Developmental Biology of Sea Urchins-XV

描述（由申请人提供）：第154届海胆细胞和发育生物学研究团体会议将于2003年9月24日至28日在马萨诸塞州伍兹霍尔举行，与会者包括研究尾脊索目、半尾脊索目和头脊索目的研究人员。这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。这是在塑造未来研究的关键时刻，因为新的Ciona物种基因组序列数据和海胆（S. purpuratus）基因组序列的出现。正式会议、讲习班和非正式讨论对于协调与这些项目有关的合作将极为重要。近年来，许多相关基因的发现推动了对非脊椎动物后足体细胞发育生物学和进化研究的进展和兴趣；通过开发研究其功能的方法和资源（如morpholinos，阵列克隆文库）；通过整合几个实验室的工作来阐明驱动早期发育的基因调控网络。海胆和被囊动物胚胎为这些研究提供了许多优势，最近的研究也为其他非脊椎动物后口动物的分析提供了新的动力。会议汇集了实验学家，分享他们在基因组、分子和细胞水平上的发现。该计划包括7个全体会议，7个并行会议和两个研讨会，共有约80名发言人。海报会议和用餐时的讨论增加了高度互动的氛围。这次会议预计将吸引约175名国际调查人员。受邀者将包括所有对海胆、被囊动物、半足动物和头脊索动物的细胞、发育和进化机制感兴趣的人。全体会议将集中讨论海胆和海鞘胚胎的基因组学；卵母细胞的成熟;受精与发育激活；早期轴向不对称；神经系统的发育和进化，以及基因调控网络。同时进行的会议扩展和补充了这些主题，并为研究生和博士后提供了宝贵的机会，以获得在国际会议上发言的经验。基因组学研讨会将提供动手熟悉所需的计算资源，以利用今年积累的海胆全基因组序列。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 154 meeting of the sea urchin cell and developmental biology research community, joined with researchers working on Urochordates, Hemichordates, and Cephalochordates, will be held on Sept. 24-28, 2003 at Woods Hole, Mass. This is the most important gathering of researchers interested in the cell, molecular, developmental and evolutionary biology of non-vertebrate deuterostomes. It comes at a critical time for shaping future research because of the new genome sequence data for Ciona species and the emerging sequence of the sea urchin (S. purpuratus) genome. Formal sessions, workshops and informal discussions will be extremely important for coordinating collaborations associated with those projects. Progress and interest in studying the cell and developmental biology and evolution of non-vertebrate deutersotomes recently have been fueled by the identification of many relevant genes; by the development of methods and resources to study their function (e.g. morpholinos, arrayed clone libraries); and by the integration of the work of several laboratories in the elucidation of the gene regulatory networks that drive early development. Sea urchin and tunicate embryos offer many advantages for these studies and recent efforts have given new impetus to analysis of other non-vertebrate deuterostomes as well. The meeting brings together experimentalists to share their findings at the genomic, molecular, and cellular levels. The program includes 7 plenary sessions, 7 concurrent sessions and two workshops with a total of approximately 80 speakers. Poster sessions and discussions over meals add to the highly interactive atmosphere. The meeting is expected to attract an international group of about 175 investigators. Invitees will include all those interested in cell, development, and evolutionary mechanism in sea urchins, tunicates, hemichordates and cephalochordates. Plenary sessions will focus on the genomics of sea urchin and ascidian embryos; oocyte maturation; fertilization and the activation of development; early axial asymmetries; development and evolution of the nervous system, and gene regulatory networks. Concurrent sessions extend and supplement these topics and offer valuable opportunities for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to gain experience speaking at an international meeting. A genomics workshop will provide hands-on familiarization with the computational resources needed to make use of the sea urchin whole genome sequence that is accumulating this year.