NemaSym RCN - Inaugural NemaSym RCN Meeting

The inaugural network meeting has two primary purposes: to lay the groundwork for success of RCN education and research goals and to exchange knowledge and emerging symbiosis theory with the broader Symbiosis community. This will be accomplished by holding the RCN meeting in conjunction with the 6th ISS Congress that will include themes on evolution, ecology, metabolic and genetic exchange, and host-microbe communication and manipulation.

Proposed Activities

Synthesize current knowledge of diverse nematode-bacterium symbiosis systems
Identify major areas in which unified study of nematode-bacterium symbiosis can contribute to symbiotic theory
Establish which nematode-bacterium symbiosis systems are best suited for educating the broader community in the themes listed above

Areas of knowledge

Review current knowledge of bacterial influence on animal (vertebrate and invertebrate) development, nutrition and behavior.
Establish nematode-bacterial interactions as a model for understanding microbial contributions to animal physiology.
Disseminate cutting edge tools to study nematode physiological changes in response to symbiont association (e.g. metabolomics and microscopy)
Develop emergent unifying themes in microbial contributions to nematode physiology into a collaborative review article for publication

Workshop: “Nematode-bacterium symbioses in educational curricula”
This workshop will introduce nematode-bacterium symbioses in K-graduate curricula to educate society and scientists about the fundamental role of microbes in. A session of the ISS Congress is dedicated as a teaching workshop, and network members will participate in this forum.

We encourage you to attend this conference as a NemaSym RCN participant, which you can declare upon registration. In addition, be sure to select Nematode-Bacterium Symbiosis as one of your areas of interest. For further information, registration, and abstract submission please visit the Congress web site: http://www.union.wisc.edu/symbiosis/ . NemaSym RCN expects to provide travel support to 30 participants attending this meeting. Special consideration will be given to graduate students and postdoctoral associates. Guidelines for application to these travel awards will be posted on the RCN website in March. Those interested in attending the August 12th NemaSym RCN meeting may contact the NemaSym coordinator, Patricia Stock ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

If you have questions regarding the ISS Congress please contact Heidi Goodrich-Blair (chair of the ISS organizing committee; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or Alicia Cramer-Carlson (UW-Madison Microbes in Health and Disease Administrative Assistant; This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Last Updated ( Monday, 08 November 2010 )