Insect immunity in action: from fundamental mechanisms of host defense to resistance against infections in nature
Aussois (French Alps), France, May 23-27, 2009
Deadline for application: March 10, 2009
Chairperson: Ulrich Theopold
Department of Molecular Biology and Functional Genomics, Stockholm University,
Svante Arrhenius Laboratories 16-18, Stockholm, SE-106 91, Suède
Phone: +46 (0)8 164181 - Fax: +46 (0)8 166 488
Mail: uli@molbio.su.se
Vice-Chairperson: Dominique Ferrandon
UPR 9022 du CNRS, IBMC, 15 rue Descartes, 67084 Strasbourg cedex, France
Phone: +33 3 88 41 70 17– Fax: +33 3 88 60 69 22
Mail: D.Ferrandon@ibmc.u-strasbg.fr
Insects possess powerful immune systems that reflect their striking evolutionary success. The past decade saw a growing appreciation of the relevance of insect effectors and regulatory mechanisms to the understanding of innate immunity in other organisms including humans, best exemplified, perhaps, by the discovery of the essential role of Toll-like receptors in sensing infections in mammals. The study of the insect immune response is facilitated by the absence of most elements of the adaptive arm of immunity, which in mammals complicates the analysis of the links between genetic defects and phenotype. The development of genomic studies and of large-scale mutagenesis projects allows a detailed and comprehensive analysis of insect immunity with important implications for human immunology.
Topics will encompass:
- Immune-priming in insects
- Invertebrate infection models
- Peripheral immunity in tissues such as contact epithelia and the gut
- An extended evolutionary view of insect immunity facilitated by the sequencing of several insect genomes including two mosquito and twelve Drosophila genomes.
We will also address how these recent advances may be applied to the control of insect pests and the control of insect vectors of human diseases with special focus on malaria.
This conference will be the continuation of a series of Jacques Monod conferences dedicated to the general theme of "Invertebrate Immunity".
Invited speakers
(provisional titles)
AKSOY Serap (New Haven, USA)
A metagenomic perspective to trypanosome transmission process in tsetse
CREMER Sylvia (Regensburg, Germany)
Social immune priming in ant colonies
CROZATIER Michelle (Toulouse, France)
Larval hematopoiesis and the cellular immune response to wasp parasitization
DIMOPOPULOS Georges (Baltimore, USA)
Mosquito innate immune defenses to human pathogens
ENGSTRÖM Ylva (Stockholm, Sweden)
Tissue-specific regulation of antimicrobial peptides
EVANS Jay (Beltsville, USA)
Honey bee immune responses and resistance toward natural pathogens
EWBANK Jonathan (Marseille, France)
Mechanisms of C.elegans immunity
FAUVARQUE Marie-Odile (Grenoble, France)
Identifying the deubiquitinases acting as immune signals regulators in Drosophila
FERRANDON Dominique (Strasbourg, France)
Host-pathogen interactions in an intestinal model of Drosophila infection by the entomopathogenic bacterium Serratia marcescens
HECKER David (Jena, Germany)
How does the Lepidopteran midgut modulate an immune response?
HODGKIN Jonathan (Oxford, United Kingdom)
C.elegans immunity
HULTMARK Dan (Umeå, Sweden)
The cellular immune response in Drosophila, an evolutionarily flexible defense
JIGGINS Frank (Edinburgh,
Genetic variation in susceptibility to viral infection
KAFATOS Fotis (London, United Kingdom)
Anopheles/Plasmodium Interactions
LANZREIN Beatrix (Bern, Switzerland)
Tricks of an egg-larval parasitoid to circumvent the host's immune system
LEE Won-Jae (Seoul, South Korea)
Regulation of Innate immunity for the commensal-gut mutualism and host fitness in Drosophila
LEVASHINA Elena (Strasbourg, France)
Complement-like system in the antiparasitic response of Anopheles gambiae
MALISSEN Bernard (Marseille, France)
Vertebrate adaptive immunity versus Invertebrate immunity: specificities and pathways revisited
POIRIE Marylène (Nice-Sophia Antipolis, France)
Drosophila immune response to parasitoids and the different ways of being an "immune suppressive" wasp
REICHHART Jean-Marc (Strasbourg, France)
New genes in old pathways: the Drosophila immune system
ROYET Julien (Marseille, france)
Implication of Blood cells in development and immunity of Drosophila
SCHMUCKER Dietmar (Boston, USA)
Drosophila immune recognition (DSCAM)
SCHNEIDER David (Stanford, USA)
Immune priming in Drosophila
SCHULTZE-LEFERT Paul (Köln, Germany)
Plant immunity
SMITH Valérie (St Andrew, United Kingdom)
The antimicrobial components of the crustacean immune system and how they interact with natural pathogens
SÖDERHÄLL Kenneth (Uppsala, Sweden)
Innate Immune systems in crustaceans
THEOPOLD Ulrich (Stockholm, sweden)
Hemolymph coagulation
VAVRE Fabrice (Lyon, France)
Is symbiosis evolution influenced by the pleiotropic role of Programmed Cell Death in immunity and development?
WASSERMAN Steve (La Jolla, USA)
Innate Immunity: Cranking Up the AMPs
Deadline for application: March 10, 2009
Registration fee (including board and lodging)
385 € for PhD students
600 € for other participants
Application for registration
The total number of participants is limited to about 115 and all participants are expected to attend for the whole duration of the conference. Selection is made on the basis of the affinity of potential participants with the topics of the conference. Scientists and PhD Students interested in the meeting should send:
- their curriculum vitae
- the list of their main publications for the 3 last years
- the abstract of their presentation
to the Chairperson of the conference before the deadline. After it, the chairman will select the participants. Except in some particular cases approved by the Chairperson, it is recommended that all selected participants present their work during the conference, either in poster form or by a brief in- session talk. The organizers choose the form in which the presentations are made. No payment will be sent with application. Information on how and when to pay will be mailed in due time to those selected.