Synopsis
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This will be the 4th Conference on Bacterial Cell Biology. In the last two decades there has been an explosion of interest in fundamental aspects of bacterial structure and function, based on advances in fluorescence and cryo-EM imaging. Quantitative and automated methods have brought about radical changes in the breadth and depth of questions that could be explored, while genome sequencing and genetic methods such as CRISPR-Cas9 and Tn-Seq have greatly expanded the range of organisms that can be studied incisively, enabling comparative studies of processes such as growth, morphogenesis and division, across diverse bacterial phyla. Many of these bacterial cell biology systems are being successfully reconstituted using purified components, leading to the discovery of molecular mechanisms underpinning cellular functions. The conference will bring together presentations illustrating the application of advanced cell and molecular biology methods to a wide range of basic functions in bacterial cells. Advances in understanding of the fundamentals of bacterial structure and function also create opportunities for the development of novel approaches to kill or modulate the growth and behaviour of bacterial cells.
Key Sessions
- Cell growth and morphogenesis
- Cell division
- Chromosome replication and segregation
- Cell biology of transcription and translation
- Advances in imaging
- Diversity in bacterial structure and function
- Bacterial communities and signalling
- Bacterial chemical biology
Confirmed Invited Speakers
Anjana Badrinarayanan (NCBS)
Melanie Blokesch (EPFL)
Pamela Brown (University of Missouri)
Eli Cohen (Imperial College London)
Jeff Errington (Newcastle University)
Ethan Garner (Harvard University)
Erin Goley (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)
Stephan Gruber (UNIL-Sorge District)
Christine Jacobs-Wagner (Stanford University)
Sangjin Kim (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Tung Le (John Innes Centre)
Petra Levin (Washington University)
Martin Loose (Institute of Science and Technology Austria)
Houra Merrikh (Vanderbilt University)
Cecile Morlot (Institut de Biologie Structurale)
Mariana Pinho (ITQB)
Kumaran Ramamurthi (NIH)
Nina Salama (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center)
Henrik Strahl (Newcastle University)
Sven van Teeffelen (Université de Montréal)
Jean-Marie Volland (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
Xindan Wang (Indiana University)
Stephanie Weber (McGill University)
Allison Williams (University of California, San Francisco)
Wenqi Yu (University of South Florida)
Target Audience
The conference will attract the major players in the bacterial cell biology field, of which there are probably 50 or so significant groups worldwide. It will also attract many microbiologists with a general interest in microbial cell function who would badge themselves as molecular biologists or microbial biochemists. Talks will cover a wide range of topics and PhDs, post-docs and group leaders will all benefit by being brought up to date with developments across the discipline.
Educational Need
Bacterial cell biology underpins important applied research areas such as infectious disease, antimicrobial discovery and development, and synthetic biology, but it is rarely taught as a discipline in its own right, especially with the decline of offered degrees in microbiology. The modern discipline, which has emerged in the last 20 or so years, covers a wide range of technical methods and can be highly quantitative, encompassing a diversity of organisms and mechanistic problems. The conference presentations will collectively provide a comprehensive grounding in all major facets of the field, bringing new participants to field at all levels (pre- and post-doctoral, as well as group leaders switching fields).