Schedule and Program

Saturday, August 30, 2008

10:00 - 20:00 Arrival and Registration
18:00 - 20:00 Reception

Sunday, August 31, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast
09:00 - 09:10 Welcome and Opening: Igor Konieczny, Grzegorz Wegrzyn and Saleem A. Khan
09:10 - 09:50 Keynote address: Dhruba Chattoraj Replication control of the Vibrio cholerae chromosome II: An elaboration of a plasmid paradigm

REPLICATION and REGULATION - Chair Christopher M. Thomas

09:50 - 10:15 George Chaconas "Intra-plasmidic transposition and the role of recombinogenic beacons in the antigenic variation system of B. burgdorferi"
10:15 - 10:40 Marcin Filutowicz "Regulatory Ramifications of the Binding Modes of R6K-Encoded Initiator Protein: Cooperativity Differences of Monomers and Dimers"
10:40 - 11:00 coffee/tea
11:00 - 11:25 Rafael Giraldo "RepA replication initiator: A plasmid protein Lego for all seasons"
11:25 - 11:55 Saleem A. Khan "Biochemical activities and possible roles of the RepX replication protein of plasmid pXO1 of Bacillus anthracis in plasmid replication and partition"
11:55 - 12:15 Igor Konieczny "13-mer motifs and helicase complex rearrangements during plasmid RK2 replication initiation"
12:15 - 12:40 Wesley Loftie-Eaton "PLASMID pRAS3"
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch

REPLICATION and REGULATION - Chair Saleem Khan

13:40 - 14:05 Renata Mass "Evidence that DNA Replication Is Conservative
14:05 - 14:30 Wilfried Rozhon "Replication regulation of pHW126, a representative of a novel plasmid group"
14:30 - 14:55 Gloria del Solar "RepB, the initiator of replication of the promiscuous plasmid pMV158, forms a hexameric ring: structural, functional and evolutionary implications"
14:55 - 15:20 Christopher D. Thomas "Cross-specificity in the dimerisation of pT181 family Rep proteins"
15:20 - 15:40 coffee/tea
15:40 - 16:05 Shay Tal "Plasmid copy numbers at the single cell level"
16:05 - 16:30 Grzegorz Wegrzyn "Transcriptional activation of ori-lambda: complexity of replication initiation regulation"
16:30 - 18:30 Sight seeing tour Gdansk Old Town
18:30 - 20:00 Dinner

Monday, September 1, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast

PARTITION and STABILITY - Chairs Stuart Austin and Finbarr Hayes

09:00 - 09:25 Juan Alonso "Molecular and topological anatomy of the Streptococcus pyogenes pSM19035 partition complex"
09:25 - 09:50 Stuart Austin "The dynamics of P1 plasmid segregation"
09:50 - 10:15 Ramon Diaz-Orejas "Regulation and activity of the parD (kis, kid) toxin-antitoxin system of plasmid R1"
10:15 - 10:40 Boris Dorokhov "Partition of the linear plasmid prophage N15: analysis of intracellular localization in vivo using fluorescence microscopy
10:40 - 11:00 coffee/tea
11:00 - 11:25 Barbara Funnell "Visualization of P1 ParA dynamics on DNA"
11:25 - 11:55 Kenn Gerdes "Cytoskeletal ATPases encoded by Type I and Type II par loci stabilize plasmids by different mechanisms"
11:55 - 12:15 Slade Jensen "Novel maintenance mechanism of staphylococcal multiresistance plasmids"
12:15 - 12:40 David Lane "Activation of the SopA partition ATPase"
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch

PARTITION and STABILITY - continue

13:40 - 14:05 David Summers "Multicopy plasmid stability: modelling the regulation of the Rcd checkpoint"
14:05 - 14:30 Christopher M. Thomas "Regulation of maintainence and transfer of promiscuous plasmids"

TRANSFER - Chairs Laura Frost and Ellen Zechner

14:30 - 14:55 Lubomir Dostal "Mapping of TraI single-stranded DNA activities"
14:55 - 15:20 Laura Frost "A model for F Plasmid TraM-TraD interaction: Joining the Coupling Protein to the Relaxosome in a Plasmid-Specific Manner."
15:20 - 15:40 coffee/tea
15:40 - 16:05 Pilar Garcillan-Barcia "The diversity of bacterial conjugative transfer systems."
16:05 - 16:30 Elisabeth Grohmann "Conjugative plasmid transfer in Gram-positive bacteria: molecular clues and monitoring tools."
16:30 - 16:55 Xiaomin Hu "Distribution, diversity and potential mobility of extra-chromosomal elements related to the Bacillus anthracis pXO1 and pXO2 virulence plasmids."
18:30 - 20:00 Dinner
20:00 - 22:30 POSTER SESSION (Replication and Regulation, Partition and Satability, Trfansfer) - Non-host bar and social

