2009 International Conference on Plant Mitochondrial Biology (ICPMB), Lake Tahoe, California

2009年植物线粒体生物学国际会议（ICPMB）将于2009年5月9日（星期六）至2009年5月14日（星期四）在加利福尼亚州太浩湖举行，将汇集真正的国际细胞和分子生物学家、代谢生化学家和遗传学家，研究与这些植物细胞器生物学相关的广泛基础问题。近年来，随着对植物线粒体基因组及其受细胞核控制的理解的扩大，以及关于线粒体内交叉或对线粒体来源信号作出反应的众多代谢途径的信息的爆炸式增长，该领域取得了显著进展。线粒体在植物代谢、花粉育性、细胞程序性死亡和ros介导的细胞调控中发挥重要作用。基因组和细胞器测序项目以及细胞成像技术的进步为研究人员提供了前所未有的强大工具，推动了这一领域最近的发展势头。本次会议将重点介绍线粒体进化的最新进展，线粒体形态的分子决定因素和线粒体基因组的遗传，线粒体基因表达和RNA加工，核细胞器相互作用和信号传导机制。在了解线粒体对植物生长、发育和胁迫反应的影响方面的最新进展也将被强调。这个领域目前特别令人兴奋，因为它正在超越描述，走向线粒体行为的操纵和重要信号和途径的解剖。该会议有在各大洲之间举行的历史，最近的会议在澳大利亚、法国和日本举行，地理跨度反映了国际科学界在这一领域作出的重要贡献。这是自1995年以来首次在美国举行的会议，将在加利福尼亚州的太浩湖举行。这是唯一一个传统上促进对线粒体基因功能和细胞器间相互作用感兴趣的国际研究人员与研究代谢和电子传递功能的国际研究人员之间互动的会议。会议的目的是让刚刚进入该领域的年轻科学家和博士后学员以及该领域的知名领导者发表演讲。该计划通过邀请新的想法和新的参与者，并为国际合作提供新的机会，加强了该领域。随着生物燃料研究的兴起，这次会议将重点放在植物线粒体和代谢方面是非常及时的。

The 2009 International Conference on Plant Mitochondrial Biology (ICPMB), to be held Saturday, May 9, 2009, through Thursday, May 14, 2009, in Lake Tahoe, California, will bring together a truly international group of cellular and molecular biologists, metabolic biochemists, and geneticists investigating a wide range of fundamental problems related to the biology of these plant organelles. The field has advanced significantly in recent years with the expanded understanding of the plant mitochondrial genome and its control by the nucleus, together with an explosion of information regarding numerous metabolic pathways that intersect within the mitochondrion or that respond to mitochondrially derived signals. Mitochondria play important roles in plant metabolism, pollen fertility, programmed cell death, and ROS-mediated cellular control. Much of the recent momentum in this field has been fueled by powerful and unprecedented tools afforded investigators by genome and organelle sequencing projects and advances in cell imaging technologies. The present conference will highlight recent progress in mitochondrial evolution, molecular determinants of mitochondrial morphology and the inheritance of mitochondrial genomes, mitochondrial gene expression and RNA processing, and nuclear-organellar interactions and signaling mechanisms. The latest progress in understanding mitochondrial influence on plant growth, development, and stress response will also be highlighted. This field is particularly exciting at the moment because it is moving beyond description towards manipulation of mitochondrial behavior and dissection of important signals and pathways. This conference has a history of moving between continents, with the most recent meetings having been held in Australia, France and Japan, a geographic span reflecting the important contributions that have been made by the worldwide community of scientists in this field. The conference, the first in the U.S. since 1995, will be held in Lake Tahoe, CA. It is the only conference that has traditionally fostered interaction between international investigators with interests in mitochondrial gene function and inter-organellar interaction and those investigating metabolism and electron transport functions. The conference is designed to include presentations by young scientists just entering the field and postdoctoral trainees, together with established leaders in the field. The program enhances the field by inviting new ideas and new participants, and providing new opportunities for international collaborations. With the upsurge in research on biofuels, the focus of the meeting on plant mitochondria and metabolism is extremely timely.