10th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE

ON FUNGAL GENETICS

 

 

PROGRAMME

 

  

Stichting European Conference of Fungal Genetics

Kamer van Koophandel 41173975


 

Committees ECFG10

Local Organising Committee
Sandra de Weert
Theo Goosen
Christien Lokman
Vera Meyer
Arthur Ram
Cees van den Hondel (chair)

Dutch Scientific Committee
Ben Cornelissen
Pedro Crous
Fons Debets
Han de Winde
Christien Lokman
Harm Mulder
Peter Punt
Arthur Ram (chair)
Anton Sonnenberg
Hein Stam
Pierre de Wit
Guido van den Ackerveken
Cees van den Hondel
Ida van der Klei
Paul Verweij
Han Wösten

International Scientific Committee
David Archer
Marc Henri Lebrun
Chistian Kubicek
Jens Nielsen
Miguel Penalva
Merja Penttilä
Paul Tudzynski
Gillian Turgeon
Cees van den Hondel (chair)

Retired Members

Betty Felenbock (ECFG5)

Juan Martin (ECFG9)

John Peberdy (ECFG1)

Hans van den Broek (ECFG2)


 

Dear Colleagues

 

It’s with great pleasure that I welcome you to Noordwijkerhout for the 10th European Conference on Fungal Genetics. It marks the return of an ECFG to the Netherlands, following ECFG2 which was held in Lunteren in 1994. With every ECFG we witness further advances in our understanding of fungal biology and ECFG10 is no exception. We have an exciting programme in all aspects of fungal biology and genetics, with a Keynote lecture, fifteen plenary lectures and eight parallel sessions that reflect the most vibrant areas in our research into fungi.

 

I still know from ECFG2 that the organisation of a major scientific conference requires a major effort from a team of people. Although I chair the organising committee, most of the burden has fallen largely to my colleagues from Leiden University; Arthur Ram, Vera Meyer and Sandra de Weert, and my colleagues from the HAN University; Christien Lokman and Theo Goosen, who together formed the so-called Local Organising Committee. They have been tireless in their organisation efforts behind the scenes. They deserve our thanks because, without their efforts, I don’t think that ECFG10 would have been possible.  We are also grateful to Celia Lloyd and Intelligent Events for so ably supporting us through the planning process.

 

In addition to the local organising committee, the Dutch scientific committee, chaired by Arthur Ram, took care of organising a very interesting scientific program. I therefore wish to thank Arthur and his committee who have ensured that we have a programme of speakers embracing both leading and emerging scientists. I also wish to thank all of our sponsors and, in particular, NH CONFERENCE CENTRE LEEUWENHORST for their major support and flexibility during the preparation of ECFG10. We have attracted more than 400 delegates to the conference and over 250 posters which will be presented by their authors in two poster sessions. However, all posters will be on display throughout the conference. We gratefully acknowledge DSM for making available 5 poster prizes. These prizes, of € 200,00 each, will be awarded to the best posters by young scientists. I anticipate that ECFG10 will be scientifically and socially a memorable conference in Noordwijkerhout. I hope you enjoy it and return to your laboratories invigorated with new ideas and links with fellow scientists.

  

Cees van den Hondel

Chair of the Organising Committee

Leiden, March 2010

Programme

Monday 29 March 2010

 

14.00-18.00         Registration and poster setup

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 room: Rotondo

18.00-18.05         Welcome

                                Prof. Dr. Cees van den Hondel                                                 Chair of the Organizing committee

 

18.05-18.15         Dr. R. W. van Leen, MBA                                                             Chief Innovation Officer DSM

 

18.15-18.25         Opening

                                Prof. Dr. S. M. Verduyn Lunel, Dean of the Faculty of Science, Leiden University

 

18.25-19.25         Key note Lecture

Arturo Casadevall, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA (KL1)

Thoughts on the origin of virulence of pathogenic fungi

 

19.25-23.00         Welcome reception

 

Tuesday 30 March 2010                                                                                                room: Rotondo

 

Plenary Lectures I: Fungal Diversity and Evolution                                                                         Chair: Pedro Crous

 

09.00-09.30         François Lutzoni, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA (PL1.1)

Macroevolution as a unifying framework for integrative studies of fungal symbiotic systems

09.30-10.00         Christina Cuomo, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA (PL1.2)

Genome insights into early fungal evolution and global population diversity of the amphibian pathogen Batrachochytrium dendroabatidis

10.00-10.30         Francine Govers, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands (PL1.3)

Effector diversity and gene innovations in Phytophthora

 

10.30-11.00         Coffee break

 

11.00-11.30         Jan Stenlid, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden (PL1.4)

What have we learnt about pathogenicity from sequencing the Heterobasidion

genome?

11.30-12.00         Igor Grigoriev, DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA, USA (PL1.5)

Genomic encyclopedia of fungi: Bioenergy prospective

 

12.00-14.00         Lunch

 

 

 

Parallel session 1                                                                                                        room: Asamblea

 

Phylogeny and Fungal Tree of Life                                                                Chairs: Pedro Crous  and Joey Spatafora

 

14.00-14.25         Joey Spatafora,  Oregon State University, USA (PS1.1)

Pan-orthologs, phylogenetic informativeness and the fungal tree of life

14.25-14.45         Marcel Zamocky, BOKU-University, Vienna, Austria (PR1.1)

Horizontal gene transfer of katG genes from bacteroidetes into ascomycetes

14.45-15.05         Evy Battaglia, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (PR1.5)

Analysis of regulation of pentose utilization in Aspergillus niger reveals evolutionary adaptations in the Eurotiales

15.05-15.30         Jennifer Wortman, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA (PS1.2)

                                AspGD comparative genomics pipelines and visualization tools

 

15.30-16.00         Coffee break

 

16.00-16.20         Robert Proctor, US Department of Agriculture, Illinois, USA (PR1.8)

Variation in sequence and location of the fumonisin mycotoxin biosynthetic gene cluster in Fusarium

16.20-16.40         Gerrit HJ Kema, Plant Research International, Wageningen, The Netherlands (PR1.10)

The draft genome sequence of Mycosphaerella fijiensis, the black sigatoka pathogen of banana 

16.40-17.05         Berend Snel, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (PS1.3)

The evolution of pathways and gene functions: lessons from phylogenomics in fungi

Parallel session 2                                                                                                                                                  room: Sorbon

 

Fungal-host biology                                                                                          Chairs: Gillian Turgeon and Paul Verweij

                                                                       

14.00-14.25         Li-Jun Ma, The Broad Institute, USA (PR2.21)

Comparative genomics reveals mobile pathogenicity chromosomes in Fusarium oxysporum

14.25-14.45         Elena Perez-Nadales, University of Cordoba, Spain (PS2.1)

Role of a mucin-like membrane protein in signalling and pathogenicity of Fusarium oxysporum

14.45-15.05         Nicole Gerardo, Emory University, Atlanta, USA (PS2.2)

The evolution and maintenance of pathogen specialization in the fungus-growing ant symbiosis

15.05-15.30         Duur Aanen, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (PS2.3)

High symbiont relatedness stabilizes mutualistic cooperation in fungus-growing termites

 

15.30-16.00         Coffee break

 

16.00-16.20         Pietro Spanu, Imperial College London, UK (PR2.29)

Genome expansion in powdery mildews is caused by loss of immunity against genomic parasites

16.20-16.40         Jens Heller, Westf. Wilhelms-Universität, Germany (PR2.18)

The use of redox-sensitive GFP2 as a biosensor of the redox status in Botrytis cinerea

16.40-17.05         Hubertus Haas, Innsbruck Medical University, Austria (PR2.10)

HAPX is involved in maintenance of iron homeostasis and virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus

 

Parallel session 3                                                                                                                                              room: Rotondo

 

Regulation of Gene Expression at the Genome Level                                 Chairs: Han de Winde and Cees Sagt

 

14.00-14.25         Heinz Osiewacz, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany (PS3.1)

                                Molecular pathways controlling the lifespan of the ascomycete Podospora anserina

14.25-14.45         Linda Johnson, AgResearch Limited, New Zealand (PR3.24)

                                Mutualism versus pathogenesis: fungal endophyte, friend or foe ?

14.45-15.05         Peter Punt, TNO Quality of Life, The Netherlands (PR3.31)

Constructed Aspergillus niger gene co-expression networks relate to biological processes

15.05-15.30         Tobias Schafmeier, Heidelberg University Biochemistry Center, Germany (PS3.2)

Frequency-modulated nucleo-cytoplasmic shuttling cycles are the basis for circadian activity and abundance rhythms of the Neurospora clock transcription factor WCC

 

15.30-16.00         Coffee break

 

16.00-16.20         Julio Rodriguez-Romero, Karlsruhe Institute of Technolgy, Germany (PR3.28)

Light-dependent gene regulation in Aspergillus nidulans is mediated through binding of a phytochrome white-collar light regulator complex

16.20-16.40         Philipp Wiemann, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germany (PR3.6)
Components of a velvet-like complex in Fusarium fujikuroi affect differentiation, secondary metabolism and virulence

16.40-17.05         Graeme Garvey University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA (PS3.3)

                                Functional characterization of LaeA

 

18.00-19.30         Dinner

 

19.30-20.30         Poster Session 1a. Poster categories presenting: 1, 2, 3, 4 (even posters)

20.30-21.30         Poster Session 1b. Poster categories presenting: 1, 2, 3, 4 (uneven posters)

Wednesday 31 March 2010                                                                                                                           room: Rotondo

 

Plenary Lectures II: Fungal Way of Living                                                                                       Chair: Paul Tudzynski

 

09.00-09.30         Han Wösten, Utrecht University, The Netherlands (PL2.1)

Micro- and macro-colonies of Aspergillus niger are heterogenic with respect to gene expression and secretion

09.30-10.00         Michael Feldbrügge, University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany (PL2.2)

Microtubule-dependent mRNA transport in Ustilago maydis

10.00-10.30         Miguel A. Peñalva, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas CSIC, Madrid, Spain (PL2.3)

Membrane traffic in Aspergillus nidulans

 

10.30-11.00         Coffee break

 

11.00-11.30         Paul S. Dyer University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK (PL2.4)

Sex change in fungi: revealing secrets

11.30-12.00         John W. Taylor University of California, Berkeley, USA (PL2.5)

Unexpected population structure in Neurospora crassa from the Caribbean basin

 

12.00-18.00         Pick-up lunch and excursion to the Keukenhof

 

18.00-20.00         Dinner

 

 

 

Parallel session 4                                                                                                                                               room: Rotondo

 

Fungal Physiology and Biochemistry                                                  Chairs: Merja Penttilä and Christien Lokman

 

20.00-20.25         Gerhard Braus, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany (PS4.1)

                                Coordination of fungal development and secondary metabolism in Aspergillus nidulans

20.25-20.45         Jerica Sabotic, Jožef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia (PR4.20)

                                Clitocypin and macrocypins cover different mushroom defences

20.45-21.05         Carol Davis, NUI Maynooth, Ireland (PR4.24)

                                A glutathione S-transferase, GliG, may mediate thiol incorporation in gliotoxin biosynthesis and is not involved in auto-protection against gliotoxin

21.05-21.30         Valeria Mapelli, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden (PS4.2)

Metabolism of selenium in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and improved biosynthesis of bioactive organic Se-compounds

 

21.30-22.00         Coffee break

 

22.00-22.20         Vivian Geogakopoulos, University of Adelaide, Australia (PR4.1)

Components of the SAGA complex are involved in acetate repression in Aspergillus nidulans

22.20-22.40         Michael Blatzer, Medical University Innsbruck, Austria (PR4.3)

SidL, an acetyltransferase involved in biosynthesis of the intracellular siderophore ferricrocin in Aspergillus fumigatus

22.40-23.05         Bernhard Seiboth, TU Vienna, Austria (PS4.3)

                                Arabinan and L-arabinose metabolism in Trichoderma reesei

 

Parallel session 5                                                                                                                                           room: Asamblea

 

Fungal Way of Living: Sex and other encounters                                    Chairs: Paul Tudzynski and Pierre de Wit

 

20.00-20.25         Gerrit Kema, PRI, Wageningen, The Netherlands (PS5.1)

The dodge of blotch: saving sex in Mycosphaerella graminicola

20.25-20.45         Céline O’Gorman, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, Germany (PR5.4)

                                Penicillium chrysogenum: is it another shy sexual Ascomycete?

20.45-21.05         Jan A.L. van Kan, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (PR5.6)

                                Mating type loci of Botrytis cinerea

21.05-21.30         Sébastian Duplessis, INRA, France (PS5.2)

                                Chasing effectors in the genomes of fungal symbionts and pathogens of trees

 

21.30-22.00         Coffee break

 

22.00-22.20         Gillian Turgeon, Cornell University, USA (PR5.9)

                                Sex, virulence, stress, and histidine kinase response regulator proteins

22.20-22.40         Erika Kothe, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany (PR5.12)

                                Mushroom forming basidiomycetes: Mating and more

22.40-23.05         Nicholas J. Talbot, University of Exeter, UK (PS5.3)

Investigating the genetic control of infection-related development in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

 

 

Parallel session 6                                                                                                                                                 room: Sorbon

 

Fungal Way of Living: Cell Biology                                                              Chairs: Vera Meyer and Ben Cornelissen

 

20.00-20.25         Steven Harris, University of Nebraska, USA (PS6.1)

Ancestral homologs of the yeast bud site selection proteins regulate septum formation and development in filamentous fungi                                       

20.25-20.45         Alexander Lichius, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (PR6.23)

Tip-focused Rho GTPase activity and the actin cytoskeleton regulate directional growth of Neurospora crassa germlings

20.45-21.05         Mojca Bencina, National institute of Chemistry, Ljublijana, Slovenia (PR6.8)

                                Calcium and pH homeostasis in Aspergillus: small molecules under control

21.05-21.30         Gregory Jedd, The National University of Singapore, Singapore (PS6.2)

                                Biogenesis and evolution of the fungal woronin body

 

21.30-22.00         Coffee break

 

22.00-22.20         Sara Gremillion, Armstrong Atlantic State University (PR6.18)

Mutations in two Golgi apparatus COG proteins affect growth and glycosylation in Aspergillus nidulans

22.20-22.40         Corby Kistler, University of Minnesota (PR6.9)

Fusarium graminearum as a model for human Niemann-Pick type C disease

22.40-23.05         Ida van der Klei (PS6.3)

                                The role of microbodies in penicillin production

Thursday  1 April 2010                                                                                                                                      room: Rotondo

 

Plenary Lectures III: Fungal Physiology and Gene Expression                                                  Chair: David Archer

 

09.00-09.30         Joseph Strauss, Austrian Institute of Technology, Vienna, Austria (PL3.1)

Chromatin-level regulation of metabolic gene clusters in Aspergillus

09.30-10.00         Matthew Sachs, Texas A&M University, USA (PL3.2)

Gene regulation through the control of ribosome movement

10.00-10.30         Jürg Bähler, University College London, UK (PL3.3)

Dynamic repertoire of the fission yeast transcriptome surveyed at single-nucleotide resolution

 

10.30-11.00         Coffee break

 

11.00-11.30         Pascale Daran-Lapujade, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands (PL3.4)

Regulation of the glycolytic activity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: a systems biology approach

11.30-12.00         Cees van den Hondel, Leiden University, The Netherlands (PL3.5)

Filamentous-fungal biotechnology:  Veni, Vidi, Vici?

 

12.00-13.00         Lunch and poster session

 

13.00-14.00         Poster Session 2a.  Poster categories presenting: 5, 6, 7, 8 (even posters)

14.00-15.00         Poster Session 2b.  Poster categories presenting: 5, 6, 7, 8 (uneven posters)

 

 

Parallel session 7                                                                                                                                                  room: Sorbon

 

Fungal and Oomycete Effectors                                               Chairs: Guido Van den Ackerveken and Marc-Henri Lebrun

 

15.00-15.25         Marc-Henri Lebrun, CNRS-UCB-INSA-BCS, CRLD Bayer Cropscience, France (PS7.1)

                                Fungal secondary metabolites as effectors of pathogenicity

15.25-15.45         Tim Friesen, USDA-ARS, Fargo, USA (PR7.21)

Cloning and characterization of SnTox1, a novel virulence effector gene important in the wheat-Stagonospora nodorum interaction

15.45-16.10         Martijn Rep, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (PS7.2)

Effectors of Fusarium oxysporum

16.10-16.35         Regine Kahmann, Max Planck Institute, Marburg, Germany (PS7.3)

                                The effectors of Ustilago maydis and related smut fungi

 

16.35-17.00         Coffee break

 

17.00-17.20         Rahim Mehrabi, PRI, Wageningen University, The Netherlands (PR7.8)

Genome mining and functional genomics of small secreted proteins (SSPs) in Cladosporium fulvum, Mycosphaerella graminicola and M. fijiensis

17.20-17.40         Isabelle Fudal, UMR Bioger-CPP, INRA, Grignon, France (PR7.19)

Crystal structure of the avirulence gene avrlm4-7 of Leptosphaeria maculans illuminates its evolutionary and functional characteristics

17.40-18.05         Stephan Wawra, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom (PS7.4)

Unraveling the mechanism of RxLR mediated translocation of Oomycete effector proteins

 

Parallel session 8                                                                                                                                               room: Rotondo

 

Fungal Biotechnology                                                                                                 Chairs: Hein Stam and Peter J. Punt

 

15.00-15.25         Roel Bovenberg, DSM, The Netherlands  (PS8.1)

Fungal Biotechnology: lessons learned from Penicillium strain improvement

15.25-15.45         An Li, TNO Quality of Life, Zeist, The Netherlands (PR8.22)

                                A systems biology approach towards itaconic acid production in Aspergillus

15.45-16.10         Lena Nilsson, Aalborg University, Denmark (PR8.45)

                                Biochemical producing fungi

16.10-16.35         Jamie Ryding, Verenium Corporation, USA (PS8.2)

Fungal enzyme expression as a unit operation in the production of cellulosic ethanol

 

16.35-17.00         Coffee break

 

17.00-17.20         Astrid Mach-Aigner, Vienna University of Technology, Austria (PR8.15)

                                Engineering an N-acetylneuraminic acid synthesis pathway into Trichoderma

17.20-17.40         Hans Visser, Dyadic Nederland, Wageningen, The Netherlands (PR8.5)

                                Development of a low-cellulase background Chrysosporium lucknowense C1 strain.

17.40-18.05         Randy Berka, NOVOzymes Inc, USA (PS8.3)

Genomic and transcriptomic analysis of Thielavia terrestris – a thermophilic ascomycete of biotechnological interest

 

19.30-late            Conference Dinner and Farewell Party