising 39 oral and 30 poster presentations, structured into seven thematic areas: nitrogen uptake mechanisms, nitrogen metabolism, nitrogen translocation and long-distance signaling, cellular nitrogen sensing, systems biology and AI in nitrogen regulation, nitrogen use efficiency and rhizosphere effects affecting nitrogen use efficiency. 

Scientific highlights

Research conducted with the model species Arabidopsis provided novel insights into molecular mechanisms on the systemic regulation of nitrate transporters and their coupling with redox metabolism through glutaredoxins (ROXY proteins) that respond to shoot Nitrogen (N) saturation and cause downregulation of the high-affinity nitrate transporter NRT2.1. A particular focus was also set on the NLP family of cytosolic nitrate sensors that regulate N deficiency responses as well as nitrate responses via activation of different transcriptions factors (NIGTs and LBDs) and thereby influence both, nitrate transporters and root architectural changes.

Crop-related research in maize identified novel regulatory pathways, in which NPL3 can induce A- or B-type ARFs (auxin-response factors) in response to the plant N status to modulate cell wall biosynthesis. The majority of nitrogen use efficiency-related research has been conducted in rice, where the nitrate transceptor NRT1.1B coordinates nitrate with phosphate uptake and activates basal nitrogen-responsive pathways through NLP3. Intriguingly, NRT1.1B also integrates Abscisic acid (ABA) signalling, as ABA is induced under low N and binds directly to NRT1.1B to activate NLP4.

Particular impressive was the rapid progress made on the genetic improvement of nitrogen use efficiency in field-grown rice in China, where in particular the natural variation in N-inefficient japonica and N-efficiency indica rice has been used extensively to identify many regulatory gene variants that increase crop yield under moderate nitrogen fertilization regimes. In this regard, the great advantage pays out that China permits field trials with genome-edited and transgenic lines.

Making IPK’s research infrastructure visible

A particularly valuable part of the programme was the opportunity to experience the research environment at IPK first-hand. On Tuesday afternoon, participants took advantage of guided tours to the automated shoot and root phenotyping in IPK’s PhenoSphere, the Genebank, and the microphenomics and NMR facilities. For many participants, these tours provided a more tangible impression of how large-scale infrastructure, advanced imaging and analytical technologies support modern crop research.

Networking: Posters and social activities

The organisers also paid considerable attention to the informal side of scientific exchange. Two evening poster sessions gave early-career researchers and other participants dedicated opportunities to present and discuss their work. Accompanied either by finger food or a barbecue in the IPK’s garden, these lesser formal settings complemented the tightly scheduled scientific programme and provided opportunities for follow-up discussions and networking. The social programme extended to an afternoon trip to the historical sites of Quedlinburg or Wernigerode and concluded with a common conference dinner at the Hotel Schlossmühle in Quedlinburg. 

Looking forward to next Nitrogen meeting

Praised by participants was in particular the familiar atmosphere that stimulated scientific exchange and the many opportunities that early career researchers allowed contacting highly reputed scientists. To follow up the rapid developments in this field, it was decided to hold the next Nitrogen symposium, in 2029 in Japan. 

Background and purpose

Since 2008, the PhD School has given young scientists a forum to present their work, exchange ideas and meet leading researchers in plant development in an informal, inclusive and supportive setting. Plant developmental biology is advancing rapidly, driven by progress in sequencing, single-cell technologies, gene editing, imaging and modelling. The school aims to connect the next generation of researchers working at this frontier.

Programme

Attendance was limited to 45 participants to preserve the intimate character of the meeting, and registration was fully booked and the sizeable waiting list indicated that this PhD school remained popular. 

Each scientific session was opened by an internationally recognised keynote speaker, followed by two short talks selected from submitted abstracts. Early-career scientists acted as session chairs, and two poster sessions provided further opportunities for informal discussion. Each poster was presented in a flash talk session. 

