International Workshop on Copepod Genomics

桡足动物基因组学国际研讨会将于2008年与世界桡足动物协会会议同时在泰国举行。该奖项的资金将部分或全部支持来自不同背景和机构的至少12名处于职业生涯不同阶段的科学家（从学生到高级研究人员）。本次研讨会的目标是让研究人员参与到开发桡足类基因组资源的策略中，桡足类是一组浮游生物，包括海洋中最丰富的多细胞生物。作为初级和次级消费者，它们构成了食物网的主要环节，支持着许多具有商业和生态重要性的鱼类。桡足类是野生和养殖无脊椎动物和鱼类的重要经济寄生虫。其中一些是霍乱等疾病的媒介，另一些在减少蚊媒疾病方面有效。由于人类活动，包括全球气候的大规模变化，水生环境正受到越来越大的威胁。基因组学、蛋白质组学和其他先进技术的应用可以提高准确评估和/或预测这些变化对水生环境的复杂影响的能力。提高桡足动物序列信息的可用性是开发新工具和应用先进技术解决这一生态和经济上重要群体的基本和应用问题的必要的第一步。

An International Workshop on Copepod Genomics will be held in Thailand in 2008 in conjunction with the meeting of the World Association of Copepodologists. Funds from this award will partially or fully support at least 12 scientists at various stages in their careers (from students to senior investigators) from a diverse set of backgrounds and institutions. The goal of this workshop is to engage researchers in the development of strategies that will lead to the development of genomics resources for copepods, a group of plankton which comprise the most abundant multicellular organisms in the oceans. As primary and secondary consumers, they form major links in the food web which support many commercially and ecologically important fish. Copepods are economically important parasites of wild and cultured invertebrates and fish. Some are vectors for diseases such as cholera and others are effective in reducing mosquito borne diseases. Aquatic environments are under increasing threat due to human activities, including large-scale changes in the global climate. The ability to accurately assess and/or predict the complex effects of such changes on the aquatic environment can be improved by the application of genomics, proteomics and other advanced technologies. Improving the availability of sequence information for copepods is a required first step towards the development of new tools and the application of advanced technologies to address basic and applied questions about this ecologically and economically important group.