Twenty Seventh Fungal Genetics Conference

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The 27th Fungal Genetics Conference will be held at the Asilomar Conference Center from March 12-17, 2013. Approximately 950 scientists and students from around the world will attend. A main goal of this biennial meeting is to promote the dissemination of the latest research on all aspects of the biology of fungi with a focus on filamentous fungi. Another important goal is to promote communication and collaboration between researchers interested in medical pathogens, and those working with plant pathogens, saprobic fungi and symbiotic fungi to increase research on infectious fungal diseases. A better understanding of the biology and interactions of fungi with their hosts and environment will lead to development of therapeutics to treat fungal diseases. The meeting will consist of four plenary sessions, four sets of concurrent sessions covering specialized areas, and three poster sessions. Topics areas of the four plenary sessions are: Metabolic Pathways: Cell Growth, Pathogenesis and Bioenergy, Organismic Molecular Interactions, Sensing, Cell Biology and Development, and Functional Ecology of Fungal Communities. The 28 concurrent session topics include: Parallels between fungal pathogens of plants and animals, Interactions between fungi and animals, Fungicides and antifungals, Genetics and genomics of interactions with bacteria, insects and plants, Cell signaling involved in fungal development and pathogenesis, Secondary metabolism, Synthetic biology, Fungal Evo-Devo, Tropic responses and fusion, Light sensing and Circadian Rhythms, Cell wall, polarity and hyphal tip growth, Membrane trafficking and molecular organization, Cytoskeleton, motors and cellular transport, Genomics and biochemistry of degradation of complex molecules in the environment, Fungal volatiles and organic compounds as signaling agents, Oxidative stress, ROS signaling and adaptation to hypoxia, Regulation and comparative genomics of carbon and nitrogen metabolism, Cool tools for fungal biology: Focus on classical and molecular genetics, Nucleic acid-protein interactions that impact transcription and translation, Genome defense, epigenetics and RNAi, Fungi in Education, Using fungi as model systems to study fundamental questions in evolutionary biology, Ecological metagenomics, Phylogenonics, Genomics and mycorrhizae. This meeting places a strong emphasis on the participation of young scientists and students, particularly those from underrepresented groups. Many have their first opportunity to present their research at a major international conference. Funds are requested to help defray the travel and participation costs of students, postdoctoral researchers and some young scientists, and will be distributed on a need basis.