Events under 'Seminar'

Title: Proteomic Applications in Medicine - Examples from Neurodegeneration, Sensory System and Cancer
Lecturer:   Dr. Thomas Schulenborg, University of Kaiserslautern, Germany
Group leader of the proteomic laboratory
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Mining the active proteome from plant-pathogen interactions
Lecturer: Renier van der Hoorn, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Plant Chemetics Group, Cologne, Germany
Place:KB3B3, KBC

Title: X-ray analysis on the architecture of primary and secondary cell walls
Lecturer: Dr. Markus Rüggeberg, Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Vernalization: mechanism and natural variation
Lecturer: Caroline Dean, John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK
Place: KB3B1 "Stora hörsalen", KBC

Title: Cellulolytic yeasts for production of cellulosic ethanol – progress and challenges
Lecturer: W.H. (Emile) van Zyl, Department of Microbiology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Zeaxanthin in connection to photosynthesis and vision
Prof. Hans-Erik Åkerlund, Dept. of Biochemistry, Lund University
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Abstract:
Oxidative stress is one the more important causes for damage of component of living cells. The combination of light, oxygen and red-ox carriers is particularly harmful and generates reactive oxygen species. This is the situation both in the photosynthetic system and in the retina of the eye. Although living systems have developed numerous systems to coop with this, damage may still occur, especially under stress conditions, leading to photoinhibition in plants and loss of vision humans. Zeaxanthin appears to have a central role for protection in these systems. The presentation will deal with regulatory aspects on the generation of zeaxanthin by the enzyme violaxanthin de-epoxidase, effects on membrane packing but also the application of this knowledge to improve the nutritional value of harvested vegetables.

Title: Regulation and evolution of growth patterns in a tree
Lecturer: Victor Busov, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, USA
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Functional Characterisation of METACASPASE9 in Xylem Development
Benjamin Bollhöner, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå university
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Starting your own company or working as a scientific consultant
Speakers: Johannes Dyring (SLU holding), Björn Ingemarsson (SLU holding) and Maria Olofsson (Uminova Innovation)
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: How do plants coordinate the balance between cell proliferation and cell expansion?
Lecturer: Dr Takashi Ishida, Cell Function Research Unit, RIKEN Plant Science Center, Yokohama, Japan
Place: KB3B3, KBC

Seminar were cancelled

Seminar is cancelled due to some ash in the air
Title: Different levels of proteomics as illustrated by examples from plant studies
Lecturer: Prof Peter Roepstroff, Dept. of Biochemistry and Molecular biology, University of Southern Denmark
Place: KB3B1 "Stora hörsalen", KBC

Title: The role of redox couple H₂O/O₂ in biological solar energy exploitation
Speaker: Gernot Renger, Technische Universität, Berlin
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Chemo-eco-evo-devo perspectives on the biology of Populus
Lecturer: Prof. Richard L. Lindroth, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
Place: Lecture Hall Björken, SLU, Umeå

Title: Darwin had it right: phototropic auxin relocalization is conserved between dicots and monocots
Lecturer: Dr Angus Murphy, Department of Horticulture, Purdue University, USA
Place: KB3B3, KBC

Abstract: Plants depend on sunlight for photosynthesis and adjust their growth to optimize light capture. Phototropism, the reorientation of growth toward light, is one of the most important of these adaptive processes. Originally identified in grass coleoptiles by Charles and Francis Darwin, phototropism is initiated by light perceived at the shoot tip to generate a diffusible signal that influences differential elongation in the tissues below. Subsequent studies have shown that phototropism arises from increased growth on the shaded side of the stem, owing to an accumulation of the phytohormone auxin.
Research from the past two decades has identified and characterized the PHOTOTROPIN (PHOT) blue light receptors as the primary receptors that modulate phototropic curvatures in the model plant Arabidopsis. Downstream signalling effectors are assumed to act on auxin transport proteins from the PIN, AUX1/LAX, and ABCB families to control directional auxin movement.
However, somewhat surprisingly, it is still not clear how these receptor mechanisms actually control auxin movement in the shoot apex and what the exact path of auxin movement is in. We have established a system in Arabidopsis to study hypocotyl phototropism in the absence of developmental events associated with seedling photomorphogenesis and hook opening. Using this system, we have shown that auxin redistribution to epidermal sites of action occurs at the hypocotyl apex in dicots as is the case in monocots, not out of the vascular cylinder in the hypocotyl elongation zone as has been assumed for the past decade.
Within this region, we identified the auxin efflux transporter ATP-BINDING CASSETTE B19 (ABCB19) as the first substrate target for the photoreceptor kinase PHOTOTROPIN1(PHOT1). In vivo and in vitro analyses showed that phosphorylation of ABCB19 by PHOT1 inhibits ABCB19 efflux activity and increases auxin levels in the cotyledonary node to halt vertical growth and prime lateral fluxes that are subsequently channeled to the elongation zone by PIN3. These results demonstrate that the proximity of light perception and differential phototropic growth is conserved in angiosperms, but also demonstrated that no single or viable double or triple mutant in known auxin transporters bends phototropically. As no new non-bending mutant has been identified in the many screens for phototropism mutants over the past decade, either a missing component of the process that mediates auxin redirection is essential for viability, or the full complement of transporters that function in lateral auxin redistribution has not been discovered. In any case, the widely held perception that the mechanism underlying lateral redistribution of auxin in phototropism has been resolved is not supported by substantive data.

Title: Analysis of somatic mutations in three populations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris)
by Master student Jani Basha Mohammad
Place: KBF30, UPSC

Title: Cold sensing and signaling in Arabidopsis thaliana
Paulina Stachula, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Expanding the JAZ protein interaction network
Lecturer: Laurens Pauwel, VIB Department of Plant Systems Biology, Ghent University, Belgium
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Structural insights into the mechanism of G protein coupled receptor activation
Speaker: Brian Kobilka, Molecular and Cellular Physiology and Medicine, Beckman Center, Stanford University, CA, U.S.A.
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Research Overview
Research in my lab is directed at understanding the structural basis for the functional properties of G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs),which constitute the largest family of membrane proteins in the human genome. GPCRs conduct the majority of transmembrane responses to hormones and neurotransmitters, and mediate the senses of sight, smell and taste. The beta 2 adrenoceptor (beta2AR) is a prototypical Family A GPCR that mediates physiologic responses to adrenaline and noradrenaline. It regulates the activity of several distinctsignaling pathways through both G protein dependent and G protein independent mechanisms. Like many GPCRs that respond to hormones and neurotransmitters, the beta2AR exhibits modest basal activity in the absence of an agonist. This activity can be modulated by a spectrum of synthetic ligands ranging from inverse agonists, which suppress basal activity, to full agonists. We have obtainedthree-dimensional structures of the beta2AR in inactive and active conformations; and we have used fluorescence spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy to study the dynamic properties of the receptor, and to map ligand-specificconformational changes. I will discuss what we these studies have taught usabout the structural basis of beta2AR function.

The Company ConfometRX
Structure-based drug discovery for G Protein Coupled Receptors

G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) represent the largest family of membrane proteins in the human genome, and the largest class of targets for drug discovery. Clinical indications for GPCRs include cardiovascular, pulmonary, metabolic and psychiatric disorders, as well as inflammation, cancer and HIV infection.

ConfometRx is developing a platform of structure-based drug discovery technologies to facilitate lead identification and lead optimization for G protein coupled receptors.

This platform includes:
• biophysical technologies for characterizing ligand-induced structural changes in GPCRs
• the generation of GPCR-specific, functional antibodies for target validation, therapeutics and protein crystallography
• the production of pure, functional GPCRs for high-resolution structure determination by crystallographythe economical and efficient labeling of GPCRs with 13C and 15N for NMR spectroscopy studies to characterize receptor-ligand interactions

Publications: Xao, X.J., Vélez Ruiz, G., Whorton, M.R., Rasmussen, S.G.F., DeVree, B.T., Deupi, X.,Sunahara, R.K., and Kobilka, B.K.,The effect of ligand efficacy on the formation and stability of a GPCR-G protein complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2009. 106(23): p. 9501-9506. Fung, J.J., Deupi, X., Pardo, L., Yao, X.J., Velez-Ruiz, G.A., DeVree, B.,Sunahara, R.K., and Kobilka, B.K.,Ligand regulated oligomerization of beta2-adrenoceptors in a model lipid bilayer.EMBO Journal, 2009. 28(21): p. 3315-28.

