Gordon Conference--Biology of the Spirochetes

第五届戈登螺旋体生物学研究会议将于2002年1月在加州文图拉举行。Spirochetes会议的生物学是独一无二的。这是唯一一次正在进行的国际会议，专门讨论所有医学上重要的和生物学上相关的螺旋体的基础研究，螺旋体是一组独特的真细菌。许多螺旋体是病原体并引起多种疾病，包括梅毒、莱姆病、回归热、钩端螺旋体病、牙周病、牛的趾皮炎以及猪和人的痢疾。从历史上看，螺旋体一直很难研究。这些细菌通常有苛刻的营养需求，有些还没有成功地在体外培养。目前还没有对几种螺旋体进行遗传操作和突变分析的方法。研究不同螺旋体的小组之间有机会交流想法，这是过去会议的最大好处之一，特别是在基因操纵新技术领域。本文对莱姆病螺旋体、梅毒螺旋体、T.在钩端螺旋体属中的新测序项目证明了丰富的新信息。结合起来，这些数据正在整合到正在进行的研究，这些细菌的生理学，结构，发病机制和免疫生物学。以前的每一次螺旋体生物学会议都非常成功，受到与会者的高度赞扬，建立了新的合作，为展示这些细菌的最新研究提供了一个论坛，并帮助确定了新的研究方向。与前几届会议一样，我们预计2002年会议的出席人数将达到最多150名教师、研究生、博士后研究员和工业科学家。将邀请代表不同研究兴趣、地理位置和资历的广泛科学家参加。将特别努力确保年轻研究人员（研究生，博士后和初级教师）的大量出席，并实现与会者的性别和种族平衡。组织口头和海报介绍，以提供许多讨论，交流思想和发展合作的机会。美国国立卫生研究院的资金被要求部分抵消参与研究生，研究员和初级教师的旅行和注册费用。

The fifth Gordon Research Conference on the Biology of Spirochetes will be held in January 2002 in Ventura, California. The Biology of Spirochetes Conference is unique. This is the only ongoing international meeting devoted to discussions on basic research of all medically important and biologically relevant spirochetes, a unique group of Eubacteria. Many spirochetes are pathogens and cause a variety of diseases, including syphilis, Lyme disease, relapsing fever, leptospirosis, periodontal disease, digital dermatitis of cattle, and swine and human dysentery. Historically, spirochetes have been difficult to study. These bacteria often have fastidious nutritional requirements and some have yet to be successfully cultured in vitro. Methods for genetic manipulation and mutational analysis of several spirochete species do not exist. The opportunity for exchange of ideas among groups working on different spirochetes has been one of the greatest benefits of past conferences, particularly in the area of new techniques for genetic manipulation. The application of genetic advancements and the availability of genomic sequences of Borrelia burgdorferi, Treponema pallidum, T. denticola, and new sequencing projects in Leptospira spp, are proving a wealth of new information. Combined, these data are being integrated into ongoing studies on the physiology, structure, pathogenesis, and immunobiology of these bacteria. Each of the previous Biology of Spirochetes conferences have been highly successful, receiving high praise by attendees, forging new collaborations, providing a forum for presenting state-of-the-art research on these bacteria, and helping to set new research directions. As in previous conferences, we expect attendance at the 2002 conference to reach the maximum of 150 faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and industrial scientists. A broad spectrum of scientists representing different research interests, geographic locations, and seniority will be invited to attend. Special efforts will be made to insure strong attendance of young investigators (graduate students, post-docs and junior faculty), and achieve a balance in gender and ethnicity of attendees. The oral and poster-presentations are organized to provide many opportunities for discussion, the exchange of ideas, and development of collaborations. Funding from the National Institutes of Health is requested to partially offset the travel and registration expenses of the participating graduate students, fellows, and junior faculty members.