ESF Research Conferences

Conference Opening and Welcome Message from the Chair

Coffee Break

Martin Hagemann, University of Rostock, DE
Salt adaptation of cyanobacteria - from genes to the environmet

Patricia Sanchez-Baracaldo, University of Bristol, UK
A Neoproterozoic origin for marine nitrogen fixing cyanobacteria and marine planktonic picocyanobacteria

Jose-Manuel Garcia-Fernández, University of Córdoba, ES
Prochlorococcus can use the Pro1404 transporter to take up glucose at nanomolar concentrations in the Atlantic Ocean

Lunch

Session II: The cyanobacterial pan-genome: a blueprint for diversification and adaptation
Chair: Cheng-Cai Zhang, Université de la Méditerranée Marseille, FR

Wolfgang Hess, University of Freiburg, DE
Regulatory networks controlling photosynthesis and primary metabolism in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Annegret Wilde, Albert-Ludwigs University Freiburg, DE
The role of c-di-GMP and the RNA-chaperone Hfq in phototactic motility of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 cells

Coffee break

Jonathan Zehr, University of California, Santa Cruz, US
Microbial interactions with nitrogen-fixing oceanic cyanobacteria   

Debbie Lindell, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, IL
Cyanophages – A Selective Force Driving Cyanobacterial Genome Diversification

Ondrej Prasil, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ
Regulation of light harvesting in Acaryochloris marina

Javier Paz-Yepes, University of California, San Diego, US
Microcin-C-like biosynthesis genes are involved in allelopathic interactions in marine Synechococcus

Hans Matthijs, University of Amsterdam, NL
Hydrogen peroxide as a biocide for selective suppression of harmful cyanobacteria

10:30-11:00

Coffee break & Group Picture

Fedor Kuzminov, Rutgers University, US
Mechanisms of OCP-triggered non-photochemical quenching in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC 6803

Birgit Rengstl, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, DE
Assembly of photosystem II in cyanobacteria

Lunch

Asuncion Contreras, University of Alicante, ES
Phenotypic impact of relatively mild mutations affecting the essential NblS-RpaB system from Synechococcus elongatus sp. PCC 7942

Taina Tyystjärvi, University of Turku, FI
The omega subunit of the RNA polymerase directs transcription efficiencies in cyanobacteria

Robert Burnap, Oklahoma State University, US
Regulation of the cyanobacterial inorganic carbon concentrating mechanism involves internal sensing of NADP+and -ketogutarate levels by the LysR- type transcription factor CcmR

15:45-16:15

Coffee break

Session VI : Data bases and systems biology
Chair: Wolfgang Hess, University of Freiburg, DE

Yasukazu Nakamura, National Institute of Genetics, JP
Cyanobase: an integrated database for cyanobacterial genomes

Matthias Futschik, Universidade do Algarve, PT
How the internal world of Synechocystis adapts to the ever-changing world outside: A comprehensive meta-analysis of its transcriptional responses

Ilka Axmann, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, DE
Cyanobacteria’s specific features: non-standard circadian clocks and plenty of antisense RNAs

Round Table Discussion
Future of databases, European Society
Chairs: Elke Dittmann, Wolfgang Hess, Yasukazu Nakamura

Session VII : Shaping and Differentiating a Cyanobacterial Cell: Cellular Biology of Cuanobacteria.

Chair: Eva-Mari Aro, Turku, FI

Enrique Flores, CSIC-Universidad de Sevilla, ES

Cell-cell communication in the diazotrophic cyanobacterial filament

Cheng-Cai Zhang, Université de la Mediterranée, FR

Multiple signals in heterocyst development

COFFEE BREAK

Karl Forchhammer, University Tübingen,DE

A nanopore array in the septal cell wall is required for cell communication in Nostocales

Enrico Schleiff, Goethe University Frankfurt, DE

Outer membrane function of cyanobacteria

Dirk Schneider, University of Mainz, DE

Structure and function of VIPP1,a Protein Involved in Thylakoid Membrane Biogenesis in Chloroplasts and Cyanobacteria

Vicente Rubio, Instituto de Biomedicina de Valencia (IBV), es

DNA binding, allosteric regulation and PipX coactivation clarified structurally for the NtcA global nitrogen regulator of cyanobacteria

DINNER

Forward Look Pleanary Session

Chairs: Elke Dittmann, Conrad Mullineux, Paola Campus

Peter Lindblad, Uppsala University, SE
Design, engineering, and construction of photosynthetic microbial cell factories for renewable solar fuel production

Paul Hudson, Royal Institute of Technology Sweden (KTH), SE
Metabolic engineering of cyanobacteria for the production of biofuels

Matthew Melnicki, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, US
Maintenance of fast growth under high irradiances in Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002

Session X : Metabolic Adaptation and Stress Response
Chair: Karl Forchhammer, University of Tuebingen, DE

Corinne Cassier-Chauvat, CNRS, FR
New insights into the pleiotropic role of glutathione in cyanobacteria

Gustag Sandh, Uppsala University, SE
Cellular and functional specificity among the multiple Dps proteins present in the multicellular cyanobacterium Nostoc punctiforme

Imre Vass, Biological Research Center, HU
Characterization of singlet oxygen production in intact cyanobacteria and microalgae

Joanna Sacharz, Queen Mary University of London, UK
Spatial localisation of FtsH proteases during light stress and nutrient deprivation in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Session XI : Shaping the Future Environment – Synthetic Biology Towards Biofuels (II)
Chair: Jens Appel, University of Kiel, DE

Klaas Hellingwerf, University of Amsterdam, NL
Dissecting control over carbon metabolism in cyanobacteria

Ilia Baskakov, University of Maryland, US
Electrogenic activity of cyanobacteria

Yvonne Zilliges, Humboldt University, DE
The function of glycogen metabolism in cyanobacterial stress responses

Breakfast and Departure