Rosenbaum, D.M., Rasmussen, S.G., Kobilka, B.K.The structure and function of G-protein-coupled receptors.Nature, 2009. 459(7245): 356-363.

Bokoch, M.P., Zou, Y., Rasmussen, S.G.F., Liu, C.W., Nygaard, R.,Rosenbaum, D.M., Fung, J.J., Choi, H.J., Thian, F.S., Kobilka, T.S., Puglisi, J.D.,Weis, W.I., Pardo, L., Prosser, R.S., Mueller, L., Kobilka, B.K. Ligand-specific regulation of the extracellular surface of a G proteincoupled receptor. Nature, 2010. 463:p.108-112.

Title: Determinants of sugar-specific gene expression in plants
Sabine Kunz, Department of Plant Physiology, Umeå University
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Probing molecular mechanisms regulating trafficking of auxin influx carriers
Lecturer: Ranjan Swarup, University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Communication, decisions and commitment guiding stomatal development
Dominique Bergmann, Stanford University, USA
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Title: Role of echidna in trafficking at the trans-Golgi network in differential growth of the apical hook in Arabidopsis
Kristoffer Jonsson
Place: KBF30, UPSC
Supervisor: Rishi Bhalerao

Title: Quo vadis plastids: chloroplast biogenesis in Arabidopsis
Speaker: Veronica Albrecht, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University
Place: KB4C10

Title: Dissecting the Endomembrane Network via Chemical Genomics
Lecturer: Natasha Raikhel, University of California Riverside, USA
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla hörsalen", KBC

Abstract:
Although it is known that proteins are delivered to and recycled from the
plasma membrane (PM) via endosomes, the nature of the compartments and
pathways responsible for cargo and vesicle sorting and cellular signaling is
poorly understood. Such highly dynamic processes are not easily approached
genetically. To define and dissect specific recycling pathways, rapid-acting
chemical affecters of proteins involved in vesicle trafficking, especially
through endosomes, would be invaluable. Thus, we identified chemicals
affecting essential steps in PM/endosome trafficking by utilizing the
intensely localized PM transport at the tips of germinating tobacco pollen
tubes. We screened diverse chemical libraries for those that interfered with
pollen germination and tip growth. We found that many also had effects in
Arabidopsis roots for which there are several well-characterized marker
proteins that cycle to and from the plasma membrane. Recent results from our
screens will be discussed.

Seminar
Heather Knight, School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, UK.

Title: SFR6, a key regulator of plant freezing tolerance and much more.
Place:  KB3A9 kl 15.15
Host: Stefan Björklund - Dept. of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics'

Title: Dissection of ACTIN and ACTIN-INTERACTING PROTEIN Interactions during Planar Polarity Formation in Arabidopsis
Christian Kiefer
Place: KB3A9 "Lilla Hörsalen", KBC
Supervisor: Markus Grebe

UPSC Postdocs: Career outside academia

Title:
Careers in scientific publishing

 

Speakers:

Holly Slater

Managing editor at New Phytologist

 

Irene Hames

Independent editorial consultant and former managing editor at The Plant Journal

 

Place: KBC, lilla hörsalen, KB3A9

Umeå Plant Science Centre UPSC
Seminar Series

Speaker:
Chris Junnian Liu
BGI-Europe

Title: Plant research and application with next-generation sequencing

Abstract:
Our goals of current scientific research in plant area are to develop approaches to improve molecular breeding and promote the study of plant research. A unique area that can provide the fundamental bases for achieving these objectives is through an understanding of the ever-evolving genetic makeup, which can be achieved through studies in genomics and computational biological research. The Plant research and application with next-generation sequencing presentation, to be held in UPSC, Nov 2,2011, will emphasize the latest advances in genomic technologies, bioinformatics developments, and their relevant biological findings, with a focus on what next-generation sequencing can bring for plant research.

It will provide the information on the newest of sequencing technologies, their development and discoveries, divided to several levels: De novo sequencing, Re-sequencing, Epigenetic level, RNA level, Protein level.

We believe the presentation will give you good methods to develop current research and provide the best opportunity for building lasting collaborations. We especially welcome your input and proposals.

Place: KB3B1 "Stora Hörsalen", KBC

Organizer: Torgeir R. Hvidsten (UPSC and CLiC)