[Coral-List] Coral colors workshop and meeting
Anya Salih
anya at emu.usyd.edu.au
Sun Aug 3 04:14:11 EDT 2003
Dear colleagues,
The Australian Key Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis of
University of Sydney is organizing a workshop on the role of color
and fluorescent pigments in reef building corals.
The workshop CoReLL-2003 (Coral Reef Light and Life) will provide an
opportunity for researchers to apply a range of optical (fluorescence
microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and pulse amplitude modulation
fluorometry) and molecular techniques to investigate the diversity,
light regulatory and other functional roles of coral host-based
fluorescent and color pigment proteins. Equipment supplied by
workshop sponsors Carl Zeiss Pty Ltd, Varian Inc. and Heinz Walz GmbH.
The workshop will take place on board of the Undersea Explorer
(<http://www.undersea.com.au>www.undersea.com.au) on 30 August - 5
September, 2003. The aim is to gather together a team of
international scientists specializing in research of corals (and
related Anthozoa) and their colors - the fluorescent and chromophoric
GFP (green fluorescent protein) pigments. Undersea Explorer will
visit reefs of the Great Barrier Reef and the Osprey reef in the
Coral Sea.
Some of the research topics will include:
Spectral and molecular diversity of coral host-based pigments
Bathymetric spectral tuning
Photoprotective and light amplifying functions
Role in coral post-bleaching recovery and susceptibility to diseases
The workshop cost of AUD $1950 covers all on-board expenses (twin
share air-conditioned cabin, chef cooked meals, diving and use of
equipment, facilities and workshop administrative costs). Limited
number of spaces are still available.
The workshop will be followed by a meeting at the University of Sydney
GFP-type proteins:
diversity, novel properties, biological roles
and imaging applications.
Location: Electron Microscope Unit and
the Australian Key Center for Microscopy & Microanalysis,
University of Sydney. Lecture room LG92AB
Date: September 9, 2003
Time: 9:00 to 18:00
The wide availability of fluorescence imaging techniques and the
emergence of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants
have revolutionized biological research over the recent years.
Fluorescent proteins have been isolated from a variety of organisms
other than jellyfish and recent progress in the discovery of novel
GFP-types from reef corals and related cnidarians has provided
significant opportunities to develop new & improved optical probes
for in vitro and in vivo applications. These include cnidarian
red-shifted spectral variants (e.g., DsRed); novel FRET (fluorescence
resonance energy transfer) protein partners; photoactivatable and
photoconvertable GFP-types.
The Australian Key Center for Microscopy and Microanalysis of the
University of Sydney is hosting a one day mini-symposium on the
GFP-type proteins: their diversity, optical and molecular
characteristics, evolution and biological function; and novel
applications in cellular optical imaging. There is much debate over a
wide variety of observed phenomena, properties and hypothesized
functions of these unusual photoproteins and the meeting will provide
a forum for their discussion.
Recent progress will also be discussed in the application of GFP-type
probes for monitoring structural and physiological processes,
pathologic conditions and in biotechnology. Researchers are invited
to discuss their experiences in the application of GFP and related
proteins in cellular studies, together with FRET, FLIM and FRAM
methods and applications. The meeting will be informal and aims to
bring together researchers interested in the latest advances in these
fields and to provide opportunities for multi-disciplinary approaches
and discussions.
Registration: AUD $100 (students $20).
Presentation format - 15 or 30 min; refreshments provided during
morning and afternoon breaks; post-forum drinks.
Presentations by invited speakers
Kindling red fluorescent proteins: properties and applications for
precise in vivo photolabeling. K. Lukyanov, Institute of Bioorganic
Chemistry (Russia)
Kindling red fluorescent proteins: properties and applications for
precise in vivo photolabeling. Using site-directed mutagenesis of
non-fluorescent GFP-like chromoproteins we developed "kindling
fluorescent proteins" (KFPs) that are capable of photoconversion from
the nonfluorescent to a red fluorescent form. KFPs can be used for
precise in vivo photolabeling to track the movements of cells,
organelles, and proteins. We propose a model of the kindling
mechanism, in which the key event is chromophore cis-trans
isomerization.
A colourless GFP-like protein from the hydromedusa Aequorea
coerulescens and its fluorescent mutants. N. Gurskaya, Institute of
Bioorganic Chemistry (Russia)
We have cloned an unusual colorless GFP-like protein from Aequorea
coerulescens. Its random mutagenesis generated green fluorescent
mutants, with the strongest emitters found to contain an Glu222-->Gly
(E222G) substitution, which removed the evolutionarily invariant
Glu222. Re-introduction of Glu222 into the most fluorescent random
mutant, named aceGFP, converted it into a colorless protein. This
protein protein demonstrated a novel type of UV-induced
photoconversion, from an immature non-fluorescent form into a green
fluorescent form.
How corals got their colors. M. Matz, University of Florida (USA)
In modern corals and other reef Anthozoa, the color diversity
determined by GFP-like proteins evolved independently in several
groups, at about the time of establishment of first coral reef
ecosystems in mid-Triassic. Natural selection played the key role in
its evolution. Intra-specific color variations in corals are not due
to polymorphism, but to phenotypic plasticity that is dependent on at
least four, and maybe up to seven, different genetic loci coding for
different colors. Detailed analysis of natural selection footprints
within these genes suggests that the function of the corresponding
proteins is more complex than simple pigmentation, and may be related
to evolution of coral/zooxanthellae symbiosis at molecular level.
Molecular characterization and biological function of novel
fluorescent proteins. J. Wiedenmann, University of Ulm (Germany)
The discovery of fluorescent proteins (FPs) in nonbioluminescent
anthozoa with different emission colors opened up new perspectives in
fluorescent protein technology. The talk will present recent advances
of our group in cloning of novel FPs from anthozoan species and their
engineering. Moreover, aspects of their biological function will be
discussed.
Please send an expression of interest to attend the workshop or
mini-symposium, to Anya Salih anya at emu.usyd.edu.au, including your
name, affiliation, telephone and presentation title. Talks time-table
and registration payment details will be subsequently sent to
registrants.
--
Dr Anya Salih
APD(I) Research Fellow
Electron Microscope Unit
& The Australian Key Centre for Microscopy & Microanalysis
Nanostructural Analysis Network Organisation (NANO)
Major National Research Facility (MNRF)
Madsen Building FO9 Email: anya at emu.usyd.edu.au
The University of Sydney Telephone: 02-93517540
Sydney, 2006, AUSTRALIA Facsimile: 02-93517682
http://web.emu.usyd.edu.au/emu/research/anya_research.html
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