18th International Congress on Frankia symbiosis and actinorhizal plants

The funding request concerns support for the organisation of the 18th International Congress on "Frankia symbiosis and actinorhizal plants" (http://www.actino2015.com/) which will be held from 21 to 25 August 2015 at Agropolis International-Montpellier.

The international congress "Frankia symbiosis/actinorhizal plants" is organised every two years. It allows the scientific community working on actinorrhizal plants to take stock of the major advances in both the Frankia microorganism and host plants, and to ensure links between research and the use of these plants by forestry institutes, particularly in southern countries.

Actinorrhizal plants are a group of about 270 tree and shrub species that are characterised by their ability to establish nodular nitrogen-fixing symbioses with soil actinobacteria of the genus Frankia. The plant-microorganism interaction leads to the formation of nodules (commonly called nodules) on the roots, in which nitrogen is reduced to ammonia that can be assimilated by the plant partner.

Actinorrhizal nitrogen-fixing symbioses are very important for improving soil quality, particularly in developing and Mediterranean countries where soils are often nutrient poor or degraded. The plants involved are of both agronomic and ecological interest, by enriching the soil with nitrogen. Some actinorrhizal species play a major role in the environment, particularly in southern countries. Actinorrhizal trees of the Casuarinaceae family are, for example, planted on a large scale in coastal areas in Africa, India and China (1 million hectares) to protect coastal areas from typhoons and tsunamis. The species C. glauca and C. equisetifolia, due to their ability to tolerate salty soils, also contribute to the rehabilitation of degraded soils affected by this abiotic stress.