Meeting: Ctenopalooza - A Workshop on Ctenophore Biology, March 14-15, 2015, Saint Augustine, Florida

会议：Ctenopalooza - 栉水母生物学研讨会，2015 年 3 月 14 日至 15 日，佛罗里达州圣奥古斯丁

• 批准号: 1619712
• 负责人: Joseph Ryan
• 金额: $ 2.17万
• 依托单位: University of Florida
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2016-02-15 至 2017-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1619712&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Meeting; Ctenopalooza; Workshop; Ctenophore; Biology

The first international workshop on ctenophore biology will be held at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience in St. Augustine, FL on March 14-15, 2016. This meeting will bring together researchers studying the biology of ctenophores. Ctenophores, also known as comb jellies, are a group of animals found in nearly all marine environments (coastal and oceanic, deep sea as well as surface waters). Most species are planktonic and move by the beating of eight ciliary bands, which is the distinct morphological character uniting the group. Recent biogeographic and evolutionary findings, as well as published genomic resources and access to deep water have brought a great deal of attention to these animals, resulting in a revived research activity. The purpose of this international ctenophore workshop is to bring together the burgeoning community of ctenophore biologists, foster cross-disciplinary collaborations, discuss improvements and expansion of community resources, and share expertise relating to field, experimental, and culture techniques. Furthermore, the workshop has been designed to foster interactions between junior scientists (undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers) and senior researchers to inspire the next generation of ctenophore biologists to identify and take on the big open questions that can only be answered by studying ctenophores. The recent influx of interest in these fascinating and important animals presents an opportunity to explore future directions and address some of the challenges for expansion of ctenophore research. This will be the first meeting completely dedicated to studying ctenophores, and the results will be published in an open-access journal to facilitate the broadest possible distribution of ideas generated during this workshop.Recent studies suggest that ctenophores are the sister group to all other animals and as such, are a critical group for understanding the biology of the last common ancestor of all animals. These findings have been corroborated by analyses of the complete nuclear genomes of two ctenophores. The availability of these data and the implications of the phylogenetic position (e.g., independent origin or loss of neural cell types within animals) have captured the attention of a wide audience, and research on these animals has grown. Although interest in ctenophores continues to grow, these animals remain relatively poorly studied and often misrepresented. Thus, it is important to identify ways to improve and expand community resources, as well as share expertise relating to culturing and experimental techniques. The workshop will bring together researchers from a variety of fields (e.g., taxonomy, ecology, neurobiology, evodevo, and behavior) to identify ways to improve resources, to foster collaborations, and to promote cross-disciplinary approaches to studying these unique creatures.

第一届国际栉水母生物学研讨会将于2016年3月14日至15日在佛罗里达州圣奥古斯丁的惠特尼海洋生物科学实验室举行。这次会议将汇集研究栉水母生物学的研究人员。 栉水母，也被称为梳水母，是一组几乎在所有海洋环境（沿海和海洋，深海以及表面沃茨）中发现的动物。大多数物种是直立的，通过八条纤毛带的跳动来移动，这是团结群体的独特形态特征。最近的地理学和进化研究结果，以及已发表的基因组资源和进入深水的机会，给这些动物带来了极大的关注，导致了研究活动的复苏。这个国际栉水母研讨会的目的是汇集新兴的栉水母生物学家社区，促进跨学科合作，讨论社区资源的改进和扩展，并分享与实地，实验和培养技术有关的专业知识。此外，该研讨会旨在促进初级科学家（本科生和研究生以及博士后研究人员）与高级研究人员之间的互动，以激励下一代栉水母生物学家识别和解决只能通过研究栉水母来回答的大问题。最近对这些迷人而重要的动物的兴趣的涌入为探索未来的方向和解决扩大栉水母研究的一些挑战提供了机会。这将是第一次完全致力于研究栉水母的会议，结果将发表在一个开放获取的杂志上，以促进在这次研讨会期间产生的想法尽可能广泛的传播。最近的研究表明，栉水母是所有其他动物的姐妹群体，因此，是理解所有动物最后共同祖先生物学的关键群体。这些发现已经证实了完整的核基因组分析的两个栉水母。这些数据的可用性和系统发育位置的含义（例如，独立起源或动物体内神经细胞类型的丧失）引起了广泛的关注，对这些动物的研究也在增长。虽然对栉水母的兴趣持续增长，但这些动物的研究仍然相对较少，而且经常被歪曲。因此，重要的是要确定如何改善和扩大社区资源，以及分享有关培养和实验技术的专门知识。研讨会将汇集来自各个领域的研究人员（例如，分类学，生态学，神经生物学，进化和行为），以确定如何改善资源，促进合作，并促进跨学科的方法来研究这些独特的生物。