International Conference on Trace Metal Metabolism in Plants

The Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Faculty of Science of the University of South Bohemia will host the prestigious PLANTMETALS 2025 scientific conference in the second week of September. The meeting will take place from 9 to 12 September 2025 on the scientific campus in České Budějovice and aims to bring together experts from all disciplines working on trace metals in plants. More than seventy scientists from 21 countries around the world are expected to attend.

Trace metals are elements that occur in very low concentrations in plants and the environment – some of them are essential for life (e.g., iron, zinc, copper, or manganese), while others can be toxic (e.g., cadmium, lead, or mercury). Conference participants will share the latest research on how plants take up, utilize, and store trace metals, as well as how they cope with deficiency, excess, or toxicity. Discussions will cover all essential and non-essential trace metals, as well as metalloids, which are elements with properties between metals and non-metals (e.g., arsenic, antimony, or silicon).

The conference is open to scientists from around the world at all career stages. Keynote speakers include Marcel Bugter from the international chemical company Nouryon (Netherlands), who will discuss regulatory and scientific challenges related to micronutrient fertilizers. Prof. Ute Krämer from Ruhr University Bochum (Germany) will present genome-enabled approaches to studying metal hyperaccumulation and tolerance in plants. Prof. Olena Vatamaniuk from Cornell University (USA) will explain the crosstalk between iron and copper homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana. Annette Rompel from Universität Wien (Austria) will present functional changes in the family of type 3 copper proteins, while Prof. Jörg Rinklebe from Bergische Universität Wuppertal (Germany) will focus on trace elements in soils and plants.  Representing both host institutions, Prof. Hendrik Küpper is the main organizer of the conference, and he will show a comparison of mechanisms leading to lethal and sublethal toxicity of metals and metalloids in plants.

The conference is organized by the Plantmetals Society. Detailed information about the program and organization can be found at plantmetals.net