Conference: Indo US Workshop on "Cyanobacteria: Molecular networks to biofuels" December 16-20, 2012 in Lonavala, India

早期还原环境向现代氧化大气的转变归因于蓝藻进行氧合光合作用的能力。这些光自养生物是唯一一类分解水分子并在大气中释放氧气的原核生物。蓝藻可用于多种用途，包括收集和转换太阳能，作为生产化学品、燃料和其他有价值产品的可再生原料。一个额外的好处是有可能捕获和降低大气中的二氧化碳水平。在许多方面，蓝藻都是低成本和可再生发电厂的典范。然而，要实现这一巨大潜力，还需要进行大量研究。主要的挑战是大规模养殖中太阳能的固有低能量通量，低光合作用速率和各种蓝藻的缓慢生长速度。此外，了解如何调节代谢物的流动是至关重要的，特别是在大型露天池塘中生长并受到自然暗-光周期影响的情况下。因此，研讨会的主要目标将是突出蓝藻基础和应用研究的现状，并找出解决关键挑战的办法。研讨会将产生一份白皮书，其中概述了两国研究人员建议的研究前进道路。研讨会的形式以两次技术会议为基础，每一次会议都专门讨论蓝藻研究的一个特定方面。技术会议拟包括受邀发言者的演讲、选定参与者的简短演讲以及随后的小组讨论。此外，海报会议和分组会议将为参与者之间的非正式一对一互动提供机会，这将导致未来应用和基础研究的行动计划。研讨会还将为学术和工业研究人员之间的直接互动提供一个平台，以更好地了解和加强两个部门之间合作研究活动的可能性。为此，组织者建议邀请来自行业和其他利益相关者的几名研究人员参加小组讨论。总而言之，这次研讨会的目标是将来自不同背景和研究领域的最优秀的科学家聚集在一起，并鼓励美国和印度科学家之间合作研究蓝藻，期望共同努力将产生新的基本发现，可用于促进生物经济增长，特别是在可持续生物能源生产方面。

The conversion of the early reducing environment to the present oxidizing atmosphere is attributed to the ability of the cyanobacteria to perform oxygenic photosynthesis. These photoautotrophic organisms are the only group of prokaryotes that split water molecules and release oxygen in the atmosphere. Cyanobacteria can be utilized in multiple applications, including the harvesting and conversion of solar energy as a renewable feedstock for the production of chemicals, fuels and other valuable products. An added benefit is the potential capture and reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. In many ways, cyanobacteria exemplify a low-cost and renewable power plant. However, substantial research is required for the realization of this enormous potential. The major challenges are the inherently low energy flux of solar energy in large cultures, low rate of photosynthesis and slow rate of growth of various cyanobacteria. In addition, it is critical to understand how to regulate the flow of metabolites, especially as cultures are grown in large-scale open ponds and are subjected to natural dark-light cycles. Therefore, the major objective of the workshop would be to highlight the current state of fundamental and applied research on cyanobacteria and to identify solution for key challenges. The workshop would result in a white paper that outlines the recommended path forward for research among the researchers in the two countries. The workshop format is based on two technical sessions each dedicated to a particular aspect of cyanobacterial research. The technical sessions are proposed to consist of talks by invited speakers, short talks from selected participants, followed by a panel discussion. Additionally, poster sessions and breakout sessions will provide opportunities for informal one-on-one interaction among the participants that will lead to action plans for future applied and basic research. The workshop will also provide a platform for direct interactions between academic and industrial researchers to better understand and enhance the possibilities of collaborative research activities between the two sections. To this end, the organizers propose to invite several researchers from industry and other stakeholders to participate in panel discussions.In summary, the goal of this workshop is to bring together the best scientists from disparate backgrounds and fields of research and to encourage collaboration between US/Indian scientists to work on cyanobacteria with the expectation that the joint effort will generate new fundamental findings that can be exploited to spawn bioeconomic growth particularly in sustainable bioenergy production.