MISTRAL - Montpellier International School on ion and water TRAnsport in pLants

1 - 12 July 2024

In higher plants, autotrophy and biomass production involve assimilation of CO2 from the atmosphere, as well as uptake and transport of mineral nutrients and water from the soil. Gaining fundamental knowledge on the uptake and transport functions is becoming of crucial importance. Indeed, the agricultural practices developed since the Green Revolution at the beginning of the 1960's, were based on the combined use of high-yielding genotypes and high inputs (e.g., irrigation water and fertilizers). Owing to global issues related to the changing environment, these methodologies have to be revised towards the production of more water- and nutrient-efficient genotypes, due to the need for ecological intensification of agroecosystems, as well as the global changes we are now facing. Furthermore, increasing plant retention of beneficial mineral micronutrients, such as Fe, Zn, Mg or Se, while reducing retention of toxic minerals, such as Cd and As, is a major objective to improve the nutritional value of crop-derived food, potentially enhancing human health. The biology of ion and water transport in plants involves specific concepts and methods that are generally not acquired during classical Master and PhD studies. 

The MISTRAL is a summer school for young researchers whose pedagogical program concerns the study of molecular mechanisms ensuring and regulating the transport of water and nutrient ions (e.g., nitrate, phosphate, potassium, iron, heavy metals) in plants, and the roles of these mechanisms in the adaptation of the plant to its abiotic environment (e.g., nutritional deficiencies, hydric stress) and in the communication with the beneficial micro-organisms in the soil. The objective of this school is to train young researchers, (postdocs, PhD candidates and last year MSc students) in the theory and analytical techniques for the study of the function of ion and water transport in plants.