The program comprised 11 thematic sessions

• root development (Bert De Rybel, VIB Ghent)
• shoot and leaf development (Chris Whitewoods, JIC)
• reproductive development I (Andre Marques, MPI Cologne)
• reproductive development II (Sara Simonini, University of Zurich)
• evolutionary development (Isabel Monte, ZMBP Tübingen)
• developmental mechanisms (Charlotte Kirchhelle, ENS Lyon)
• development and environment (Marie Barberon, University of Geneva)
• development and defence (Yan Ma, GMI Vienna)
• crop development (Sebastian Soyk, University of Lausanne)
• developmental plasticity (Charles Melnyk, SLU Uppsala)
• career development, with representatives from industry and administration

Highlights

Participants and organizers described the talks as outstanding, and the community as warm, engaged and collaborative. Kloster Neustadt provided a beautiful setting for the meeting. A dinner and wine tasting at a local winery gave attendees the chance to continue scientific conversations in a relaxed atmosphere, which is often where new collaborations and friendships begin. The prize for the best talk went to Anastasiia Korosteleva (University of Bern) and for the best poster to Vijayalakshmi Suryavanshi (ZMBP Tübingen)

Value for early-career researchers

Small, focused meetings like this are rare. They give doctoral students and early postdocs hands-on experience in presenting their data, chairing sessions and building networks with peers and senior scientists. By keeping the registration fee low (€350, covering accommodation, meals and the social event), the school remains accessible to young researchers from across Europe. This was made possible by the support of academic – for example from the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) - and industrial sponsors.

Outlook

This meeting will be organized again in 2028 by Charlotte Kirchhelle (ENS Lyon) and Michael Raissig (University of Bern).

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Prof. Dr. Michael Raissig, University of Bern, Institute of Plant Sciences, Plant Genetics and Development, Bern, Switzerland 

Mapping Organellar Protein Complexes

Key functions in plant cells rely on protein complexes, such as the photosystems in chloroplasts and the respiratory chain complexes in mitochondria. Complexome profiling (CP) has become the established method for analysing their composition, assembly, and stability: tissue is homogenized, specific subcellular fractions are enriched, and - after mild solubilization - protein complexes are separated by size under native conditions using density gradient centrifugation, chromatography, or Blue Native Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (BN-PAGE). Separated protein fractions are collected. Subsequently, quantitative mass spectrometry is used to generate abundance profiles for proteins across the fractions. By clustering similar profiles, known and novel protein complexes, their assembly intermediates, as well as their belonging to high-molecular supercomplexes can be defined and characterized.

Bridging the Gap: From Sample Preparation to Data Analysis

The numerous requests for collaboration received by our research group highlight the widespread interest in the CP approach. However, a key limitation of the approach is the requirement for fresh, intact material to preserve the fragile protein:protein interaction of interest. This constrains the transport of biological samples to central facilities for extraction and mass-spectrometric analysis. The Eduard Strasburger Workshop “Complexome Profiling in Plants: Exploring Organellar Protein Networks” addressed this limitation by equipping participants with the skills required to perform native separation and sample stabilization on site (Phase I, Figure 1), and to independently process and interpret the resulting complexome data (Phase III, Figure 1). This concept decouples sample preparation and data evaluation from the central mass spectrometry step (Phase II, Figure 1), granting researchers complete autonomy in experimental design and analysis.

Practical Workflow: From Organelle Isolation to Sample Stabilization

Nine early-career researchers (ERCs) from various universities across Germany participated in the three-day workshop (Figure 2). The meeting was free of charge for ECRs thanks to generous funding by the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG). The practical part started with a hands-on session in the lab including the isolation of mitochondria from plant tissue, protein extraction, and the native separation of intact protein complexes via BN-PAGE (Figure 3). To round off this long first day in the lab, the group gathered for a shared pizza dinner, fostering networking and informal exchanges in a relaxed atmosphere.

The practical session continued the following day, focusing on the steps required to generate high-resolution complexome profiling samples from the BN gels. In this context, the importance of fraction number and consistent slice thickness for dataset resolution - as well as practical strategies to achieve this - was highlighted. The subsequent stabilization of protein samples for transfer to the MS facility marked the successful conclusion of the workshop's wet-lab part.

