Plant and Animal Genome XXIV Conference

January 08 - 13, 2016

3534

ONE HEALTH Epigenomics: From Soil to People

The workshop goal is to start a dialogue between plant and animal scientists and public health professionals about the need to incorporate environmental epigenomics tools in long-term assessments of health risks to the environment, plants, animals and people caused by endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs: metals, pesticides, PAHs), insecticidal toxins and microbial transgenes present in genetically modified crops (GMOs) and our food supply. Invited speakers will address the holistic concept of ‘ONE HEALTH Epigenetics’ to help conserve biodiversity of healthy ecosystems in light of climate change, to produce healthy animals, to protect human health long-term. A severe bacterial disease of shrimp, Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrotic Disease (AHPND), also called Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS), will be used to highlight health considerations regarding horizontal transfer (HGT) of microbial transgenes present in GMOs, EDCs and antibiotics in feeds, and antibiotic resistance (AR). Topics covered by speakers: interactions of Glyphosate and plant disease, Glyphosate/stacked transgenes and AR, epigenetics of EDCs and bacteria (AHPND-causing Vibrio parahaemolyticus with a plasmid encoding binary Photorhabdus insect-related (Pir) toxins pirA and pirB, proteins with overall structural topology similar to that of the Bacillus Cry insecticidal pore-forming toxin, despite the low sequence identity), transposable elements (TEs) of bacteria and shrimp, DNA methylation of Vibrios and shrimp, non-coding RNAs and RNAi silencing of TEs, HGT and emerging zoonoses, and the need to more rigorously assess the intergenerational safety of GMO-based crops to non-target species using modern environmental epigenetics technologies, and more transparent risk assessments to address public demand for labeling of GMOs.