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast

TRANSFER - Chairs Laura Frost and Ellen Zechner

09:00 - 09:25 Gunther Koraimann "The plasmid and its host: minimizing stress, maximizing success."
09:25 - 09:50 Maxtalen Llosa "Conjugative relaxase TrwC: a potential tool for genomic engineering. Nuclear localization and site-specific recombination on human DNA sequences."
09:50 - 10:15 Steven Matson "The F plasmid-encoded TraI protein: a processive helicase and a transferase required for conjugative DNA transfer."
10:15 - 10:40 Richard Meyer "Reduced specificity of the R1162 relaxosome results in the transfer of chromosomal DNA."
10:40 - 11:00 coffee/tea
11:00 - 11:25 Gunter Muth "Molecular characterization of the FtsK-like DNA- translocation system mediating conjugal plasmid transfer in Streptomyces."
11:25 - 11:55 David Romero "Repression and transcriptional interference control the conjugative activity of rhizobial symbiotic plasmids."
11:55 - 12:15 Julian Rood "Functional analysis of the conjugation region of pCW3 from Clostridium perfringens."
12:15 - 12:40 Trudi Bannam "Protein-Protein interactions between Tcp proteins of the Clostridium perfringens transfer system."
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch

TRANSFER - continue

13:40 - 14:05 Joel Schildbach "Organization and orientation of F plasmid relaxosome components."
14:05 - 14:30 Gabriel Waksman "Structural studies of the type IV secretion systems."
14:30 - 14:55 Ellen Zechner "Conjugative plasmid induced biofilm formation of E. coli: Mutational analysis reveals coordinated regulation of plasmid functional modules."
14:55 - 15:20 Janina P. Lewis "Plasmids for post-genomic analysis of Porphyromonas gingivalis."
15:20 - 18:30 Free time
18:30 - 20:00 Dinner
20:30 - 21:15 PLASMID BIOLOGY SOCIETY (ISPB) MEETING

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast

ECOLOGY and EVOLUTION - Chairs Patricia Sobecky and Eva Top

09:00 - 09:25 Susana Brom "Rhizobium plasmids: conjugative transfer and generation of chimeras."
09:25 - 09:50 Rob Van Houndt "The effect of pMOL28 and pMOL30 plasmids specialized in heavy metal response on the global transcriptome of Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34."
09:50 - 10:15 Max Mergeay "Cupriavidus metallidurans CH34 genomic islands and environmental adaptation."
10:15 - 10:40 Claudia Oliveira "Bacterioneuston versus bacterioplankton: culture independent approach to screen for broad host range plasmids, antibiotic resistance and integron gene sequences.
10:40 - 11:00 coffee/tea
11:00 - 11:25 Douglas Rawlings "Evolution of the highly promiscuous, broad host-range IncQ plasmids."
11:25 - 11:55 Kornelia Smalla "Discovery of plasmids with extremely low G+C content - importance for the spread of antibiotic resistance in manure-fertilized soil."
11:55 - 12:15 Patricia Sobecky "Horizontal gene transfer of PIB-type ATPases among bacteria isolated from radionuclide and metal contaminated subsurface soils."
12:15 - 12:40 Sarah Turner "Heterogeneous selection affects fitness trade-offs of plasmid carriage for Pseudomonads in a bio-layer."
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch

ECOLOGY and EVOLUTION - continue

13:40 - 14:05 Eva Top "Spatial structure and nutrients promote invasion of IncP-1 plasmids in bacterial populations."
14:05 - 14:30 Masaki Shintani (Brian Wilkins Prize talk) "Basic features and environmental behaviors of IncP-7 carbazole degradative plasmid pCAR1."
14:30 - 17:30 POSTER SESSION (Ecology and Evolution, Virulence and Pathogenicity, Grnomics and Biotechnology) coffee/tea
18:30 - 20:00 Dinner (Plasmid EB meeting)

Thursday, September 4, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast

VIRULENCE and PATHOGENICITY - Chair Jorge Crosa

09:00 - 09:25 Jorge Crosa "Nature of the replication of the pJM1 plasmid, an essential component of virulence in Vibrio anguillarum."
09:25 - 09:50 Vicky Enne "In vivo and in vitro fitness effects of expressed and silent IncN plasmids."
09:50 - 10:15 Stephen Winans "Nutrients released from crown gall tumors play complex and opposing roles in quorum-dependent conjugation of Ti plasmids of Agrobacterium tumefaciens."
10:15 - 10:40 Timothy Johnson (Brian Wilkins Prize talk) "Pathogenomics of the virulence plasmids of Escherichia coli."
10:40 - 11:00 coffee/tea

GENOMICS and BIOTECHNOLOGY - Chair Anne Summers

11:00 - 11:25 Stephen Busby "Transcriptional regulation in Escherichia coli - the big picture"
11:25 - 11:55 Marcin Filutowicz "Plasmid Biology Facilitates Two-pronged Antibiotic Discovery Programs"
11:55 - 12:15 Raul Fernandez-Lopez "The transcriptional regulation network of the IncW plasmid R388 defines its functional modules"
12:15 - 12:40 Anne Summers "Progress in plasmid genomics and bioinformatics: new tools + more information = new perspectives"
12:40 - 13:40 Lunch
13:40 - 14:40 CLOSING CEREMONY (Summary and highlights of the meeting, Brian Wilkins Prize)

14:40 - 15:00 coffee/tea
17:00 - 19:00 Transportation to Sopot - sight seeing
19:00 on Beach party at the Baltic sea shore restaurant

Friday, September 5, 2008

07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast
09:00 - 22:00 Check out of room and departure
09:00 - 17:00 An optional trip to Malbork Castle