Keynote & Introduction to Proteomic Data Complexity

Before moving to the theoretical session focusing on Phase III of the CP workflow, Dr. Etienne Meyer (Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg) delivered an inspiring keynote lecture on analyzing protein complex assembly and how complexome profiling can empower such investigations. In his presentation, he also addressed the inherent challenges of complexome profiling. Furthermore, he provided valuable guidance on evaluating whether a full-scale CP experiment is necessary or if targeted approaches are sufficient for a given research question.

Well supplied with coffee and refreshments, the participants were ready for the theoretical session focusing on the processing and interpretation of complexome profiling data (Figure 4). The session opened with a discussion on identifying the key components of high-dimensionality MS proteomics data essential for complexome profiling analysis. Several participants directly echoed this challenge, confirming that the sheer volume and complexity of raw mass spectrometry datasets often leave researchers feeling overwhelmed when attempting their first CP evaluations. Afterwards, everyone wrapped up the day with a dinner together with Etienne Meyer and fruitful discussions.

Hands-on Data Evaluation & Tool Exploration

Building on these foundational concepts, the third and final day of the workshop was dedicated to hands-on data mining. Participants put theory into practice by searching for protein complexes in provided benchmark datasets. The organizers presented a wide variety of tools and, to the delight of many participants, announced that all of the tools are available free of charge.

Overall, the workshop received overwhelmingly positive feedback from all attendees. The participants particularly appreciated the small group size and the extensive hands-on opportunities, which allowed everyone to execute each step themselves while leaving ample time to address even the most detailed individual questions. Beyond mastering the core methodology, many participants emphasized gaining valuable insights and new ideas for their own experimental designs past complexome profiling. Given this encouraging response, the organizers are currently considering offering a future iteration of the workshop.

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Hannover in October 2026, Dr. Nils Rugen and Matthias Döring https://www.genetik.uni-hannover.de/en/research/sections/plant-proteomics/plant-organellar-rna-editing

Interdisciplinary exchange among scientists 

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are unique among cellular compartments due to their endosymbiotic origins, semi-autonomous genetic systems, roles in energy transduction, and complex biological functions. The 2026 Gordon Research Conference on Mitochondria and Chloroplasts brought together established scientists and early-career investigators to present and discuss novel aspects of organelle biology. With a strong focus on fundamental biological processes, the conference was interdisciplinary in nature, serving as one of the few forums that unite scientists and encourages networking across the fungal, animal, and plant research communities. This cross-system perspective supports the exchange of ideas beyond the boundaries typically defined by experimental models. The program focused on presentations of unpublished research, with dedicated time for discussion following each talk. 

Mitochondria and chloroplasts are distinguished by their endosymbiotic origin, their semiautonomous genomes, and their essential roles in energy conversion and metabolism. Specific sessions of the 2026 meeting highlighted advances in a broad range of topics, including organelle evolution, gene expression systems, protein import and complex assembly, metabolic pathways, proteostasis, responses to fluctuating environments, non-canonical and novel endosymbiotically-acquired organelles, and synthetic or high-throughput approaches to organelle biology. By emphasizing basic science and promoting interdisciplinary dialogue, the conference advanced the understanding of organelle function and dynamics across eukaryotic life. To reflect the conference’s interdisciplinary spirit, each session featured speakers from both mitochondrial and chloroplast research fields.

From protists to cancer cells to synthetic biology

A total of 75 posters were presented across four poster sessions. While GRC policy prohibits reporting on the content of individual talks or posters, several topics were particularly prominent and provided outstanding novel insights: the communalities and specific adaptations of organellar functions across a wide phylogenetic range, from protists living in mud to human cancer cells. This included non-canonical mitochondria in anaerobes and the discovery of novel respiratory organelles in anaerobic protists that have lost respiratory function of their mitochondria. 

Results from the “MitoCarta” Project stretched over several talks and poster presentations. This project catalogues and experimentally validates the mitochondrial proteomes from protists to humans, providing a gold standard reference for comparative analyses of mitochondrial functions across the tree of life. Excitingly, synthetic biology approaches are now aiming at de novo establishment of photosynthetic and respiratory organelles in eukaryotic cells, thereby experimentally testing long-standing questions in endosymbiotic theory.

