BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//CERN//INDICO//EN BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Duckweed Nanoparticles Mediate Bioactive Lipid Trafficking DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T101500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T103000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2902@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Mark Polikovsky (Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences. Weizmann Institute)\nIn the aquatic environment of Lemnaceae (d uckweed)\, the mechanism for transporting hydrophobic bioactive signals th rough the aqueous medium remains a critical question. While bilayer extrac ellular vesicles (EVs) are established components in the plant apoplast\, in this study\, we identified a unique class of secretory nanoparticles (N Ps) in duckweed exudate. Structural and omics profiling reveal that this d istinct class of NPs represents not passive debris\, but a dynamic metabol ic hub enriched with lipid-trafficking proteins and enzymes associated wit h β-oxidation and the glyoxylate cycle. We demonstrate that the NPs’ ca rgo composition is associated with the jasmonate (JA) pathway. Notably\, d ownregulating the JA-biosynthetic gene allene oxide cyclase (AOC) expands the chemical diversity within the NPs\, enriching the cargo with bioactive lipids. These NPs sequester approximately 38% of the total exudate lipid diversity\, specifically partitioning long-chain triacylglycerols (TAGs) a nd sphingolipids. Functionally\, the duckweed-derived NPs facilitate inter -kingdom crosstalk by promoting the growth of beneficial duckweed-associat ed bacteria while inhibiting non-beneficial taxa. Together\, these finding s suggest that non-vesicular NPs are a specialized biochemical strategy fo r duckweed to target its microbiome and traffic lipids in a complex aquati c rhizosphere.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2902/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2902/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Development of bioluminescence reporter systems using duckweed pla nts DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T090000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T091500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2901@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Tokitaka Oyama (Grad Sch Sci\, Kyoto Univ)\nDuckweed s serve as ideal model plants for whole-plant imaging due to their simple two-dimensional structure and compact size. Using bioluminescent reporters \, we have achieved long-term\, continuous monitoring of gene expression d ynamics at both the whole-plant and single-cell levels (*Sci Adv* 2016\; * New Phytol* 2021\; *Plant Physiol* 2023). These studies spatiotemporally r evealed dynamics of circadian and diel gene expression in duckweed. While these bioluminescence techniques were originally developed for duckweeds\, they have recently been applied to other species\, such as *Arabidopsis* (*Sci Rep* 2025). In this presentation\, we will highlight the unique biol uminescence behaviors specific to duckweeds (and aquatic plants) and intro duce new applications of bioluminescent reporters for monitoring plant phy siological processes. Finally\, we will discuss the advantages and limitat ions of duckweeds as a model system.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/ contributions/2901/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2901/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:Engineering a complex plant biosynthetic pathway in the giant duck weed DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T100000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T101500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2900@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Meret Huber (University of Mainz)\nDuckweeds are pro mising photosynthetic chassis for plant synthetic biology. Yet\, it remain s unclear whether they can support the heterologous production of complex specialized metabolites and which expression strategies are best suited fo r multigene pathway reconstruction. Here\, I first provide an update on ou r transformation protocol for the giant duckweed (*Spirodela polyrhiza*). I then show that a six-gene construct driven by an inducible promoter was the most effective strategy to stably produce the complex anti-diabetic fl avonoid glucoside mini-Montbretin A in *S. polyrhiza*. Together\, these re sults establish *S. polyrhiza* as a promising chassis to produce complex p lant metabolites and highlight the potential of duckweeds for synthetic bi ology.\n\nhttps://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2900/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2900/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A complete seed-to-seed cycle beyond vegetative propagation reveal s seed development and triacylglycerol mobilization in Lemna aequinoctiali s DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T094500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T100000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2899@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Sujeong Je (The Catholic University of Korea)\nDuckw eeds predominantly propagate vegetatively\, and the mechanisms underlying their sexual reproduction and seed biology remain largely unexplored due t o the absence of a tractable experimental system. Here\, we identified a K orean ecotype of *Lemna aequinoctialis* that completes its entire sexual l ife cycle under laboratory conditions\, and established a developmental fr amework encompassing photoperiod-dependent flowering\, seed maturation\, g ermination\, and re-establishment of vegetative growth. Flowering reached 100% under short-day conditions\, and seeds remained highly viable after s torage at 4°C in darkness for up to two years. Mature seeds accumulated t riacylglycerol (TAG) as their major storage reserve\, containing approxima tely 481-fold more TAG than vegetative fronds and no detectable starch. Se ed maturation was accompanied by induction of conserved seed developmental regulators (*LEC1*\, *ABI3*\, *FUS3*\, *LEC2*\, *WRI1*\, and *bZIP67*)\, together with genes involved in fatty acid synthesis and TAG assembly. Dur ing germination\, seed-derived TAG was mobilized to sustain early frond es tablishment prior to the attainment of photosynthetic autonomy\, revealing a conserved seed reserve utilization strategy in this aquatic monocot. To gether\, these findings establish L. aequinoctialis as an experimentally t ractable model for investigating seed development and storage lipid metabo lism in duckweeds\, and provide a foundation for future genetic improvemen t and domestication efforts in this emerging aquatic crop system.