SEB Bulletin January 2006
Interested in applying for a travel grant? Visit www.sebiology.org
Deadlines for applications for the next two rounds are: 31 March 2006 & 30 June 2006
| Fatemeh Abbaszadeh | Brunel University | Stem cells, senescence and cancer international conference in Singapore |
| Melanie | TEAGASC | Legume Genomics and Genetics conference in Brisbane |
| Judith Heygate | University of St Andrews | Neuroscience 2005 in Washington DC |
| Beena Nandha | University of Manchester | Research at the Institut biologie et Physico-Chimique in Paris |
| Ana Sofia Soares | University of Lisbon | Research in the CPI division at Rothamsted Research in Harpenden, UK. |
| John Thelen | Wageningen University | Research at the University of California at Berkely |
| Heiko Ziebell | University of Cambridge | Lab visit to NY State University, Buffalo |
35th Annual Meeting of the Society for Neuroscience
This five-day meeting was held in the new convention centre in Washington D.C. and was attended by a record 35,000 delegates from around the world. I previously attended this meeting in New Orleans in 2003 and thanks in part to a Travel Grant from the SEB/CoB, I was delighted to be able to return this year and to present some of the data from my PhD research in a poster entitled 'A comparative study of the role of GABAB receptors in Xenopus laevis and Rana temporaria tadpoles'.
The meeting opened with a special lecture from the Dalai Lama on the Neuroscience of Meditation, which proved immensely popular. I attended a number of other talks during the meeting encompassing subjects ranging from the treatment of spinal cord injury to the bioethics of using cognitive enhancers. Of particular interest to my own research was a symposium dealing with the development of neuronal phenotypes in the Xenopus laevis tadpole.
Due to the size of the meeting, a vast number of posters were presented at two four-hour sessions each day, which provided an excellent opportunity to discuss recent developments in both my own and other related fields. As I am currently writing my PhD thesis, I was able to gain new perspectives on some of my own results and to meet prospective postdoctoral employers. I also had the chance to catch up with old friends and colleagues at some of the organised social events.
The SfN conference is the premier forum for the exchange of ideas in the Neurosciences and I would again like to express my thanks to the SEB/CoB for giving me the opportunity to participate in such a major scientific meeting at such an important stage in my career.
Judith Heygate
University of St.Andrews
7th International Symposium on Aphids
In October 2005 I attended the 7th International Symposium on Aphids in Fremantle, Australia. I was able to attend the conference thanks to a generous travel grant provided from the Society for Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists.
The meeting was attended by over one hundred scientists from Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas, bringing together world-leading entomologists to discuss a whole spectrum of topics from aphid biology and ecology through to molecular analysis of aphid-plant interactions and aphid functional genomics. Of particular interest was a plenary talk by Dr T. Fukatsu from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan who spoke on the ecological, physiological and molecular mechanisms that coordinate the aphid social system in the Hormaphidinae and Pemphiginae. Dr Fukatsu's talk was received with such interest that he was asked to give another unscheduled talk at lunchtime to expand on several areas of his lab's work.
The meeting also provided the opportunity for me to give an oral presentation entitled 'Exploring Plant-Aphid Interactions using Transcriptomics Techniques', which was very well received with great feedback and for which I was awarded 2nd prize for the best student talk.
Associated with the meeting was an Aphid Genomics Workshop which was a forum for discussing aphid genomics resource development. The workshop stimulated enthusiastic discussion on the development and coordination of international genomic resources in light of the forthcoming sequencing of the Pea Aphid genome and other future plans for aphid genomic research.
The conference was a fantastic opportunity for me liaise and make contact with world-leading scientists in my field of research and I hope to use the feedback and knowledge gained to enhance my future studies. I would like to thank the Society of Experimental Biology, along with the Company of Biologist for providing me with this opportunity to attend and present my work to an international audience at this conference.
Clare Couldridge
University of Birmingham
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea Annual Science Conference
With the generous assistance of the Society of Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists Travel Fund, I presented a poster at the 2005 ICES (International Council for the Exploration of the Sea) Annual Science Conference in Aberdeen (20-24 September). The stated functions of the ICES Annual Science Conference (ASC) are to:
bring the results and advancement of work conducted in areas of marine research to the attention of the scientific community;
review the state of knowledge, identify the gaps, and propose actions to fill the gaps.
Consistent with these broad aims, the 2005 ICES ASC hosted numerous working group committees, as well as over 450 talks and poster presentations within 18 theme categories! Abstracts can be accessed via the ICES web site http://www.ices.dk/indexfla.asp
Posters were displayed throughout the week, and a dedicated poster session evening allowed me to discuss my work with other scientists (What do seals eat? Detection of prey remains in seal scats: comparing hard part and DNA techniques. Ruth M. Casper, S. N. Jarman, B. E. Deagle, N. J. Gales and M. A. Hindell). I'm very pleased to report that my poster generated interest not only from marine mammal scientists, but also from other marine scientists who could see application of my research to other areas of marine science.