Both organisers thank the German Society for Plant Sciences (DBG) for funding that was allocated to early career scientists.

Conclusion

The evaluation of the conference by the participants was very positive, perhaps best summarized by this specific comment: “First time participating and was a really valuable experience to exchange with others from different fields.” Unfortunately, due to recent developments with US Immigration and visa policies, some geographic regions where underrepresented at the conference. The next Mitochondria and Chloroplasts GRC will take place July 9-14, 2028, most likely in Barcelona, Spain, which should make it easier for everyone to attend.

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Prof. Dr. Andreas Weber, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, https://www.plant-biochemistry.hhu.de/

From molecular labels to a systems-level regulatory layer

From 3–6 June 2026, 152 scientists gathered in Palermo, Sicily, for the FEBS Workshop “Protein Termini 2026: From Mechanisms to Biological Impact”. The meeting was the fifth conference of the International Society for Protein Termini (ISPT) and continued a series of international meetings that began in Halle in 2017, followed by Prague, Seoul, Bergen and Oxford. The conference took place at the Palazzo dei Normanni (Palazzo Reale), the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly and thus the institutional home of Sicily’s regional parliament. This distinctive setting brought together researchers from molecular and structural biology, biochemistry, proteomics, plant science, medicine and biotechnology.

Protein N- and C-termini have traditionally been viewed as sites carrying molecular signals that influence protein localisation, modification or degradation. A central conclusion emerging from the Palermo meeting was that this view is becoming too narrow. Protein termini are increasingly understood as part of an integrated regulatory layer connecting protein biogenesis, co-translational processing, proteostasis, signalling, environmental responses and disease.

Protein-terminal regulation starts at the ribosome

One particularly striking conceptual development was the increasing focus on events occurring while a protein is still being synthesised. Structural, biochemical and cell-biological work presented at the meeting placed the ribosome at the centre of a highly coordinated network of protein maturation processes. Rather than acting only sequentially after translation, methionine aminopeptidases, N-terminal acetyltransferases, N-myristoyltransferases, molecular chaperones and targeting factors can interact with the emerging nascent chain and with each other at the ribosomal exit tunnel.

This supports an important new perspective: protein-terminal biology begins during translation rather than after it. The field is consequently moving from studying isolated terminal modifications towards understanding how processing, folding, targeting and degradation decisions are coordinated during protein biogenesis.

A related development is the growing recognition of proteoform diversity. Alternative translation initiation and proteolytic processing can generate multiple protein species with different termini from the same gene. Terminomics and other proteome-wide approaches are revealing a previously hidden landscape of such terminally defined proteoforms. Similarly, N-terminal acetylation is moving beyond the cataloguing of individual modification events towards understanding how it shapes proteostasis and cellular states at a systems level.

N-degrons: beyond protein degradation

The N-degron pathway remains a major focus of the Protein Termini community, and here the questions being asked are changing as well. Rather than simply identifying new degradation substrates, current work asks how degrons and their recognition machinery are integrated into metabolism, signalling and stress responses. New substrate specificities of N-recognins are being uncovered, while terminal degrons are increasingly viewed as dynamic regulatory elements embedded in broader cellular networks.

At the same time, these fundamental mechanisms are becoming attractive tools for manipulating protein abundance. Sessions on therapeutic applications highlighted degron mimetics, targeted protein degradation, terminal-modification inhibitors and related strategies. Compared with earlier Protein Termini meetings, this translational dimension was particularly prominent in Palermo, illustrating how rapidly the distance between fundamental protein-terminal biology and therapeutic development is shrinking.

Plant biology as a source of fundamental principles

For the plant science community, an important message from Palermo was that plants are not merely systems in which mechanisms discovered in animals are subsequently tested. Plant research is actively revealing fundamental principles of protein-terminal regulation.

