Microbial Population Biology

Gordon Research Conference

July 22 - 27, 2007
Chair
Vice Chair
Proctor Academy
204 Main Street
Andover, New Hampshire, United States
 Venue and Travel Information

Conference Description

Microbial Population Biology covers a diverse range of cutting edge issues in the microbial sciences and beyond. Firmly founded in evolutionary biology and with a strongly integrative approach, past meetings have covered topics ranging from the dynamics and genetics of adaptation to the evolution of mutation rate, community ecology, evolutionary genomics, altruism, and epidemiology. This meeting is never dull: some of the most significant and contentious issues in biology have been thrashed out here. We anticipate the 2007 meeting being no exception.

Conference Program

SUNDAY
2:00 pm - 11:00 pmArrival and Check-in
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 7:40 pmWelcome / Introductory Comments by GRC Site Staff
7:40 pm - 9:30 pmMICROBES AND ECOSYSTEM FUNCTION
7:40 pm - 7:45 pm Discussion Leader: Forest Rowher (SDSU)
Introduction
7:45 pm - 8:15 pm Graham Bell (McGill)
"How are ecosystem properties affected by biodiversity?"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:50 pm Roger Summons (MIT)
"Complex microbial ecosystems: a 3.5 billion year record through geology, geochemistry and geobiology"
8:50 pm - 8:55 pm Discussion
8:55 pm - 9:25 pm Forest Rowher (SDSU)
"Viruses, microbes and the decline of coral reefs"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
MONDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
8:30 amGroup Photo
9:00 am - 12:30 pmEVOLUTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE (I)
9:00 am - 9:10 am Discussion Leader: Susanna Remold (U Louisville)
Introduction
9:10 am - 9:55 am Troy Day (Queen's)
"The evolution of disease life histories"
9:55 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am Farrah Bashey-Visser (Indiana University)
"Population structure and virulence in an insect-parasitic nematode and its symbiotic bacteria"
11:05 am - 11:10 am Discussion
11:10 am - 11:45 am Douglas Berg (Washington University School of Medicine)
"Parallelism (strict and relaxed) in multistep evolution of metronidazole resistance in Helicobacter pylori"
11:45 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:25 pm Gary Schoolnik (Stanford)
"Chitin-induced natural transformation and the evolution of Vibrio cholerae in aquatic habitats"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmEVOLUTION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASE (II)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Richard Moxon (Oxford)
Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm Marc Lipsitch (Harvard)
"Toward a Grand Unified Theory of Antigenic Diversity: Streptococcus pneumoniae as example and problem child"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:55 pm Nels Elde (U Washington)
"Adaptive evolution of innate immunity against poxviruses"
8:55 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:25 pm Dan Andersson (Uppsala)
"Gene amplification, antibiotic resistance and evolution of new genes"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
TUESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmPOPULATION BIOLOGY OF MICROBES
9:00 am - 9:15 am Discussion Leader: Fred Cohan (Wesleyan)
Introduction
9:15 am - 9:55 am Valeria Souza (UNAM)
"Are bacteria exceptional creatures?"
9:55 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am Dan Falush (Oxford)
"Genetics of microbes: A bacterium eye's view"
11:05 am - 11:10 am Discussion
11:10 am - 11:45 am Thane Papke (Dalhousie)
"Archaeal perspectives on species"
11:45 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:25 pm Nichole Broderick (Wisconsin)
"From benign to insidious: role of midgut commensal bacteria in insect disease"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmSYMBIOSIS
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Greg Hurst (UCL)
Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm Cameron Currie (U Madison)
"Ancient agriculture and antibiotic use in ants"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:55 pm Greg Hurst (UCL)
"'The comings (and goings) of a male-killing bacterium: tales from the South Pacific and beyond"
8:55 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:25 pm Susse Kirkelund Hansen (DTU, Denmark)
"Evolution of species interactions in a biofilm community"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
WEDNESDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmEVOLUTIONARY GENETICS OF MICROBES: A SYSTEMS-LEVEL VIEW (I)
9:00 am - 9:10 am Discussion Leader: Paul Sniegowski (UPenn)
Introduction
9:10 am - 9:55 am Mike Savageau (UC Davis)
"Evolution of phenotypes in the design space of molecular systems"
9:55 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am Andreas Wagner (U Zurich)
"Is mobile DNA good for you? New answers to old questions"
11:05 am - 11:10 am Discussion
11:10 am - 11:45 am Lauren Ancel Myers (U Texas)
"The spread of parasites through host networks"
11:45 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:25 pm Michael Elowitz (Caltech)
"Differentiation dynamics at the single-cell level"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmEVOLUTIONARY GENETICS OF MICROBES: A SYSTEMS-LEVEL VIEW (II)
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Roy Kishony (Harvard)
Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm Jeff Tabor (UCSF)
"Programming bacteria to take photographs, draw, and see"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:55 pm Roy Kishony (Harvard)
"Drug-drug interactions and resistance"
8:55 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:25 pm Chris Knight (U Manchester)
"How a single adaptive mutation affects a protein co-regulation network"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
THURSDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 am - 12:30 pmGENETICS OF ADAPTIVE EVOLUTION
9:00 am - 9:10 am Discussion Leader: Paul Turner (Yale)
Introduction
9:10 am - 9:55 am Michael Jennings (U Queensland)
"Phase variable regulons - 'phasevarions' - generate random switching between distinct cell types in host adapted bacterial pathogens"
9:55 am - 10:00 am Discussion
10:00 am Coffee Break
10:30 am - 11:05 am Paul Turner (Yale)
"Robustness and evolvability of RNA viruses"
11:05 am - 11:10 am Discussion
11:10 am - 11:45 am Rees Kassen (U Ottawa)
"Ecological genetics of new mutations"
11:45 am - 11:50 am Discussion
11:50 am - 12:25 pm David D'Argenio (U Washington)
"Pseudomonas adaptation during chronic infection"
12:25 pm - 12:30 pm Discussion
12:30 pmLunch
1:30 pm - 4:00 pmFree Time
4:00 pm - 6:00 pmPoster Session
6:00 pmDinner
7:00 pm - 7:30 pmBusiness Meeting
(Nominations for the next Vice Chair; Fill out Conference Evaluation Forms; Discuss future Site & Scheduling preferences; Election of the next Vice Chair)
7:30 pm - 9:30 pmINTERESTING LIFE HISTORY STRATEGIES OF BACTERIA
7:30 pm - 7:40 pm Discussion Leader: Francois Taddei (Necker, Paris)
Introduction
7:40 pm - 8:15 pm Richard Losick (Harvard)
"Coping with uncertainty"
8:15 pm - 8:20 pm Discussion
8:20 pm - 8:55 pm Jack Werren (Rochester)
"The Wolbachia Pandemic in Arthropods"
8:55 pm - 9:00 pm Discussion
9:00 pm - 9:25 pm Francois Taddei (Necker, Paris)
"Evolution of ageing"
9:25 pm - 9:30 pm Discussion
FRIDAY
7:30 am - 8:30 amBreakfast
9:00 amDepart

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