International Conference on Plant Eco-physiological Adaptation Mechanisms -PEPAM

Type of activity: Conference
Date: July 21-22. 09. 2022
Place: Tirana, Albania
Title: International Conference on Plant Eco-physiological Adaptation Mechanisms -PEPAM
Organisers: Federico Martinelli, Ariola Bacu, Sotirios Fragkostefanakis, Eirini Kaiserli
Venue: "Aleks Buda" Hall, Academy of Sciences of Albania, Tirana.
Conference report:
1st International Conference on Eco-Physiological Mechanisms of Plant Adaptation
It was organized by the Academy of Sciences of Albania, the Commission of Biology, Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine in cooperation with the University of Tirana (Faculty of Natural Sciences), the Agricultural University of Tirana (Faculty of Agriculture and Environment), EBTNA-European Biotechnology Network Association, Cost Action -EPICATCH, University of Pristina (Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences and Faculty of Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine).
The purpose of the activity 1st International Conference on Plant Eco-physiological Adaptations addressed issues related to plant adaptation to stress, anatomical modification of plants, physiological responses, stress response genes, the impact of stress on plant production, post-harvest physiology, biotechnological methods to increase plant adaptability, monitoring the quality of agricultural products after harvest, as well as the use of tolerant plants for other applications such as bioremediation. Scientists, agricultural businesses, students, agricultural authorities, were invited to actively participate in the conference by presenting their findings or political/or managerial perspective on the objectives cited above.
Objectives of the Conference were:
1. To highlight problems related to the adaptation of agricultural crops/plants to environmental stress & promote scientific and technical thinking for risk assessment at the national level.
2. To consider the consequences of environmental stress on agricultural production and the quality of products after harvest.
3. To offer solutions based on biotechnology for increasing the adaptive capacity of agricultural or non-agricultural plants.
4. To identify, propose advanced methods for assessing the quality of agricultural products after harvest.
5. To propose solutions to environmental problems such as bioremediation, through the use of plants with high environmental adaptability.
6. To contribute to the creation of a national cross-sectoral network for the assessment and management of the risk from the effects of climate change on agricultural production and the preservation of vegetation in general.
The topics covered were:
• Plant Abiotic Stresses (low water potential, salinity, light, cold, heat, metal toxicity, UV)
• Plant Physiological Adaptation to stress: germination, flowering time, redox response, seed ripening, etc.
• Biochemical and Molecular Mechanisms of plant tolerance to abiotic stress: Responses, Sensibility and Signaling, transcription factors, phytohormones, antioxidant production, etc.
• Plant-Microbe interactions under the action of adverse environmental conditions and Plant Protection.
• Impact of stress on Plant Production.
• Postharvest Physiology of plant products and environmental stress.
• Plant tolerance to environmental stresses & Food Safety.
• Creation of Biosensors for monitoring the quality of agricultural products after harvest (rotting process, cold damage, pathogens, insects; Creation of bioassays for determining the life after harvest of fruits and vegetables).
• Epigenetic responses of plants to environmental stresses.
• Biotechnologies as a solution for the adaptability of plants to environmental stresses.
• Use of plants resistant to stress in Bioremediation.
• Legal measures in response to the damage imposed by climate change on crop production.

Works presented at the PEPAM-2022 conference were published at the Book of Abstracts with the ISBN of the Academy of Science of Albania, and full papers were published at the Albanian Journal of Natural & Technical Sciences.