2011 International Social Insect Genomics Research Conference
June 30-July 2, 2011 Shenzhen, China.
(Register on site on June 29, 2011)
On behalf of the committee of SIGC (International Social Insect Genomics Research Conference), it is our great honor to invite you to attend the “International Social Insect Genomics Research Conference” organized by the BGI (formerly known as Beijing Genomics Institute), to be held in June 30th-July 2nd, 2011 in Shenzhen, China.
Social insects (ants, bees, wasps and termites) are among the most diverse and ecologically important organisms on earth. They are particularly well suited for research based on de novo sequenced genomes because they can be studied at multiple levels of biological organization, from gene to ecosystem services, meanwhile, so much is already known about their natural history, behavior, ecology and evolution.
As main conference organizer and venue provider BGI has successfully sequenced and compared the genomes of two socially divergent ant species (Science 2010 AUG 27; VOL329) and has just completed another ant genome representing a third subfamily. These efforts are part of "The 1000 Plant and Animal Reference Genomes Project" launched by BGI, which has promoted global development in genomics research and genomics-related industries. These projects have demonstrated that ants are – in addition to the honeybee that was sequenced some years ago – attractive models for genomic and epigenetic studies in fields as divergent as reproductive biology, aging, cognition, immunology, and symbiosis, and the same will apply for the termites, wasps and further bees and ants to be sequenced in the years to come.
We are confident that, with your active participation, the conference will be a scientifically rewarding and enjoyable experience, providing an opportunity to genome-related research advance on social insects and collaborative networks between disciplines and continents. With the anticipated growth in social insect genomic resources, this conference will be a timely opportunity for exploring potential research synergies across the national and taxonomic social insect research communities. We anticipate that one of the key results of this conference will be a prioritized list of at least 100 target social insect species for future genome projects.
We would greatly appreciate receiving your expression of interest to participate in this meeting (meeting@genomics.cn). We would also welcome your further comments, questions, and suggestions.
Best wishes and looking forward to meeting you in Shenzhen!
More information, please visit our website: http://sigc.genomics.org.cn
A survey for interested social insects
Conference place: KingKey Palace Hotel, Shenzhen, China
Abstract deadline: April 30th, 2011
Registration fee
Normal Participant: $300/￥1800
Student : $250/￥1500
The registration fee cover conference materials fee and food and beverage charges during the conference.
Provisional list of topics
The evolution and elaboration of eusociality
-Caste-specific gene expression and gene regulation during development
-The role of methylation in the expression of eusocial traits
-Divergent caste-specific patterns of aging
-Convergent/idiosyncratic pathways among clades that evolved eusociality
Breeding and mating systems
-Gametic (in)compatibility
-Sperm viability
-Hybridisation and introgression
-Major transitions in gene expression during sexual maturation and insemination
Communication, recognition and social behavior
-Signaling pathways for nestmate recognition and immunity
-The genomics of perception: gene expression in the antennae and the brain
-Genomic changes in social parasites
-Genomic signatures of unicoloniality
Microbial symbionts of insect societies
-Discovery and characterization of bacterial symbionts (including metagenomics)
-Fungus farming in ants and termites
-Diseases and reproductive parasites (Wolbachia)
-Adaptive coevolution between symbionts and hosts
Future challenges
-Data management
-Comparative genomics in phylogenetic reconstructions
Keynote Speakers
Jack Werren
Biology Department, University of Rochester, Professor
Laboratory Website http://www.rochester.edu/college/bio/labs/WerrenLab/WerrenLab-Home.html
Gene Robinson
University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana，Professor
Laboratory Website http://www.life.illinois.edu/robinson/
Amy Toth
Iowa State University, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Laboratory Website http://www.public.iastate.edu/~amytoth/Toth_lab/Home.html
John Wang
Biodiversity Reasearch Center, Academia Sinica, Assistant Research Fellow, Ph.D. Stanford University
Laboratory Website http://biodiv.sinica.edu.tw/research.php?pi=157
Juergen Gadau
Arizona State University, School of Life Science, Arizona State University, Associate Professor
Laboratory Website http://sols.asu.edu/people/faculty/jgadau.php
Program committee members
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Dr.JacobusJ.Boomsma |
Professor and Director of the Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
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CSE Copenhagen is one of the largest research institutions devoted to the integrated study of insect societies. They have just hosted the 16th World Congress of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI) and are rapidly expanding their efforts in genome sequencing of social insects. |
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Dr. Owain Edwards |
Group Leader, Invertebrate Genomics and Evolution, Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences, Australia
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CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization), is the largest national research institution in Australia, and has a strong history of social insects research. Dr Edwards and the Division of Ecosystem Sciences are actively engaged in a number of insect genome projects related to agriculture, environment, and human health. |
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Dr. Jürgen Gadau |
Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, USA |
Represents the largest integrated social insect research institution in the USA, which completed the sequencing of three ant genomes and made contributions to two others. Dr Gadau’s group also had a major role in the genome sequencing of Nasonia wasps and they are currently coordinating a comparative analysis of the seven sequenced ant genomes.
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Dr.Huanming Yang |
Chairman and Professor, BGI, Academician, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China |
Dr. Huanming Yang is one of China’s leading genetic scientists. As one of the co-founders of Beijing Genomics Insitute-Shezhen (BGI), he and his collaborators have made a significant contribution to the HGP and HapMap projects, as well as to sequencing and analysing genomes of rice, chicken, silkworm, giant panda, cucumber, and many microorganisms.
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Dr. Guojie Zhang |
Associate Director of the Bioinformatics Center, Leader of Genome Projects in BGI-Shenzhen, China |
Dr. Guojie Zhang received a joint Ph.D. in Molecular Evolution and Genomics from the Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science in 2010. Since joining BGI in 2005, he has led the BGI part of several genome projects, most recently working together with an international team on the first two-ant genomes, published in Science this year. Guojie Zhang is currently in charge of the 1000 Plant & Animal Genome Program at BGI.
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Invited Speakers (Updating)
(More information, please click their names.)
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Navdeep Mutti |
Arizona State University |
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Yannick Wurm |
University of Lausanne |
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Hugh Robertson |
University of Illinois |
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Arizona State University | |
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Jay Evans |
United States Department of Agriculture |
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San Francisco State University | |
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UC Davis Department of Entomology | |
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Universität Regensburg | |
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University of Western Australia | |
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Christine Elsik |
Georgetown College |
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Arizona State University |
Contact Information:
Address: BGI-Shenzhen, Main Building, Beishan Industrial Zone, Yantian District, Shenzhen, China
Tel: +86-755-25273340
Email: meeting@genomics.cn