Sea Urchin Developmental Biology Conference XIV

描述(由申请人提供)：第14届海胆细胞和发育生物学研究界以及研究尾索动物、半角动物和头索动物的研究人员会议将于2002年5月1日至5日在马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔举行。这次会议是对非脊椎动物后口动物的细胞、分子、发育和进化生物学感兴趣的研究人员最重要的聚会。第14次会议具有特别重要的意义，因为正在进行三个基因组项目(两个关于被囊类动物，一个关于海胆)。讲习班、研讨会和非正式讨论对于与这些项目相关的协调和合作将具有极其重要的意义。对细胞生物学、发育和进化具有重要意义的已识别基因的爆炸性增长，促进了人们对这一领域的兴趣的广泛扩大。一个多世纪前，海胆胚胎和被囊胚胎被改编为模式生物进行研究。这些胚胎为实验操作提供了许多优势，并一直是理解细胞、发育和进化机制的重要工具。可用基因的爆炸性增长为这些系统注入了确定功能的巨大新力量。直到最近，包括文昌鱼和橡子虫(半沟类)在内的其他模型系统一直是相当边缘的，仅用于比较系统的研究。最近的努力也为使这些生物适应实验方法提供了新的动力。结果，随着后口生物进化和发育的机制被发现，社区中有很大的兴奋。这次会议聚集了实验者，分享他们在分子、细胞和基因组水平上的发现。会议包括8次全体会议，共44位发言者，另外还有6次并行会议和2次研讨会，共46位发言者。海报会议和吃饭时的讨论增加了高度互动的气氛。这次会议将有大约200人参加。受邀者将包括所有对海胆、被毛类、半角类和头颈类动物的细胞、发育和进化机制感兴趣的人。课程将涉及受精、分子规格、轴向组织、原肠形成和形态发生、激活发育的细胞机制、基因组学和影响发育的进化机制。同时举行的研讨会为研究生和博士后提供了宝贵的机会，让他们获得在国际会议上发言的经验，研讨会介绍了这些胚胎中的新方法。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 14th meeting of the Sea urchin cell and developmental biology research community and of researchers working on Urochordates, Hemichordates, and Cephalochordates will be held on May 1-5,2002 at Woods Hole Mass. This meeting is the most important gathering of researchers interested in the cell, molecular, developmental and evolutionary biology of non-vertebrate deuterostomes. The 14th meeting has special importance because of three genome projects being conducted (two on tunicates and one on sea urchins). Workshops, seminars, and informal discussions will be of immense importance for the coordination and collaborations associated with those projects. A vast expansion of interest in this field has been catalyzed by an explosion of identified genes of importance to cell biology, development and evolution. The sea urchin embryo and tunicate embryo were adapted for study as model organisms more than a century ago. These embryos offer many advantages for experimental manipulation and have remained as important tools for understanding cellular, developmental and evolutionary mechanisms. The explosion of available genes has infused these systems with enormous new power for determination of function. Until recently other model systems that include amphioxis and acorn worms (a hemichordate) have been quite peripheral and used only for comparative systematic studies. Recent efforts have given new impetus to adapt these organisms for experimental approaches as well. As a result there is great excitement in the community as mechanisms of deuterostome evolution and development are uncovered. The meeting brings together exiperimentalists to share their findings at the molecular, cellular, and genomic level. The meeting includes 8 plenary sessions with a total of 44 speakers, plus 6 concurrent sessions and two workshops with 46 speakers. Poster sessions and discussions over meals add to the highly interactive atmosphere. The meeting will include about 200 people. Invitees will include all those interested in cell, development, and evolutionary mechanism in sea urchins, tunicates, hemichordates and cephalochordates. Sessions will cover fertilization, molecular specification, axial organization, gastrulation and morphogenesis, cellular mechanisms that activate development, genomics, and evolutionary mechanisms that impact development. The concurrent sessions offer valuable opportunities for graduate students and postdocs to gain experience speaking at an international meeting, and the workshops introduce new approaches in these embryos.