\n\nhttps ://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2899/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2899/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A ABA-induced triacylglycerol accumulation and lipid remodeling in Lemna minor toward metabolic engineering of duckweed DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T093000Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T094500Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2898@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Yasuyo Yamaoka (The Catholic University of Korea)\nD uckweeds are among the fastest-growing flowering plants and represent prom ising aquatic biomass resources for food\, feed\, bioenergy\, and other va lue-added compounds. However\, the endogenous mechanisms controlling carbo n allocation and lipid accumulation in duckweeds remain poorly understood. Here\, we investigated abscisic acid (ABA)-induced lipid remodeling in *L emna minor*. Treatment with 1 μM ABA caused a pronounced and sustained in crease in triacylglycerol (TAG)\, reaching approximately 2.9-fold higher l evels than in untreated plants. Time-course analysis showed that TAG conti nued to accumulate over seven days. Lipidomic profiling revealed extensive remodeling of plastidial and extraplastidial membrane lipids. In particul ar\, reduced monogalactosyldiacylglycerol suggested that membrane-derived fatty acids may contribute to TAG synthesis. ABA strongly induced diacylgl ycerol acyltransferase genes involved in the terminal step of TAG assembly \, while repressing fatty acid desaturase genes\, resulting in lower polyu nsaturated fatty acid levels and increased proportions of oleic and linole ic acids. Confocal microscopy further demonstrated substantial lipid dropl et accumulation in both fronds and chloroplast-containing roots. Notably\, sustained ABA-induced TAG accumulation was particularly prominent in *L. minor* and was not observed to a comparable extent in other duckweed speci es or in Arabidopsis thaliana under identical conditions. These findings r eveal a species-specific link between ABA signaling\, membrane lipid turno ver\, and carbon storage in duckweed. Building on these findings\, we are establishing a Korean duckweed collection to explore natural variation in lipid metabolic traits. We are also developing transformation-based approa ches to modify carotenoid and lipid composition. Together\, these efforts integrate duckweed biodiversity\, stress physiology\, and metabolic engine ering toward sustainable biotechnological applications.\n\nhttps://indico. unina.it/event/117/contributions/2898/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2898/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT SUMMARY:A Novel Workflow for Deep Metabolome Annotation and Interpretation in Lemna minor DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T091500Z DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260929T093000Z DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260920T024435Z UID:indico-contribution-428-2897@cern.ch DESCRIPTION:Speakers: MI ZHANG (RG Assimilate Allocation and NMR (AAN)\, L eibniz-Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK))\n*Lemna minor* of the Lemnaceae (aka duckweeds) family is a superior model for inv estigating plant-microbe interactions. We designed a project\, which aims to quantify the effects of a synthetic bacterial community across the larg est genotype × environmental stress matrix (6\,480 combinations) examined in a plant–microbe study to date. Multi-omics (metabolome\, transcripto me\, ionome\, and phenome) studies will be applied to understand how micro bes affect stress resilience and growth performance of 30 genome-resolved *L. minor* genotypes. In this report\, we present a novel metabolomics wor kflow for deep metabolome annotation and interpretation in *L. minor*. The workflow integrates complementary LC–MS data processing\, statistical p rioritization of biologically relevant features\, multi-layer metabolite a nnotation\, confidence-level labeling\, and pathway-based interpretation. Metabolite annotation combines MS/MS spectral library matching\, fragmenta tion-based annotation\, and spectral similarity or metabolic relationship- based approaches. These results are harmonized into an automated confidenc e-ranking system spanning confirmed structures to unknown features. As a c ase study\, the workflow was applied to two *L. minor* genotypes with cont rasting growth performance. Our analysis detected thousands of metabolic f eatures\, including a subset of high-confidence annotations. Initial analy ses identified broad metabolic differences between the two model genotypes involving amino acid and nitrogen\, phenylpropanoid/flavonoid\, carbon an d energy\, lipid\, and pigment-associated metabolism. Although the biologi cal interpretation is ongoing\, we can conclude that the novel workflow of fers a promising approach to automate deep\, evidence-based metabolome ann otation\, as well as providing a flexible foundation for future research i nto duckweed metabolomics and the plant-microbiome relationship.\n\nhttps: //indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2897/ LOCATION:Department of Agricultural Sciences of the University of Napoli F ederico II\, Portici\, Italy Sala Cinese URL:https://indico.unina.it/event/117/contributions/2897/ END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR