Nucleic acid–protein interactions: Wedding for love or circumstances?

The sixth Figeac meeting on nucleic acid–protein interactions was held in Figeac, France, from September 26th to October 1st, 2008. It was organized by the working group “nucleic acid–protein interactions and gene expression” from the French Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. This report briefly summarizes the presentations by 40 speakers during the four plenary sessions, which were organised as follows: (1) nucleic acids: targets and tools, (2) RNA superstar, (3) nuclear structure and dynamics, and (4) new concepts – new approaches. A total of 22 plenary lectures, 18 oral communications and 40 posters were presented over the 5 days, providing a highly stimulating environment for scientific exchange between the ∼80 participants (biochemists, physicists, bio-informaticians and molecular and cellular biologists).     

The first Sino-German Symposium on DNA Repair and Human Diseases

The first Sino-German Symposium on DNA Repair and Human Diseases was held in the Capital Normal University, Beijing, China, from October 9th to 11th, 2010. It was initiated and organized by Xingzhi Xu and Zhao-Qi Wang with strong support from top scientists in the field from China, Germany and the United States. Financially, it was fully supported by the Sino-German Center for Science Promotion jointly founded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). This report summarizes 35 plenary lectures presented during this three-day symposium, with topics ranging from DNA damage checkpoint signaling, DNA repair, posttranslational protein modifications in DNA damage response (DDR) to DDR in ageing and cancer. This symposium stimulated extensive discussions on science and potential collaboration among the 230 participants.     

The 22nd Ion Channel Meeting,September 2011, France

The 22nd Ion Channel Meeting was organized by the French Ion Channel Society (Association Canaux Ioniques) from the 25th to the 28th of September 2011 on the French Riviera (Giens). This year again, more than one hundred researchers from France, Europe and extra-European countries gathered to present and discuss their recent advances and future challenges in the ion channels and transporters field. The scientific committee organized a plenary lecture and five thematic symposia by inviting international researchers to present their recent outstanding work on themes as diverse as muscular channelopathies, regulation of channels by extracellular matrix, receptor-channels interactions, localization and distribution of ion channels, their involvement in the cell life and death, and finally how they participate in the evolution and adaptability of cellular excitability. These presentations are summarized in this meeting report. Two sessions of oral communications selected from submitted abstracts and two poster sessions were also organized to present the ongoing work of young researchers worldwide.     

"Meeting Report DNA Repair 2006: Ninth Biennial Meeting of the German Society for Research on DNA Repair" [DNA Repair 6 (2007) 140-144

A comprehensive meeting on current aspects of DNA repair organized by, Jochen Dahm-Daphi, Ekkehard Dikomey, Alexander Bürkle, Marlis Frankenberg-Schwager, Frank Grosse, Andrea Hartwig, George Iliakis, Bernd Kaina, Jürgen Thomale, and Lisa Wiesmüller was held in Hamburg, Germany from 12 to 15 September 2006. This article summarizes information of invited lectures and proferred papers of six plenary sessions.     

Parasites, flies and men--21st Meeting of the German Society of Parasitology in Würzburg

The German Society of Parasitology (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Parasitologie) was founded in 1960 and its 21st biannual meeting took place in Würzburg, Germany, from March 17 to 20, 2004. Whereas interim meetings that are being held every other year focus on specific topics of parasitology, such as the symposia on "Life in Vacuoles" in 2003 and on "Immunomodulation by Parasites" in 2001, the general biannual meetings cover a wide range of topics. This year's meeting at the University of Würzburg was organised by Klaus Brehm and Matthias Frosch (both at the Institute of Hygiene) and Heidrun Moll (Institute for Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases). It was attended by more than 500 scientists from 16 countries who presented 181 research projects dealing with the topics defence mechanisms and immunology, genomics and proteomics, epidemiology, cell biology and biochemistry, chemotherapy and vaccines, parasite classification and morphology, vectors, intermediate hosts, and veterinary parasitology. In addition, six plenary lectures highlighted the subjects of comparative nematode genomics, cell biology, immunology, and parasite eradication programmes.     

DNA Repair 2006: ninth biennial meeting of the German Society for Research on DNA repair

A comprehensive meeting on current aspects of DNA repair organized by, Jochen Dahm-Daphi, Ekkehard Dikomey, Alexander B_rkle, Marlis Frankenberg-Schwager, Frank Grosse, Andrea Hartwig, George Iliakis, Bernd Kaina, J_rgen Thomale, and Lisa Wiesm_ller was held in Hamburg, Germany from September 12 to 15, 2006. This article summarizes information of invited lectures and proferred papers of six plenary sessions.     

The 22nd ion channel meeting, september 2011, france

The 22(nd) Ion Channel Meeting was organized by the French Ion Channel Society (Association Canaux Ioniques) from the 25(th) to the 28(th) of September 2011 on the French Riviera (Giens). This year again, more than one hundred researchers from France, Europe and extra-European countries gathered to present and discuss their recent advances and future challenges in the ion channels and transporters field. The scientific committee organized a plenary lecture and five thematic symposia by inviting international researchers to present their recent outstanding work on themes as diverse as muscular channelopathies, regulation of channels by extracellular matrix, receptor-channels interactions, localization and distribution of ion channels, their involvement in the cell life and death, and finally how they participate in the evolution and adaptability of cellular excitability. These presentations are summarized in this meeting report. Two sessions of oral communications selected from submitted abstracts and two poster sessions were also organized to present the ongoing work of young researchers worldwide.     

Cancer Immunotherapy 2005: Mainz, Germany, 12–13 May 2005

Cancer Immunotherapy 2005 was the third international meeting organized by the Association for Immunotherapy of Cancer (AIC). About 200 participants were attracted by the excellent scientific program that consisted of overview lectures from 25 international speakers in the plenary auditorium and four guided poster sessions during both days of the meeting. The first day of the symposium mainly focused on experience with, and new perspectives in, antibody therapy. On the second day of the meeting, organized as a joint conference together with the Combined Research Grant “Mechanisms of Tumor Defense and Therapeutic Intervention” funded by the German Research Council, the participants had the chance to gain deeper insights into the principles of antigen processing and the regulation of immune responses. Further topics that were discussed mainly in the poster sessions and in the special lecture given by M. Nishimura (Chicago, USA), were “cellular therapies” and “vaccination against cancer”. The lectures selected for this report aim to provide an overview of the complete scientific program and give an impression of the lively atmosphere that could be felt from the first until the last session of CIMT 2005. C.M. Britten and C. Gouttefangeas contributed equally to this report.     

Workshop on DNA repair.

A workshop on DNA repair with emphasis on eukaryotic systems was held, under the auspices of the EC Concerted Action on DNA Repair and Cancer, at Noordwijkerhout (The Netherlands) 14-19 April 1991. The local organization of the meeting was done under the auspices of the Medical Genetic Centre South-West, The Netherlands (MGC), c/o Department of Radiation Genetics and Chemical Mutagenesis, University of Leiden (The Netherlands). Local organizers were: D. Bootsma (chairman), W. Ferro, J.H.J. Hoeijmakers, A.R. Lehmann, P.H.M. Lohman, L. Mullenders, and A.A. van Zeeland (secretarial assistance: Mrs. C. Escher-van Heerden and Mrs. R. Bontre). Over 190 scientists participated, and the format of the meeting followed that of the 1987 workshop on the 'Molecular Aspects of DNA Repair' (Friedberg et al., 1987). Plenary review talks in the mornings were followed, in the afternoon, by poster viewing in three or four parallel sessions. Groups of 15-20 posters were discussed in detail, and later on, in plenary sessions, chairpersons of the poster discussions reviewed the afternoons' posters. The principal themes of the meeting were the isolation and characterisation of repair genes and proteins, repair in specific sequences, consequences of defective DNA repair, and new methods for detecting DNA damage and repair. Remarkable progress has been made recently in all of these areas, and many exciting new results were presented. It is impossible to summarize all contributions to this (intensive) one-week meeting. Therefore, and for the sake of coherence, presentations that did not fit easily into any of the general themes of the meetings have not been included.     

Microbial control in Asia: a bellwether for the future?

Advances and barriers faced by microbial control efforts in Asia offer instructive insights for microbial control in general. The papers in this series, which are based on plenary lectures given at the Society for Invertebrate Pathology 2006 meeting in Wuhan, China, explore the history and current status of microbial control in China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, and in doing so, bring to light the following key assumptions that deserve further examination; (1) the adoption rate of microbial control is well documented; (2) microbial control agents can compete directly with conventional insecticides; (3) microbial control agents are relatively easy and inexpensive to produce and develop; (4) patents will promote innovation and investor interest in microbial control. Alternative viewpoints are presented that can hopefully aid in future efforts to develop more safe and effective microbial control agents.     

Report of the 2011 annual meeting of the Italian Society for Virology

The 10th annual meeting of the Italian Society for Virology (SIV) comprised seven plenary sessions focused on: General virology and viral genetics; Virus-Host interaction and pathogenesis; Viral oncology; Emerging viruses and zoonotic, foodborne and environmental pathways of transmission; Viral immunology and vaccines; Medical virology and antiviral therapy; Viral biotechnologies and gene therapy. The meeting had an attendance of 143 virologists, about 60% were senior, and the other were young scientists. The submitted abstracts amounted to 88 and the abstracts selected for oral presentation were 41. Complete abstracts of oral and poster presentations are available at the web site www.siv-virologia.it. A summary of the plenary lectures and oral selected presentations is reported.     

Recent advances in DNA repair and mutation: a report of the meeting of the British Photobiology Society and the DNA Repair Network.

The 1991 joint meeting of the British Photobiology Society and the DNA Repair Network was held in London on the 16th of December at the Polytechnic of East London. Despite the best efforts of the IRA to disrupt transport in London, a full programme of eighteen talks were presented on the theme of "Recent Advances in DNA Repair and Mutation".     

News and views from the 8th annual meeting of the Italian Society of Virology

The 8th annual meeting of the Italian Society of Virology (SIV) took place in Orvieto, Italy from the 21st to the 23rd of September 2008. The meeting covered different areas of Virology and the scientific sessions focused on: general virology and viral genetics; viral oncology, virus–host interaction and pathogenesis; emerging viruses and zoonotic, foodborne and environmental pathways of transmission; viral immunology and vaccines; viral biotechnologies and gene therapy; medical virology and antiviral therapy. The meeting had an attendance of about 160 virologists from all Italy. In this edition, a satellite workshop on “Viral biotechnologies” was organized in order to promote the role of virologists in the biotechnological research and teaching fields. A summary of the plenary lectures and oral selected presentations is reported. J. Cell. Physiol. 219: 797–799, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Summary of the 9th annual meeting of the italian society for virology

The 9th annual meeting of the Italian Society for Virology (SIV) comprised seven plenary sessions focused on: General virology and viral genetics; Virus–Host interaction and pathogenesis; Viral oncology; Emerging viruses and zoonotic, foodborne, and environmental pathways of transmission; Viral immunology and vaccines; Medical virology and antiviral therapy; Viral biotechnologies and gene therapy. Moreover, four hot topics were discussed in special lectures: the Pioneer in human virology lecture regarding the control of viral epidemics with particular emphasis on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the Pioneer in plant virology lecture focused on cell responses to plant virus infection, a Keynote lecture on the epidemiology and genetic diversity of Crimea–Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus, and the G.B. Rossi lecture on the molecular basis and clinical implications of human cytomegalovirus tropism for endothelial/epithelial cells. The meeting had an attendance of about 160 virologists. A summary of the plenary lectures and oral selected presentations is reported. J. Cell. Physiol. 226: 285–287, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Advances in genome studies: the PAG 2010 conference

An overview is provided of the advances in plant, animal and human genome studies by summarizing the contents of seven plenary lectures presented at the Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) meeting in January 2010. The area of biology covered was wide and reflected the nature of this fast moving science.     

Highlights from the 5th Annual Meeting of the Italian Society of Virology

The 5th National Congress of the Italian Society of Virology (SIV) was attended by junior- and senior-level virologists to promote interactions and scientific collaborations among the different areas of Virology and allied sciences. The invited and selected lecturers covered the following topics: General Virology and Viral Genetics; Virus-host Interaction and Pathogenesis; Viral Oncogenesis; Viral Immunology and Vaccines; Anti-viral Therapy; Innovative Diagnostics; Viral Biotechnologies and Cell and Gene Therapy. As in the previous editions (Salata and Palù, 2004; Salata et al., 2005), a specific topic was thoroughly covered in a roundtable. This year the elected subject was "HIV: determinants of pathogenicity and clinical implications." The final program and the abstract book can be found at the web site http://www.siv-virologia.it. This report summarizes the lessons learned from the plenary lectures and the selected oral presentations of the 2005 meeting.     

DNA Repair 2008: Tenth Biennial Meeting of the German Society for Research on DNA Repair

The Tenth Meeting of the German Society for Research on DNA Repair was held in Berlin in September 2008. Invited presentations by Yosef Shiloh, Stanton L. Gerson, Sacha Beneke, Patrick Concannon, Jochen Dahm-Daphi, Thilo Dörk, Friedrike Eckardt-Schupp, Bernd Epe, Ian Hickson, Ulrich Hübscher, Penny Jeggo, Malik Lutzmann, Christof Niehrs, Primo Schär and Predrag Slijepcevic together with over 80 selected oral and poster presentations generated an inspiring scientific program, which documented the impressive progress of the community and defined future challenges in the field.     

4th International Symposium on Autophagy: exploiting the frontiers of autophagy research

The 4th International Symposium on Autophagy was held in Mishima, a small town between Tokyo and Kyoto, October 1-5, 2006 (http://isa4th.umin.jp/). The meeting was organized by the group of Eiki Kominami. Approximately 150 participants took part in this well-organized meeting in the spacious and comfortable Toray Conference Hall (Fig. 1). The social program offered opportunities for informal discussions, Japanese culture (from karaoke singing to traditional drumming; Fig. 2), history and nature (a visit to a steaming volcano; Fig. 3), as well as delicious Japanese food. The scientific program started with two plenary lectures on Sunday evening. Daniel Klionsky gave an overview of Atg9 cycling in yeast and Shigekazu Nagata talked about apoptosis and engulfment of dead cells by macrophages. The meeting consisted of five oral sessions and two poster sessions covering a wide range of autophagy-related topics. Exciting unpublished results were presented in all sessions, showing how quickly autophagy research is progressing. Two themes were discussed in many sessions during the symposium: the role of autophagy in the degradation of aggregate-prone proteins and protein aggregates, and the possible role of p62 in autophagy.     

An invitation to the 16th international congress on photosynthesis research in 2013: opportunities and challenges in the 21st century

The 16th International Congress on Photosynthesis will be held August 11–16, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. The congress will include 15 plenary lectures, 21 scientific symposia, poster sessions, exhibitors, opening reception, final banquet, excursions and accompanying persons program. The congress is organized as an official event sponsored by the International Society of Photosynthesis Research.     

迎接廿一世纪——记中国无锡第十一届国际植物园协会大会

第十一届国际植物园协会（IABG）大会于1993年9月7日在中国无锡开幕,经苏州、杭州,于9月12日在上海闭幕。9月6日部分与会代表参加了在南京举行的“中国南京国际植物园俱乐部”奠基仪式及江苏省重点实验室南京中山植物园“植物迁地保存实验室”扩建部分开放使用等一系列庆祝活动。参加大会的有来自23个国家和地区的199名代表。大会收到论文74篇,其中板报42篇,大会报告13篇。本次会议的主要议题为“植物园与国家发展”。经过大会报告和交流,明确了世界植物园在继续发挥其保护物种和保护环境的功能之外,必须进一步密切植物园与国家发展的关系。全面发展植物园的十项功能,不仅可以增加植物园对社会的贡献,也有利于提高植物园自身的活力和生存能力。大会选出了以主席岩（木规）邦男,副主席李蔼娃、贺善安、安德列也夫,秘书长艾斯特万为领导核心的新一届理事会。世界植物园两大组织国际植物园协会（IABG）和国际植物园保护组织（BGCI）在无锡签署的合作备忘录标志着国际植物园运动进入了一个新的历史时期。理事会的第一次会议于9月11日在由杭州开往上海的火车上举行。讨论了整顿组织、会员登记、出版IABG通讯及与BGCI合作开展活动等问题。会议确认1994年将在印尼召开IABG-AD第二次会议。第十二届IABG大会将于1