Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction VII Meeting

第七届细菌运动和信号转导国际会议（BLASTVII）将于2003年1月19日至24日在墨西哥Cuernavaca举行。这次会议预计将有200-250名与会者，将集中讨论原核系统中传感和反应的分子机制。会议形式旨在促进来自美国和国外的研究人员对最近的发展和想法进行广泛的讨论。该计划将包括大约50个口头报告和100个海报，使几乎所有在这一快速发展领域工作的实验室都能展示他们的主要发现。科学会议将比较和对比各种原核生物的感觉和运动系统，重点关注其信号转导途径中的每个基本步骤：(a)化学和光感受器的跨膜信号；(b)细胞内磷接力级联的信号传递；(c)细胞运动、基因表达和发育的感觉控制；(d)细胞运动的机制。细菌感觉系统在微生物生态学和发病机制中具有重要的功能，也为理解发生在许多真核生物中的类似信号系统提供了有用的模型。BLAST会议已成为该领域研究人员展示其最新发现并讨论有关细菌传感和运动的新兴概念和概括的主要论坛。将出版BLAST VII的审查报告，其中将总结会议上提出的主要发现，并提供该领域现状的易于获取的概述。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Seventh International Conference on Bacterial Locomotion and Signal Transduction (BLASTVII) will be held January 19-24, 2003, in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The conference, which is expected to have 200-250 participants, will focus on the molecular mechanisms of sensing and response in prokaryotic systems. The meeting format is designed to foster extensive discussions of recent developments and ideas among researchers from the United States and abroad. Approximately 50 oral presentations and 100 posters will be included in the program, allowing virtually all laboratories working in this rapidly moving field to present their key findings. Scientific sessions will compare and contrast the sensory and locomotor systems of a variety of prokaryotes, focusing on each fundamental step in their signal transduction pathways: (a) transmembrane signaling by chemo- and photoreceptors;(b) signal transmission by intracellular phosphorelay cascades; (c) sensory control of cellular motility, gene expression, and development; and (d) the mechanics of cell motility. Bacterial sensory systems have important functions in microbial ecology and in pathogenesis, and also provide useful models for understanding analogous signaling systems that occur in many eukaryotes. The BLAST meeting has become the principal forum for investigators in this field to present their current findings and to discuss emerging concepts and generalizations concerning bacterial sensing and motility. A review of BLAST VII will be published, which will summarize key findings presented at the meeting and provide a readily accessible overview of the present state of the field.