SYMPOSIUM: Nitric Oxide in the Invertebrates: Comparative Physiology and Diverse Functions to be held at the SICB meeting in Atlanta, Georgia January 4-8, 2000

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Until about 15 years ago, nitric oxide was known only as an environmental pollutant. In the early 1980's, researchers discovered that this small molecule was also active in animal nervous systems as a neurotransmitter. Neurotransmitters are typically small molecules that are released by an activated nerve cell, or neuron, allowing it to communicate with other neurons. Most neurotransmitters are stored within vesicles and released for short periods of time when a neuron is electrically excited. Upon release, these molecules diffuse across a narrow synaptic cleft and interacting with surface receptors on their target cells. In contrast, nitric oxide is released in its normal gaseous state. Unlike typical neurotransmitters, it is made enzymatically upon demand, and can diffuse through cells and tissues to interact with intracellular biochemical pathways. In the last 15 years, numerous studies have indicated that this small molecule plays important roles in the functions of adult and developing organisms. For example, nitric oxide is involved in the control of sexual and aggressive behavior, in the production of memories, in the anti-microbial effects of the immune system, and the perception of olfactory stimuli. The actions of nitric oxide on vertebrates are studied by growing numbers of researchers, as evinced by the increasing numbers of papers on this subject at major national and international scientific meetings. A somewhat smaller group of scientists working on invertebrates have begun to understand that this molecule plays similar roles throughout the animal kingdom and may be an evolutionarily ancient signaling molecule. This symposium, to be held at the January 2000 meeting of the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB), brings together researchers who study a broad array of invertebrate organisms. Many of these scientists have made seminal discoveries about the functions of nitric oxide and will be presenting their work to a group of scientists for whom basic science and its comparative aspects are a common interest. The symposium and SICB meeting are open to all interested attendees and in particular, this society welcomes graduate students and post-doctoral researchers. The symposium speakers will cover a broad range of nitric oxide studies - from signaling in bacteria through computational modeling of neural functions in insects. The PIs speakers range in experience from post-doctoral fellow to well known, established researchers, but all will present findings that are at the forefront of their respective fields. Information exchanged at this meeting will be further disseminated as papers in an upcoming issue of the journal American Zoologist.