4th ASM Conference on Beneficial Microbes

描述（由申请人提供）：快速的技术进步和新的实验模型系统的发展相结合，推动了有益微生物领域的发展。过去几年的研究提供了压倒性的证据，表明人类的健康，可能还有大多数其他动物的健康，取决于它们与持久的、共同进化的微生物群落的联系。这些有益微生物不仅在日常生理稳态中发挥关键作用，而且它们还与宿主的免疫系统合作，成功地抵抗发病机制。后一种作用在新出现的传染病和免疫功能低下患者的时代具有越来越重要的意义。DNA测序技术和相关生物信息学分析的空前进步使研究人员能够从研究微生物群落的组成过渡到阐明其代谢潜力，甚至在复杂的宿主相关微生物群落中也是如此。“组学”方法的进展，即转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学，正在帮助揭示宿主-微生物在功能水平上相互作用的基础。这些方法的成功应用将阐明微生物组的功能，并为微生物群落的相互作用提供机制见解。ASM有益微生物会议是国际性的会议，汇集了从分子遗传学到宏基因组学到系统生物学和生态学等领域的生物学家，讨论这一前沿研究领域的发展。基于该领域的最新进展，我们获得了美国微生物学会（ASM）的赞助，组织了一个新的有益微生物会议“宿主-微生物相互作用的功能和机制见解”。我们请求资助参加即将于2012年10月22日至26日在德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥举行的会议的美国和国际科学家。会议有六个会议，专门探讨该领域的现状和确定新的研究方向。(i)“人类微生物组的功能分析”将重点介绍转录组学、蛋白质组学和代谢组学研究获得的新的功能见解。（二）“有益微生物在健康和疾病中的作用”将举行讲座，介绍动物模型和临床研究的结果。（iii）“王国间信号传导”将以揭示广泛适用的分子信号传导的模型系统为特色。（iv）“有益微生物-免疫系统相互作用”将以描述有益微生物如何与宿主免疫系统相互作用的研究为特色。（五）“有益微生物在环境中的作用”将邀请在环境系统中率先采用与医学重要系统直接相关的方法的发言者。（vi）“共生系统的系统生物学”将介绍整个系统的方法和分析。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The combination of rapid technological advances and the development of new experimental model systems has propelled the area of beneficial microbes forward. Research over the last several years has provided overwhelming evidence that the health of humans, and likely most other animals, is dependent upon their associations with persistent, coevolved communities of microorganisms. Not only do these consortia of beneficial microbes play a critical role in day-to-day physiological homeostasis, but also they partner with the host's immune system to successfully resist pathogenesis. This latter role has taken on an increasing significance in an age of emerging infectious diseases and immunocompromised patients. The unprecedented advances in DNA sequencing technologies and associated bioinformatics analyses are now allowing researchers to transition from studying the composition of microbial communities to elucidating their metabolic potential even in complex host- associated microbial communities. The advances of "omics" approaches, i.e. transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics, are now helping to reveal the basis of host-microbe interactions at a functional level. The successful application of these approaches should elucidate the function of the microbiome and provide mechanistic insights into the interaction of microbial communities. The ASM Beneficial Microbes conferences are internationally attended meetings that bring together biologists in areas ranging from molecular genetics to metagenomics to systems biology and ecology to discuss the development of this frontier field of research. Based on the recent advances in the field, we obtained sponsorship from American Society for Microbiology (ASM) to organize a new Beneficial Microbe conference "Functional and Mechanistic Insights into Host-Microbe Interactions". We are requesting funding for the support of United States and international scientists attending the upcoming meeting to be held in San Antonio, Texas, October 22-26, 2012. The meeting has six sessions devoted to exploring the current state of the field and defining new directions of inquiry. (i) "Functional Analysis of the Human Microbiome" will highlight new functional insights gained by transcriptomics, proteomics and metabolomics studies. (ii) "Role of Beneficial Microbes in Health and Disease" will have talks presenting results from animal models and clinical studies. (iii) "Inter-kingdom Signaling" will feature presentations from model systems that revealed broadly applicable molecular signaling. (iv) "Beneficial Microbe-Immune System Interactions" will feature research describing how beneficial microbes interact with the host immune system. (v) "Role of Beneficial Microbes in the Environment" will feature speakers that have pioneered approaches in environmental systems that are of direct relevance to medically important systems. (vi) "Systems Biology of Symbiotic Systems" will present whole systems approaches and analyses. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The role of beneficial microbes in health of humans is a new research area that represents a dramatic shift in the perception of microbes in general. The NIH funded human microbiome project has revealed the diversity of microorganisms that live in close association in and on the human body. They contribute to the health not only by preventing pathogenic bacteria from colonizing but by providing essential nutrients, stimulating the immune system and influencing the development. The goal of the 2012 meeting will be to emphasis on how metagenomics, metabolomics, and computational biology and modeling can be used to better understand host-microbe interactions. Understanding the role of microbes in health is critical to understand how disturbing the microbiome can lead to disease.