On 17^th Oct. 2025, Shandong Agricultural University had the great honor of hosting a distinguished lecture by Dr. Moritz Nowack, from Ghent University.

Dr. Nowack delivered an insightful presentation titled Cell Death - The Final Frontier in Plant Development which explored the latest advancements in programmed cell death in planta. He focused on developmentally controlled PCD (dPCD) as a means to understand how plants evolved and instrumentalized cell death as a fundamental mechanism of development. Using root cap turnover in Arabidopsis thaliana as a potent dPCD model system, Dr. Nowack and his team identified an extensive gene regulatory network coordinating cellular differentiation and PCD preparation. Downstream, they discovered a rapid succession of cellular decompartmentalization events that brings about the irreversible cessation of cellular vital functions to execute cell death and orchestrate post-mortem corpse clearance. Equipped with this knowledge, they are now unravelling the players and their molecular control mechanisms that are responsible for cell death execution in plants.

After Dr. Nowack’s talk, the students and faculty engaged in a stimulating discussion with the speaker. We extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. Nowack for sharing his invaluable expertise with us.