Following the conference, I presented seminars on my work to BAS (British Antarctic Survey) in Cambridge and to SMRU (Sea Mammal Research Unit), Gatty Marine Laboratory, University of St. Andrews. These talks were well received and are likely to result in collaborations in the future.
I am a third year PhD student at the University of Tasmania, conducting research in association with the Australian Antarctic Division. Conferences that attract leading international scientists studying marine ecosystems and their management are rare locally. Travel to the UK from Australia is costly and the SEB/CoB travel grant enabled me to attend the 2005 ICES Annual Science Conference. This, together with visits to BAS and SMRU, provided me with invaluable opportunities to meet these scientists, discuss my work with them and improve my post-doctorate opportunities.
Thank you so much!
Ruth Casper
University of Tasmania
XV International Plant Nutrition Colloquium
Beijing, The People's Republic of China
Plant Nutrition for Food Security, Human Health and Environmental Protection
The international Plant Nutritional Colloquium started in 1954 and has been one for the most important opportunities for scientists around the world to exchange ideas on plant nutrition for food security, human health and environmental protection. I was thrilled when I found out that I had been invited to present a paper on my PhD Research at the 15th Colloquium in Beijing in China. My work into the impacts of increased fertile use on the environment was really relevant to the intensification of China's current agricultural demands.
Thanks to financial support from University College London and the SEB I was able to attend and have a once in a lifetime experience my first trip to Asia and my first international conference. The conference centre was located in the outskirts of Beijing and extremely large with an auditorium the size of a rock stadium - so I was very pleased to find out that I was presenting one of the smaller rooms. My talk was very well received and it was great to have the opportunity to speak to people from all over the work about their research, exchange ideas and learn about the research that is being done in China to meet current food demands with the rapidly expanding economy of the country.
I would like to thank the SEB for enabling me to attend this conference and meet with fellow scientists from all over the world.
Catherine Stanley
University College London
Interdrought II
The pleasure of attending the biggest plant stress physiologists meeting held after 10 years, was possible partly due to the financial assistance offered by the Society of Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists towards my travel and conference fees. The conference was held in the historical city of Rome at the University of Rome “La Sapienza”. Its emphasis was on the integrated approaches to sustain and improve plant production under drought. Although working on the effect of high temperature stress during anthesis in rice, the gathering was interesting and informative as the effect of both water and heat stress are very much similar during the reproductive stage in rice as well as in many other crops.
The conference hosted 534 participants representing 59 countries who presented posters (450) or papers (72) on a wide range of topics concerning stress in general and drought in particular. Apart from the second day, which dealt with different aspects of crop management and water use efficiency, the majority of the time was spent on physiology as a base leading to molecular studies. The work in breeding mainly using marker-assisted selection has started to show progress provided the phenotypic screening was done perfectly and was repeatable. The advancement in plant molecular techniques following the completion of the complete rice genome sequence was on display. The tremendous progress in functional genomics and proteomics were the highlights of these advancements. The paper presented by Dr. Marrianne Banziger of CIMMYT on participatory plant breeding was appreciated by the whole gathering.
However, with all the advancement, the progress in solving problems concerning drought in the field was meagre. This dominated the discussion during the closing session. It was opined that the advancement in the molecular field alone could not be successful provided it actively collaborated with agronomists and plant physiologists. The next drought stress meeting will be held at Shanghai, China in 2009. I had the chance to meet the most reputed scientists in the field and had meaningful discussions, which will help me plan my future work in my final year PhD. Apart from that, I was able to continue collaboration with IRRI for future studies on high temperature tolerance in rice. I had the pleasure of hearing and talking to Prof. Bill Davies.
I had a great time in Rome, going around the remains of the magnificent architecture. Among the ones I happened to see, The Pantheon was the best. The museum housing the works of Leonardo da Vinci was an absolute marvel to explore.
Krishna Jagadish
University of Reading
European Association of Fish Pathologists, Denmark
All I can say is “wow what an experience!” This conference was my first real experience of an international conference. It was wonderful to meet many different people from many different countries with interest in areas from microbiology to molecular biology from environmental to parasitic and of course from prevention to treatment.
Demark was a great host opening with a beautiful performance of the little nightingale written by none other than Hans Christian Andersen. I discovered that Denmark has several aquaculture species including trout, eels, turbo, perch, oyster and mussels. Rainbow trout and eels are the primary species with the majority of the farming occurring on the island of Jutland. They have several disease problems and their motto and aim is for a healthy, safe and sustainable industry.
The conference proved to be a fascinating experience, providing the opportunity to orally present at an international level and receive constructive feedback on my research. It also allowed me to interact with highly credentialed international scientists such as Dr. Kurt Buchmann of KVL in Copenhagen who provided some suggestions for future direction in my research project. There were also many presentations of parasites and parasitic diseases and well as prophylaxis and treatment that allowed mean to obtain new information and ideas about my research project its data and direction.