Several contributions illustrated this particularly clearly: N-terminal cysteine oxidation and the associated oxygen-sensing N-degron pathway provide an elegant mechanism through which plants couple environmental oxygen availability to protein stability. Work on N-degron pathways further demonstrated their importance for plant development and environmental responses. Other presentations addressed N-terminal processing in plastids, chloroplast proteostasis, abiotic-stress adaptation and the sophisticated maturation of abundant proteins such as Rubisco.

Together, these studies highlight how the evolutionary diversity of plants, animals and microorganisms can be exploited to discover both conserved and kingdom-specific principles of terminal protein regulation. Comparative approaches across biological systems may therefore become increasingly important for understanding the full regulatory potential encoded at protein termini.

Early-career researchers at the centre of the meeting

A defining feature of Protein Termini 2026 was the strong involvement of early-career researchers. Of the 152 participants, 73 were ECRs, and 30 travel grants helped young researchers attend the meeting. ECRs were not restricted to poster presentations: abstract-selected short talks and three-minute poster slams provided extensive opportunities to present research, and young scientists co-chaired scientific sessions together with senior investigators.

Dedicated ECR Meet & Greet corners, speed-networking sessions and rotating mentor dinners were integrated into the programme. The 62 posters generated particularly lively discussions, often continuing late into the evening. Six poster prizes and three oral presentation prizes recognised outstanding contributions. The meeting brought together researchers from four continents and more than 20 countries, emphasising the increasingly international character of the Protein Termini community. Guided discussions on new technologies, sustainability in science and future research directions complemented the scientific sessions and encouraged exchange across career stages and disciplines

Where is the field going?

The meeting concluded with an interactive group reflection entitled “Where Is the Field Going?”. Looking across four days of presentations and discussions, several transitions became apparent: from N-termini towards protein biogenesis, from degradation towards proteostasis, from individual modifications towards integrated modification networks, from single substrates towards proteome-wide regulation, and from molecular mechanisms towards mechanisms combined with disease biology and therapeutic applications.

Conclusion and future challenges

Perhaps the most concise conclusion from Palermo is therefore that protein termini are evolving from molecular labels at the ends of proteins into a systems-level regulatory layer linking translation, proteostasis, signalling, adaptation and disease.

The challenge for the coming years will be to integrate these processes mechanistically and quantitatively – and to determine how the remarkable regulatory potential of protein termini can be exploited in plant biotechnology, medicine and other areas of applied biology.

Acknowledgements

The organisers gratefully acknowledge the Deutsche Botanische Gesellschaft (DBG) for supporting Protein Termini 2026. We also thank FEBS and the numerous scientific organisations, foundations and sponsors whose support helped keep participation accessible and enabled extensive support for early-career researchers.

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Prof. Dr. Nico Dissmeyer, University of Osnabrück 
 

Since its foundation in 1995, EMPSEB has been a yearly international conference organised by PhD students for PhD students working in evolutionary biology and related fields, inspired and supported by the European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB). The meeting provides a platform for early-career researchers to present their work, exchange ideas, and build scientific networks. The 31^st edition of the meeting, EMPSEB31, took place in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, and brought together almost 80 participants from Germany and 20 other countries worldwide.

Participants presented the various topics 

The conference program covered a wide range of topics in evolutionary biology, including evolutionary genomics, ecology and adaptation, host–parasite interactions, evolution and speciation of plants and animals and theoretical biology. All participants had an opportunity to give a talk about their research. The programme also included poster sessions, keynote lectures, workshops on scientific writing and ethics in ecology and evolution, a guided bird-watching tour, and a discussion session on diversity and inclusion. 

Testing presentation styles 

In addition to the scientific presentations participants also had the opportunity to present their research in a creative "alternative presentation". They were free to choose the format, ranging from songs and poems to drawings, short plays, and other creative performances. Together with the social events these activities supported interactions between participants as well as keynote speakers and contributed to the open and welcoming environment of the meeting.

Overall, EMPSEB31 continued the tradition of the EMPSEB meetings by bringing together PhD students to present and discuss their research, exchange scientific ideas and establish new collaborations. The organisers are thankful for financial support from the German Society of Plant Sciences (DBG) among others.