BioNEt/Institute of Cell & Molecular Biosciences Workshop

Thursday-Friday 16-17 February 2006, Room 2.29, Research Beehive, Old Library Building, University of Newcastle. Attendance, refreshments and lunch are free. Register for event by emailing Prof Bernard Connolly (obligatory).

5th Annual Meeting on Genetics & Molecular Mechanisms of the Archaea

Day 1: Thursday 16 February

12.00 Registration & lunch

Chair: Prof Bernard Connolly, Cell & Molecular Biosciences, University of Newcastle
1.30 Interactions between Aeropyrum pernix ORC proteins and DNA
Prof Dale Wigley FRS, Cancer Research UK, Clare Hill
2.00 MCMs in methanogens
Dr James Chong, Biology, University of York
2.30 Structural studies of the Methanobacter thermoautotrophicus MCM complex in different functional states
Dr Alessandro Costa, Imperial College London

3.00 Tea/Coffee

Chair: Prof Malcolm White, Chemistry, University of St Andrews
3.30 Multiple TBPs in Haloferax volcanii: what's all that about then?
Dr David Scott, National Centre for Macromolecular Hydrodynamics, University of Nottingham
4.00 Initiation of DNA replication in Haloferax volcanii - a genetic perspective
Dr Thorsten Allers, Biology, University of Nottingham
4.30 New insights into archaeal transcription initiation mechanisms
Dr Robert Weinzierl, Biological Sciences, Imperial College London
5.00 Genetic analysis of DNA ligase function in Haloferax volcanii, and other stories
Dr Stuart MacNeill, Biological Chemistry , University of Copenhagen, Denmark

5.30 Poster Session & Drinks - Board Room/Foyer, Catherine Cookson Building

8.00 Workshop Dinner - Paradiso, 1 Market Lane, Newcastle

Day 2: Friday 17 February

Chair: Dr Thorsten Allers, Biology, University of Nottingham
9.00 The mysterious world of archaeal viruses
Dr David Prangishvili, Institut Pasteur, France
10.00 What do Hel308 helicases do to promote genome stability? Guesses from biochemistry and genetics
Dr Ed Bolt, Biology, University of Nottingham
10.30 DNA repair helicases: ironic observations in the archaea
Prof Malcolm White, Chemistry, University of St Andrews

11.00 Tea/Coffee

Chair: Dr James Chong, Biology, University of York
11.30 The response to UV irradiation in Halobacterium sp NRC-1
Dr Ivan Boubriak, Biological and Molecular Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford
12.00 Ethanol as the sole carbon source for Sulfolobus solfataricus P2; a proteomics approach
Prof Phillip Wright, University of Sheffield
12.30 The twin-arginine translocation pathway in halophilic archaea
Dr Albert Bolhuis, Biological Sciences, University of Warwick

1.00 Lunch and close of workshop

Archaea are a third domain of life, distinct from prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The importance of the archaeal domain arises from two factors:

Although, like prokaryotes, archaea are relatively simple single-cell organisms, their information processing systems e.g. DNA/RNA/protein biosyntheis, DNA recombination and repair, signal transduction are very eukaryotic-like. Thus the archaea find use as simplified models for more complex eukaryotic systems.
Characteristically many archaea are extremophiles; certain members can live at very high temperatures (exceeding 100 ºC), others at pH extremes (< pH 2, > pH 12) or at high salt (> 5 M NaCl). Enzymes isolated form these species, especially those with very pronounced thermostability are extensively used in research/industrial processes e.g. PCR and biotransformations.

This symposium will be focus on the genetics and enzymology of archaea, particularly systems involved in DNA replication, recombination and repair.