Session Themes

The 45th New Phytologist symposium will take place over four days (Wednesday 26 – Saturday 29 June 2024) at the University of Campinas, Brazil. The symposium will be organised into sessions by research topics and there will be dedicated time for breakout sessions, poster sessions, selected poster talks and a field trip. A pre-symposium workshop will be held from Monday 24 June 2024. The organising committee encourages abstracts along the session themes, and will select speakers from submitted abstracts. 

  • The deadline for oral presentations was 1 March 2024 (now closed) 
  • The deadline for a poster presentations was 1 April 2024 (now closed) 

Late poster abstract submissions from registered attendees may be considered on a case by case basis.  Please email the Events and Promotions Manager for further details. 

Abstract guidelines

Delegates are encouraged to submit an abstract to be considered for an oral or poster presentation.  We have limited poster exhibition/programme space, and expect the process to be competitive. Preference will be given to new unpublished, or recently published, work. Each presenting author is limited to one abstract submission, but can be listed as a co-author on other submissions. 

We encourage you to register at the same time as submitting an abstract, as delegate places are limited. Should an abstract be selected for inclusion and the presenting author is not yet registered.  They will need to register before their inclusion in the programme is confirmed. 

Use the the submission form to send us your abstract details.
When submitting your abstract in addition to adding the details within the submission form, please have your abstract saved as a word document with the following formatting:

  • Abstracts should be no more than 200 words
  • Single spacing, Arial font, 12 point
  • First line: Title in bold sentence case 
  • Second line: the author(s)' name(s) in UPPER CASE. Underline the name of the author presenting the work. First and middle names denoted by initials followed by last names in full
  • Third line: Full address of the lead author’s institution
  • Leave a single line space after the address
  • Main text: provide concise details of the background and objective(s) of the investigation, methods used, results and conclusions (200 words max)
  • Saved as a Microsoft Word .docx document to upload with your submission. 

Example abstract:

The origin of Helianthus deserticola: survival and selection in a desert habitat
B. L. GROSS , N. C. KANE, C. LEXER, L. H. RIESEBERG
Department of Biology, Indiana University, Jordan Hall 142, 1001 East Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA


The diploid hybrid species Helianthus deserticola inhabits an extreme environment relative to its parental species H. annuus and H. petiolaris . Adaptation to the arid desert floor may have occurred via the acquisition of novel phenotypes resulting from transgressive segregation in early hybrids. We have explored this possibility through a field experiment designed to test the direction and intensity of phenotypic selection, using crosses between the parental species as proxies for the ancestral genotype of the ancient hybrid species. Helianthus deserticola , H. annuus , H. petiolaris , and early-generation hybrids between H. annuus and H. petiolaris were all grown in native H. deserticola habitat, and a selection analysis revealed that several traits were subject to strong selective pressures. Several of the traits under selection were also extreme or transgressive in H. deserticola , and the range of variation present in BC2 hybrids suggests that many aspects of the H. deserticola phenotype are easily recreated. Thus, transgressive segregation may have contributed to the adaptation of H. deserticola to the desert habitat.