The conference however was not all work with the opportunity for experiencing the sites of Copenhagen and its surrounding areas. With the conference offering a variety of field and study trips, I managed to see lots of castles, fish, churches, museums and even some kangaroos and Tassie devils (which was so good just because I had never seen them before).
All in all the conference and trip to Copenhagen was a great experience I learnt a lot about a different culture and it gave me the chance to meet a variety of scientists and obtain an appreciation for the types of research being conducted and techniques being used. The best thing of all was that it gave me the opportunity to present my work to experts in the field who were able to provide me with constructive feedback.
Last but not least I want to thank the Society of Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists for providing me with funds that made it possible for me to attend this conference and obtain the knowledge and experience that I have.
Renee Louise Florent
University of Tasmania
CHRO 2005
My thanks go to the Society for Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists for a very generous travel grant that helped support my attendance at the 13th meeting on Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Related Organisms (CHRO 2005). This meeting is considered the premier meeting in the field, and this time was held in Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, from the 4th-8th September 2005. The conference was therefore attended by many of the most eminent and distinguished scientists in the field such as Barry Marshall and Robin Warren (who both recently received the Nobel Prize for there discovery and isolation of H. pylori), Adrian Lee, George Mendz, Irving Nachamkin and Julian Ketley among others.
The meeting was held over 3 days and involved many sessions from distinguished international speakers as well as young scientists documenting current research interests. My research focuses on how C. jejuni combats oxidative stress, and as such I found talks and posters by Kathryn Holmes and Karen Elvers particularly interesting to name but a few. All poster sessions were excellent, as were the majority of talks and presentations I attended. My poster received a lot of interest from prominent figures in the field which only helped me in providing new ideas and points of view on my own research. My poster was also selected to give a short presentation in addition to those already being given. I am extremely grateful to the SEB and the CoB for providing funding that allowed me to attend this excellent meeting.
John Atack
University of Sheffield
Lab visit to New York State University at Buffalo
Earlier this summer, I intended to participate at the International Congress of Virology in San Francisco and the International Congress on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions in Cancun. However, two days before the scheduled start of the congress, Cancun was struck by hurricane Emily and the congress cancelled. The organisers decided to postpone the congress until December but Cancun was devastated by hurricane Wilma in October. Due to the uncertain situation I decided to withdraw my attendance. I was very happy when the SEB allowed me to use the awarded travel grant for a research visit I had planned in the United States.
In my PhD I have been working on a strategy to “immunise” plants against viruses, called cross-protection. Cross-protection is a type of biological control in which mild or attenuated strains of viruses are used to protect plants against infection from more severe and damaging strains of the same virus. The mechanism behind this protection remains unclear, but the most prominent theory offered to explain cross-protection is that it is based on virus-induced gene-silencing, a form of RNA interference. I have been using Cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) as a model to study this process in tobacco and Nicotiana benthamiana. Among other things, I am interested in seeing how a wild-type strain and a cross-protecting mutant CMV spread in plant tissue. In particular, I want to know if two strains infect the same cells or whether the wild-type strain is excluded from cells occupied by the cross-protecting mutant.
So far, it has been very difficult to use green fluorescent protein or other fluorescent proteins to visualise the spread of more than one CMV strain in plants, hence I decided to use in situ hybridisation to detect viral RNAs. In situ hybridisation is quite difficult for plant tissues so that my supervisor Dr John Carr sent me to visit his friend Prof. Jim O. Berry at the New York State University at Buffalo. Prof. Berry has a lot of experience with in situ hybridisation of plant tissues such as C4 plants like amaranth and Flaveria. He is interested in photosynthetic gene-expression of C4 plants and was able to show the localisation of rubisco mRNA UTRs in Flaveria by using in situ hybridisation. Lately, his group discovered an RNA-binding protein binding to rubisco mRNA and he hopes to concentrate further on this work. However, he was very happy to help me with my work on plant viruses.
I spent November in his lab processing and analysing my leaf samples. It took about 3 days just to embed the leaves in paraffin, another day to get sections and to stick them onto microscope slides, another day to de-paraffinise the sections and pre-hybridise, another day to hybridise and visualise, and then I was able to analyse the samples under a microscope. You can imagine that this method takes quite some time! Overall, things went very smoothly and I really learned a lot and was able to try different visualisation methods of my hybridised samples. The preliminary results are very interesting and are likely to be an important part of my PhD. I am very grateful for Prof. Berry's helpful assistance and would like to take the opportunity to thank the Society for Experimental Biology and the Company of Biologists Travel Fund for the generous grant that enabled me to carry out this research visit. It certainly will help me to achieve my PhD!
Heiko Ziebell
University of Cambridge